Sam Kerr netted a brace in her first start in 692 days as Chelsea cruised past St Polten with a 6-0 win to earn back-to-back victories in the UEFA Women’s Champions League.
Kerr, whose last start for the Blues came in this very competition in December 2023, took her goals in vintage fashion.
She netted her first with a touch out of her feet and strike in the box to score her side’s fourth of the evening. The second was a poacher’s goal, Kerr heading in after the game had already been placed beyond doubt with her fourth of the season. Her previous two had been scored off the bench in the Women’s Super League after she returned to the side in mid-September.
The game nearly promised to be perfect for returning Blues, with Lauren James believing she had scored off the bench in her first appearance since the Euros Final in June. However, her effort was said to have been travelling off target before it deflected into the net off St Polten’s Lisa Ebert in a rampant late flurry of goals.
An impressive end came after a fast start for Chelsea, who were eager for an early goal against the side rooted bottom of the league. They didn’t have to wait long at all, as a fine Chelsea move saw Wieke Kaptein open the scoring after being set up by an Ellie Carpenter cross.
Wieke Kaptein put Chelsea in front against St Polten
Naomi Girma, who was also making her first start of the season, thought she had doubled their lead when she bundled the ball over the line after Kerr had nodded on a Catarina Macario set piece.
However, that was ruled out instantly as Kerr was adjudged to be offside. It only whetted Chelsea’s appetite, who doubled their lead as half-time beckoned, as Macario drilled hard and low to find the bottom corner. Sonia Bompastor’s side neared a third before the break, but an inspired Carina Schluter, despite the margin, denied Johanna Rytting Kaneryd.
A Chelsea third came as quickly as Alyssa Thompson skipped by Izabela Krizaj in the area, only to be brought down by the St Polten defender. Macario stepped up for the spot kick, sending Schluter the wrong way with a confident penalty.
In a showing of strength in depth, Bompastor could call on her substitutes to add to the margin late on with Niamh Charles, a second-half substitute, setting up Kerr’s second.
A win for Chelsea moves them into second in the League phase table for the time being, with Barcelona, Manchester United and OH Leuven among the chasing pack playing on Wednesday.
Kerr: Today was a good step for me
Chelsea striker Sam Kerr speaking to ESPN:
“It was good. It felt like I had to work myself into it, but I was happy to score.
“They did a good job of defending, to be fair. We knew we just had to be patient and, as the game went on, it would open up more and more. I just had to stay ready and, luckily, the ball fell to me and I had some good team-mates serving some nice balls.
“Of course I’d prefer to play more minutes. When you come on for 20 minutes, it’s a bit hectic and, with lots of subs, it can be a bit wishy-washy.
“Today was good. I had a few chances in the first half, but I’m just happy to be back out here, playing in the Champions League again with an amazing team and relishing every moment.
“I feel 100 per cent, but I was out for a while, so I’ve got to build myself up. Today’s a good step.”
Bompastor: It was a great performance
Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor speaking to ESPN:
“We were able to score the first goal early on in the game and I think that always helps. I probably would have liked the team to score the second goal a little bit earlier, but if you analyse the performance, it was a great performance. We scored some great goals and, overall, it was really positive.
“We had a clear game plan coming into the game. We spoke a lot about being patient, moving the ball from one side to the other side to open the spaces. We had, most of the time, control of the ball. I think we were also quite good at breaking lines, making runs behind the backline and we created a lot of opportunities.
“In the first half, we could have shot from a greater distance, but in the second half, we had even more spaces and we created and scored some great goals.”
Champions League fixtures
