It was business as usual for Chelsea as they repeated their 4-1 victory at the Keepmoat Stadium from last weekend. ‘Birmingham Queen’ Karen Carney played a stellar first half, scoring her debut FA WSL 1 goal for the club and then the England international provided for the next two goals. Doncaster failed to break down the reigning champions defence, with their only goal coming from a Claire Rafferty own goal. Whilst the bells rang around the Keepmoat stadium, the Donny Belles couldn’t contain Chelsea’s sheer fire-power and talent, with Eni Aluko sealing the three points for the Blues.
Two former Belles helped derail Doncaster in the first half as Chelsea displayed their intent to retain the title. Just moments after Aluko crashed the crossbar with a thunderous shot, former Belle Millie Bright weaved her way past Doncaster captain Leandra Little, before Little unceremoniously hacked her down. Carney placed the ball on the spot and fired home the penalty to send the Blues into the lead.
Whilst Doncaster didn’t look likely to score, FA WSL 2 player of the year Courtney Sweetman-Kirk played in an inviting cross, one that Blues full-back Rafferty couldn’t maintain as she unfortunately looped the ball over ‘keeper Hedvig Lindhal to level the score line.
It didn’t take long for Chelsea to re-assert their dominance in the game, and a well worked corner from Carney found the head of former Belle Bethany England, who thumped the ball into Nicola Hobbs’ net, displaying her aerial dominance. England humbly chose not to celebrate her debut goal for the Blues, paying respect to her former club Doncaster.
Set pieces proved to be the key for Chelsea as their third goal came from yet another corner. Carney’s deft delivery fell to captain Katie Chapman who headed Chelsea well into the lead now and had the game all but wrapped up.
It took right until the dying embers of the first half for Doncaster to even mount their first real attempt on goal. A long ranged free-kick from Dowie swerved just past the wrong side of the post.
Glen Harris’ team managed to numb down Chelsea’s attack in the second half, but Emma Hayes’ side displayed their squad depth, and substitutes Gemma Davison and Fran Kirby gave Chelsea the edge in the second 45.
Eni Aluko opened her scoring account for the 2016 season late in the game. A wonderful team movement began by Davison using her blistering speed down the right wing, before firing in a low cross. The spectacular Ji So-yun dummied the ball allowing Aluko to rocket the ball past Hobbs and seal the victory for the Blues.
“Teams are going to want to beat us. It’s important we show our standards and I think we did that tonight” said captain Chapman, delighted with her side’s victory.
The Belles are back in action in just over a month, travelling to Birmingham to face David Parker’s side. Chelsea face Liverpool Ladies FC at home in just four days time.
