One of the greats in Chelsea Ladies history celebrated her 10 years at the club on Wednesday in a 4-1 cup win against Tottenham Hotspur, but her focus quickly shifted to the future, and a game on Sunday that could be pivotal to their success this season.
Club legend Claire Rafferty, who has made 132 appearances for the Blues during her 10-year stay, stressed the importance of their match against title rivals Manchester City, who are currently top of the table, two points ahead of her side.
She said: “It’s quite hard not to think ahead to Sunday today, but we’re all about gaining momentum for that Man. City game. In the past, they’ve been a bit of a mental game for us. We know we’re as good as them or even better, but it’s about putting that into practice, and showing the strength in depth we do have in the squad.”
Manager Emma Hayes agreed that the City game could be a crucial moment in their season, calling it a game that every player on both sides is looking forward to. She insisted: “We’re prepared, we’re in good form, we’ve got a full squad to pick from, and that’s going to give me a selection headache.”
While Sunday will be as tough a test as they come for Chelsea, Wednesday was a whole lot more relaxed, with The Blues already through to the knockout stage of the Continental Tyres Cup. Rafferty was given a guard of honour by both sides prior to kick-off, and was made captain for the game. From the get-go, the home side were in the ascendency. In truth, Spurs never got going, failing to really pose a huge threat to reserve goalkeeper Becky Spencer’s goal.
Chelsea had numerous opportunities within just the first 20 minutes: Fran Kirby failed to score when faced by just the goalkeeper, whilst Erin Cuthbert saw her long-distance effort rebound off the crossbar.
Eventually, the deadlock was broken on 24 minutes, but with an element of fortune to it. The goalkeeper failed to stop Hannah Blundell’s shot, which looped into the corner of the net. Although a deserved lead, it was very much one that the away side could have prevented.
Chelsea continued to dominate and press for a second goal, which duly arrived two minutes before half-time. This time scorer turned provider, as Blundell’s square ball was swept home by Kirby, amending for her earlier miss.
Chelsea were clearly the better side in all departments against the WSL2 side, who lacked the speed and creativity of the reigning champions. The third goal came just before the hour mark, and it was Kirby again, this time benefitting from a Drew Spence cutback.
Although poor play from Millie Bright and her goalkeeper in defence led to a cheap goal back for the away side, Chelsea continued to press, hitting the crossbar twice more before Spence rounded off a handsome win with a fourth goal assisted by Cuthbert.
