Anything you can do, we can do better, whistled Chelsea Ladies while demolishing Bristol City 6-0 at Kingsmeadow… the day after the boys beat Stoke 4-0 away.
Hard to say which is more impressive; the Ladies breezing to glory without six of their strongest players, or the men making it look easy at the daunting Britannia.
An Alvaro Morata hat trick gave a confidence boost to this maturing talent, although the Potters lacked key players – partly thanks to Chelsea’s cunning tactic of disruption via ownership, in this instance ineligible loanee Kurt Zouma.
For the Ladies, a turbulent week which saw England’s women’s coach dismissed ended on a high.
Chelsea Ladies manager Emma Hayes deftly deflected press inquiries about becoming Mark Sampson’s successor (“I’m looking forward to my future with Chelsea Football Club”) before applauding a “superb performance” from a team which included two debutantes.
One, Swedish defender Magdalena Eriksson, nodded home from a corner at the near post, which should have been guarded by her opposite number.
Maren Mjelde netted two, while the summer addition of lofty Norwegian defender Maria Thorisdottir means there’s a Scandinavian feel to the team.
While Chelsea’s men fly back from Madrid to face Manchester City at the Bridge, Chelsea Ladies have an eye-catching clash with Bayern Munich in the Women’s Champions League at Kingsmeadow next Wednesday. Yes, Chelsea v Bayern for £6.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
