Chelsea 5-0 Durham, Women's League Cup: Post-match reaction

Yesterday at 03:37 PM

The proper start to a Women's League Cup run!

Chelsea Women's massive favouritism coming into this match was felt from kick-off, wit the Blues putting a lot of pressure on Durham to get the opening goal. However the team weren't as sharp as they were in their previous two matches, with a few good chances being wasted due to lack of aim and key interventions from the opposition's shot-stopper, Tatiana Saunders.

This didn't mean the Blues were inefficient to the point of never connecting the dots and getting a goal. The opener did come through at the 21-minute mark via Aggie Beever-Jones.

ABJ's opener gave us a bit more impetus upfront. However this only meant more chances going to waste until the end of the first half, something that was clearly frustrating for the players themselves.

The Blues still had their goalscoring impetus when they came out of the tunnels for the second half, and their chances were a bit better than in the first one. It took us a little while to double the lead, but when we did it via Oriane Jean-François, her goal was a true "banger".

If Chelsea were to push for more goals, they would come as Durham were no longer able to keep up the fight against the top team in the Women's Super League. Hence Erin Cuthbert scoring our third goal of the night on a free header.

Right after that, Durham didn't do well while trying to defend a corner kick. Their goalkeeper got a hold of the ball but let it loose, and captain Guro Reiten scored from that opportunity.

What was perhaps the pinnacle of our play was Maika Hamano's goal. A wayward cross that became a goal as it went over Durham's shot-stopper.

Chelsea kept knocking on Durham's door until the final whistle, and they could have scored five more goals with better aim when shooting at goal. Even if this was a little bit annoying, in the grand scheme of things all these missed chances won't be missed by the Blues as a 5-0 win is more than enough to get them through to the League Cup's semi-finals.

Carefree!

• Wieke Kaptein on the bench less than two weeks after being stretchered off the pitch with what seemed to be a scary injury back then.
• Very nice headed goal from Aggie Beever-Jones, who's now our second-best goalscorer this season with eight goals in all competitions.
• Captain Guro Reiten.
• Four goals in the second half after a couple of tactical adjustments and the introduction of subs.
• Next up: Arsenal at Stamford Bridge, in the Women's Super League.
• KTBFFH!