Kerr brace puts Chelsea one game away from retaining WSL title after 2-0 win away to Spurs
Spurs 0 v Chelsea 2
Chelsea, thanks to Sam Kerr, are 90 minutes away from retaining their WSL title after the Blues saw off a well-drilled but inferior Spurs 2-0 at The Hive this evening.
The striker smashed home her brace either side of half-time as dogged Spurs ultimately failed to hold back a tide of Blue shirts.
Goalkeeper Becky Spencer was in inspired form, thwarting the west Londoners but she could not hold back Kerr, whose first goal was a neat, angled effort, while she followed up a goal-bound header to tuck home from close range.
The Blues are now two points ahead of Manchester City with one final WSL game to come on Sunday, Chelsea at home to Reading, while West Ham entertain City.
The first effort fell to the hosts, when Dean got behind a static Chelsea defence, but her left-footed effort wasn’t powerful enough to Ann-Katrina Berger.
A minute later and, ex-chelsea goalkeeper Becky Spencer thwarted Sophie Ingle’s toe-punt from close range as nether side’s,defence looked comfortable.
Beth England had a great chance to score on six minutes but she failed to latch onto a Guro Reiten pass from the left.
Spencer then got her left hand to a Drew Spence shot as the Blues went in search of the opening goal.
Spence was having one of those games, where she again, stopped a pile-driver from Ingle and seconds later, on 13 minutes snaffled a weak Magda ErIksson header.
Lucy Quinn had a terrific angled shot, on 22 minutes, that Berger managed to hack away at her left post as Spurs made a rare foray into Chelsea’s final third.
But with four minutes of the half remaining, a long ball by Millie Bright, deep to the left, found Reiten, who cut the ball across goal with a brilliant half-volley. England missed the ball but Kerr was at the far post and slotted home from a tight angle to give the Blues the lead.
It is the Australia striker’s 19th goal of the season.
Head coach Emma Hayes decided to replace Niamh Charles with Jess Carter at half time, Spurs kept the starting 11.
Chelsea rattled the crossbar within a minute of the restart when a Jonna Andersson scuffed shot banged off the woodwork and dropped into Spencer’s grateful gloves.
Number two was soon to follow any once again it was Reiten, on the left who pitched the ball up perfectly for Kerr. Her header was only parried back into the air and Kerr followed up by poking the ball home.
Three more Chelsea substitutions followed on 67 minutes with Pernille Harder, Jess Fleming and Melanie Leupolz coming on for Spence, Reiten and Kerr.
Hannah Blundell then took the place of skipper Eriksson as Hayes sought to give minutes to fringe players and rest key players for the crunch Reading game and the Champions League final on May 16
With the Jeopardy eliminated from the game
Teams: Spurs: Spencer, Morgan, McManus, Zadorsky, Worm, Cho, Addison, Peplow, Quinn, Williams, Dean
Subs: Green, Harrow, Davison, Graham, Naz, Neville
Chelsea: Berger, Charles, Eriksson, Bright, Andersson, Cuthbert, Spence, Reiten, England, Ingle, Kerr
subs: Musovic, Blundell, Carter, Leupolz, Ji, Kirby, Fleming, Harder, Telford
Referee: Amy Fearns
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