Sam Kerr netted a brace in her first begin in 692 days as Chelsea cruised previous St Polten with a 6-0 win to earn back-to-back victories within the UEFA Girls’s Champions League.
Kerr, whose final begin for the Blues got here on this very competitors in December 2023, took her targets in classic vogue.
She netted her first with a contact out of her ft and strike within the field to attain her facet’s fourth of the night. The second was a poacher’s objective, Kerr heading in after the sport had already been positioned past doubt along with her fourth of the season. Her earlier two had been scored off the bench within the Girls’s Tremendous League after she returned to the facet in mid-September.
The sport practically promised to be excellent for returning Blues, with Lauren James believing she had scored off the bench in her first look for the reason that Euros Remaining in June. Nonetheless, her effort was mentioned to have been travelling off course earlier than it deflected into the online off St Polten’s Lisa Ebert in a rampant late flurry of targets.
A powerful finish got here after a quick begin for Chelsea, who have been anticipating an early objective towards the facet rooted backside of the league. They did not have to attend lengthy in any respect, as a fantastic Chelsea transfer noticed Wieke Kaptein open the scoring after being arrange by an Ellie Carpenter cross.
Naomi Girma, who was additionally making her first begin of the season, thought she had doubled their lead when she bundled the ball over the road after Kerr had nodded on a Catarina Macario set piece.
Nonetheless, that was dominated out immediately as Kerr was adjudged to be offside. It solely whetted Chelsea’s urge for food, who doubled their lead as half-time beckoned, as Macario drilled onerous and low to seek out the underside nook. Sonia Bompastor’s facet neared a 3rd earlier than the break, however an impressed Carina Schluter, regardless of the margin, denied Johanna Rytting Kaneryd.
A Chelsea third got here as shortly as Alyssa Thompson skipped by Izabela Krizaj within the space, solely to be introduced down by the St Polten defender. Macario stepped up for the spot kick, sending Schluter the incorrect manner with a assured penalty.
In a displaying of power in depth, Bompastor might name on her substitutes so as to add to the margin late on with Niamh Charles, a second-half substitute, establishing Kerr’s second.
A win for Chelsea strikes them into second within the League section desk in the intervening time, with Barcelona, Manchester United and OH Leuven among the many chasing pack enjoying on Wednesday.
Kerr: Immediately was step for me
Chelsea striker Sam Kerr chatting with ESPN:
“It was good. It felt like I had to work myself into it, but I was happy to score.
“They did job of defending, to be honest. We knew we simply needed to be affected person and, as the sport went on, it might open up increasingly more. I simply needed to keep prepared and, fortunately, the ball fell to me and I had some good team-mates serving some good balls.
“Of course I’d prefer to play more minutes. When you come on for 20 minutes, it’s a bit hectic and, with lots of subs, it can be a bit wishy-washy.
“Immediately was good. I had a couple of probabilities within the first half, however I am simply completely satisfied to be again out right here, enjoying within the Champions League once more with an incredible workforce and relishing each second.
“I feel 100 per cent, but I was out for a while, so I’ve got to build myself up. Today’s a good step.”
Bompastor: It was an amazing efficiency
Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor chatting with ESPN:
“We were able to score the first goal early on in the game and I think that always helps. I probably would have liked the team to score the second goal a little bit earlier, but if you analyse the performance, it was a great performance. We scored some great goals and, overall, it was really positive.
“We had a transparent sport plan coming into the sport. We spoke lots about being affected person, shifting the ball from one facet to the opposite facet to open the areas. We had, more often than not, management of the ball. I believe we have been additionally fairly good at breaking traces, making runs behind the backline and we created loads of alternatives.
“In the first half, we could have shot from a greater distance, but in the second half, we had even more spaces and we created and scored some great goals.”
