Emma Hayes and Sam Kerr wax lyrical as Chelsea go top of the table

The Chelsea manager was delighted after she guided The Blues to a 1-0 victory over closest title challengers Manchester United at Kingsmeadow on Sunday afternoon. 

Emma Hayes and Sam Kerr wax lyrical as Chelsea go top of the table
(Photo by Harriet Lander - Chelsea FC - Getty Images)
robin-mumford
By Robin Mumford

Domestically, Chelsea is king. They have won the last three Women's Super League titles and are now on course for a fourth after Sam Kerr's goal was the difference on Sunday afternoon when Manchester United made the journey to the capital. 

The win took The Blues back to the top of the WSL and extended their unbeaten run against United to eight games. 

Although disappointment overshadowed Chelsea's season last week when Arsenal pipped the Champions to the League Cup, three points the following weekend recaptured Hayes' side's unbeatable mentality.

Speaking after the game, the Chelsea boss hailed her team's performance. Despite heading into the game without four key players, The Blues navigated a comfortable win in the end. 

"I feel that sometimes other teams get a hall pass for injured players," Hayes told the media. "We've been without Fran Kirby and Pernille Harder for almost the entirety of the season.

"This team deserves huge credit as a whole, not just Sam. We've kept a clean sheet today after a difficult and underwhelming performance last weekend against Arsenal. 

"We don't have a full week's prep every week. We have to play games every three days. It's tremendous from the team to show, what I think was a real Chelsea performance.

"That's what I touched upon last weekend. There's certain things we pride ourselves on and they were in abundance in today's performance."

  • Kerr was brilliant but star midfielder captivates most praise

Hayes, of course, hailed Sam Kerr, who took a brilliant cross-field pass from Lauren James off her chest and into her stride before lobbing Goalkeeper of the Year Mary Earps in the only goal of the game.

The strike was her 23rd goal in all competitions as she continues to prove valuable to Chelsea's dynasty. However, It was Jessie Fleming who stood out for The Blues manager in the middle of the park.

Keeping Leah Galton and Katie Zelem in check is difficult for anybody - but Fleming achieved just that as her physicality won the midfield battle and kept United's playmaking abilities to a minimum.

The praise she drew from her manager after the game would have been even less curious had she been the one to double her side's lead. She almost did it in superb fashion as the 25-year-old sent Earps clawing towards her right to cover the top corner. 

Hayes said: “She had a magnificent game and she really needed that. I think it will do her confidence wonders.

"She defines herself on her defending and she’s been working so hard in her physicality and I think that is a performance from all the hours you put in on the training ground, coaches and herself.

"It was her birthday yesterday, so a real proud moment."

The Blues boss also added that she was happy with other players on the pitch, who dug in to earn a positive result. 

"This group has different players stepping up at different times. [Melanie] Leupolz has played 45 minutes, 80 minutes now 90 minutes in her first week after being out for more than a year, it’s absolutely tremendous to see so many players getting involved."

  • Sam Kerr gives her verdict on the performance

Scoring a goal in her 100th Chelsea appearance, Kerr also spoke to the media, and could only emphasise the words of her manager. When asked to summarise the performance, she hailed "a big performance from the team."

"Obviously, I scored. But so many people stepped up today. We had Guro [Reiten] fall ill at the last moment, and obviously, it isn't easy to change the lineup, but we all stepped up and that's why we are the team that we are.

"Everyone puts a shift in to ensure we put on good performances against good teams, even when we have five or six missing."

A conversation with the difference maker at full-time couldn't be done without a mention of the goal. So when asked about Lauren James' role in it, Kerr bit at the offer of praising another of her teammates.

"She's an amazing player. She's obviously got the skill on the ball and I think that one of the parts of her game perhaps a little underrated is her vision.

"We just kind of made eye contact and the threat we have to run in behind is something I think the whole league knows we have and it came together again today."

  • Back on top of the WSL

After the victory over Man United, Chelsea regained the top spot of the WSL and now sit two points above Sunday's opponents. Naturally, questions Kerr faced were whether Chelsea's domestic domination could continue.

She was also reminded that there are only eight games left in the league campaign, to which she responded: "Oh gosh, that still feels like a lot, doesn't it?

"We are at our best when we have our back against the wall, and I think this season, with the injuries, you know, with all the teams chasing us, I think that's when we play our best.

"You saw this last season, and this one has been tough, but you can see that the performances are only rising.

"Right now, this was the most important game of the season and we're just taking it one game at a time. That's all you can do when you have a tough week, a tough month.

"Yeah, it meant a lot for the fans, but it also meant a lot for us too."