Chelsea storm to victory with a 7-0 mauling of Servette in the Women’s Champions League thanks to doubles from Sam Kerr and Fran Kirby as Emma Hayes’s side top Group A
- Chelsea mauled Swiss side Servette 7-0 in their Champions League group game
- Melanie Leupolz opened the scoring from the edge of the area eight minutes in
- Fran Kirby and Sam Kerr secured a dominant lead with three in four minutes
- Jessie Fleming scored the Blues’s sixth while Guro Reiten added the seventh
Emma Hayes had asked her Chelsea players to be ‘more relentless’ ahead of their Champions League clash with Servette. Seven goals, five different scorers – mission accomplished.
The Blues’ opening two group games had seen close encounters with Wolfsburg and Juventus. They needed an injury time goal to claim a point against the Germans and edged a 2-1 win in Turin last month.
But this proved to be a massacre of a team who were vastly inferior. The Swiss champions still train part-time and it was inevitable that this would likely prove a step too far.
Chelsea dominated their Champions League Group A game against Swiss side Servette
German Melanie Leupolz opened the scoring just eight minutes in from the edge of the area
Fran Kirby (above) celebrates scoring Chelsea’s second of the game from Sam Kerr’s flick
Chelsea were 5-0 up and out of sight within 25 minutes. You dread to think how worse it could have been for Servette had Pernille Harder been available.
Fran Kirby should have opened the scoring as early as the third minute but could only fire a close-range shot straight at Servette goalkeeper Ines Pereira, before hitting the bar with the re-bound.
But the deadlock was broken five minutes later. Millie Bright picked out Melanie Leupolz on the right-hand side of the box and the midfielder took one touch inside before firing a left-footed shot into the far corner.
The Australian (centre) followed up her assist by scoring a brace within two minutes
The Chelsea forward scored her double after Kirby returned the favour with an assist
The England forward also bagged a double after being left unmarked in the box
Servette could barely get a touch on the ball and quickly found themselves 2-0 down. Drew Spence played the ball into Sam Kerr, whose first-time flick found Kirby, who would not be denied a second time as she squeezed the ball past Pereira.
Any hopes of an unlikely comeback were dashed when Kerr fired in two goals in two minutes. The first saw Chelsea turn defence into attack before Guro Reiten’s cross found Leupolz at the back-post, with the midfielder putting the ball on a plate for the Australian to tap-in.
Kerr’s second came when Kirby’s floated pass picked her out on the edge of the box, with the striker chesting the ball down before poking it beyond Pereira.
Fleming added a sixth before half-time with the forward finishing from a tight angle after being played through by Kirby.
Chelsea needed just four minutes of the second half to make it 7-0. Spence’s pass found Kerr on the right and the striker laid it across to Reiten to finish at the back-post.
Kerr could have had her hat-trick shortly before after racing onto Erin Cuthbert’s through ball, but her chip over Pereira bounced just wide. Spence then hit the bar from close range just past the hour mark.
Substitutions reduced the pace of the game as Servette managed to stabilise in the remaining 25 minutes.
Hayes will no doubt have frustrations her side didn’t score more in the second half but seven goals and a clean sheet more than answered her demands for ruthlessness. The Blues host Servette again on November 18 in what could be another heavy scoreline.
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