major events
Target Chelsea 1-1 Aston Villa (Kerr 20)
It was coming. A pass into midfield and Nusken, who was allowed to turn too easily, slipped Kerr behind. Running from center left, Roebuck, with good reason, believes the shot is going back across goal, so feet ready to dive, and when the effort is directed towards the near post, cannot react quickly enough to keep it out; All she can do is put it in the net.
19 minutes Chelsea are playing very well now; I highly doubt this match will end 0-1. That doesn’t mean Villa won’t win it, just that they’ll probably have to score one more goal at the very least.
18 minutes This time, James takes a corner into the box and Nushkan heads up… but his header goes wide.
17 minutes James’s brilliant shot slowed Williams down and then angled inwards, leaving the defender with no choice but to fall. She then feeds Nusken inside, Roebuck volleys the shot wide of the post.
17 minutes Chelsea’s press now dominates the play, but Villa’s goals dominate the scoreboard.
16 minutes Then, it’s short, from James to Thompson back to James, who shoots from the corner of the box… and straight at Roebuck.
15 min Chelsea are now attacking Villa, with Taylor dropping back to deliver corners when under pressure.
13 min But now Bournez turns to the left wing, crossing… and Kaptein only fails to get a eyebrow at the ball, with Thompson also unable to get hold of it. However, Chelsea kept up the pressure by winning a corner; It goes short and then back to James, whose shot is easily saved by Roebuck.
12 min At which point, Hanson almost captured the bronze while chasing a channel-pass; He has been penalized in this instance, but using his pace while moving around the forward line seems to be the central plank of Villa’s tactics today.
11 min Chelsea look dangerous down the left, with Thompson running in behind and trying to attack the Nightswinger. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Walsh Dart retrofitted for that purpose.
10 minutes Watching the goal again, I’m not sure Bronze’s pass was blind, but rather terrible. There’s no doubt that the difference will make him feel much better.
8 min It’s been a really fun start. Chelsea are threatening now, but Villa are looking enterprising on the counter and are confident they can get something from it.
6 minutes Before the match, Arroyo told us that she wanted her team to be in the game from the start, but they did much more than that. But Chelsea are now awake, Thompson running from the Nightwinger, and collecting a pass in stride before crossing; Through the middle, Patton does enough to take Kerr out of it, breaking back down the left, James again shoots wide.
5 minutes Chelsea came back, Walsh had a shot blocked, then James fired wide.
4 minutes There is plenty of time for Chelsea to get back to that goal, but Bompastor will be concerned by such a disappointing start.
Target Chelsea 0-1 Aston Villa (Grant 2)
Oh my days! Bronze plays a blind, casual square-pass and Grant, in 10th position, collects possession and passes straight to Willems. His cross, down the near post, is on-point, and Grant, running from goal-side and Girma, runs to meet it, firing a fine finish past Hampton. What a start!
1 minute Chelsea tried to put Villa under pressure, getting the ball into their rhythm by hitting the ball about the back four.
1 minute Chelsea gave us the lead.
Chelsea looking nice and relaxed in the crowd, There was a lot of laughter when Walsh passed them on. We are ready.
Our teams are in the tunnel, and they come here. This is Chelsea’s final home league game of the season.
These two teams have met 11 times in the WSL; Chelsea has won all these matches.
It’s been a really long time since we’ve seen Kerr and James together. If they’re at it today, I’m not sure what Villa can do about it.
Chelsea will know that, if they stop Hanson – only Khadijah Shaw has scored more than her 10 league goals this season – they will probably stop Villa. I wouldn’t be surprised to see her flow and see if she can catch up to the inexperienced Burman.
Bompaster asked Skywanted to find the strongest starting eleven and Kerr had to be included as the sole number 9 in the team.
Natalia Arroyo knows her team face a tough task, Chelsea are probably angry after the midweek clash, so in the first instance she wants Villa to stay in the game, then fight hard.
In the meantime, Villa will consider maintaining a low barrier, I hope, Chastity Grant and Lucia Kendall are moving fast and looking to build for Kirsty Hanson. Villa currently sit eighth in the table, but will still be within reach of sixth.
So where is the game? Chelsea will try to play off Kerr and, if they can, ask him to run in from the back or with the ball. While James rotates to the left in support. To do this, they will use Keira Walsh to control the pace of the game, featuring Kaptein and Nusken in particular.
The big news, however, is the return of Kerr. The side he and Lauren James are on can do anything with anyone, but how quickly can they hook up?
This is a relatively young Chelsea XI – Virla Boorman is 19, Vicky Kapten is 19 and Alyssa Thompson is 21. I’m really keen to see how Bomster goes about refreshing the club, and whether any of them perform well enough to earn a midweek start when Arsenal visit.
Also going on:
Villa won last weekend for the first time since beating Brighton on 11 January; They make a change, Lucy Parker is out and Oceane Deslandes comes in.
Changes for Chelsea: Kadisha Buchanan, Erin Cuthbert and Sandy Baltimore go out; After sitting on the bench in midweek, starters Eli Carpenter and Sam Kerr were joined by returnees Vike Kapten.
Teams!
Chelsea (4-3-3): Hampton; Carpenter, Girma, Bronze, Barman; Walsh, Nusken, Kaptein; Thompson, Kerr, James. Sub: Peng, Spencer, Buchanan, Baltimore, Charles, Potter, Cuthbert, Shooter, Sarvi.
Aston Villa (4-2-3-1): Roebuck; Willems, Patton, Deslandes, Nightswanger; Jean-Francois, Taylor; Grant, Maritz, Kendall; Hanson. Sub: D’Angelo, Maltby, Scott, Seymour, Lee, Hijikata, Salmon.
Ref: Callum Jones (Bootle)
Preface
A great manager leaves a club and the success continues: we saw it for half a generation when Chelsea sacked Jose Mourinho and for a season after Emma Hayes left, the same happened at Liverpool after Jurgen Klopp’s resignation. However, to what extent were these processes so effective and embedded that they transcended the departed, versus inspired new ideas from the new incumbent? The pressure is on for Sonia Bompastor.
Yesterday’s emphatic derby win means Manchester City need a maximum of five points from these games to clinch the WSL crown; Chelsea, who had won an undefeated domestic treble the previous season, were rarely in the running. They retained the League Cup, are still in the FA Cup – and in the Champions League – but another season like this won’t be good enough to propel the club to a better place.
There are many mothers of disappointments, and Chelsea came into this afternoon’s game without Nathalie Bjorn, Mayra Ramirez, Niamh Charles and Millie Bright, while Aggie Beaver-Jones may still be absent. On the other hand, however, Sam Kerr and Ellie Carpenter are available for a match that has much more significance than that.
Most pressingly, on Wednesday night Chelsea faced Arsenal in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, trailing the defending champions – and what a painful phrase that is for a team that has yet to win – 3-1. A good performance today will give them momentum as they prepare for a task that is difficult but not impossible.
But this competition is as much about next season as it is about next season. Although currently, Chelsea sit fourth in the WSL, today’s win moves them up to third and into a Champions League spot – two points ahead of Manchester United, who they host in the final round of games. Or, in other words, the title may not be at stake, but there’s still a lot going on here.
launch: 12pm BST, baby
