BLUES BOSS RELISHES SIDE’S KERR-FECT DAY
- BUT SO WERE THE OTHER STRIKERS, SAYS DELIGHTED BLUES BOSS
SAM Kerr took the plaudits for a hattrick, but Chelsea manager Emma Hayes was quick to praise her fellow forwards for their part in a 3-2 Women’s Super League win over West Ham.
Fran Kirby laid on the Australian striker’s first and third goals, while good work from Pernille Harder allowed Kerr to fire into an empty net for her second.
Kerr ran into a defender as she wheeled away in celebration following her hat-trick strike and was immediately substituted.
Hayes is unsure how serious the problem is, and said: “I don’t know what the situation is with Sam’s injury.
“In terms of the hat-trick, I want to talk about the amount of running players are doing around her to help with that, especially Beth England who made a lot of selfless decisions today.
“The same with Fran, who made just as many selfless decisions.”
Fans were allowed to return for the clash at Kingsmeadow following new Covid-19 guidelines, with 700 in attendance, and Hayes added: “It felt like we had 20,000 in here!
“I really felt that in the second half, we needed it.”
The Blues are now 12 games unbeaten at home, and Hayes said: “You have to be at the very top of your game to achieve stats like that.
“It’s a real testament to all the work that goes on at this club.”
West Ham had grabbed an equaliser when Rachel Daly got on the end of Canadian team-mate Adriana Leon’s cross a minute into the second half, while an own goal from Magdalena Eriksson arrived too late to affect the result.
Interim head coach Billy Stewart said: “I’m pleased Rachel scored on her birthday, it’s just a shame we didn’t have 11 birthdays today, we would have won 11-3!
“I thought we were in the game right until the last second. Getting a goal with the last kick of the game pretty much shows the standard of the club.
“I told the players (at half-time) to keep believing in themselves. We had a game-plan and we stuck to that.
“But sometimes we held onto the ball for too long, and you can’t do that with Chelsea’s attacking five players.”