Bristol City Women vs Chelsea Women. Women's League Cup Final.
Vicarage Road.
Report as Chelsea lift the WSL Cup trophy after a dominant 6-0 victory over Bristol City at Vicarage Road; Sam Kerr scored a hat-trick as Fran Kirby netted two and set up the other four for the Blues; Guro Reiten scored the other goal for Emma Hayes' side
Monday 15 March 2021 06:19, UK
Fran Kirby produced a masterclass as Chelsea strolled past Bristol City 6-0 to retain the Women's League Cup at Vicarage Road.
Kirby set up four goals and scored the other two on a momentous day for the England international, who missed the Blues' victory over Arsenal in this final last year as she battled with pericarditis, the heart disease that left her gravely ill and nearly forced her to retire.
Aussie Sam Kerr was the main benefactor of Kirby's magic as she scored a cup final hat-trick. Goals after 90 seconds and 10 minutes put Chelsea in control before she completed her treble three minutes after the break.
Kirby's strikes (29 and 35) had the Blues four goals to the good before Kerr's third and Guro Reiten added a sixth (55) shortly after to round off a satisfying day, only marred by a serious injury to midfielder Maren Mjelde.
It was a record League Cup final victory as Bristol City failed to transfer their recent good WSL form onto the big stage and failed to lay a glove on Chelsea.
Any questions over whether Chelsea would be tired after their midweek draw in Italy against Atletico Madrid were answered inside the first 90 seconds. One simple pass between City's centre-backs set Kirby free and she showed great awareness to slide the ball across the goal for Kerr to tap in.
And the game was all but over as a contest with less than 10 minutes on the clock. A sloppy pass out was picked off by Kirby midway inside the City half and once she found Kerr to her left, there was only going to be one outcome as the Aussie fired the ball into the bottom corner
Kirby turned from provider to goalscorer shortly before the half-hour mark as keeper Sophie Baggaley's poor kick went straight to Kirby and the Chelsea forward placed it perfectly into the far corner with Baggaley struggling to get back.
Her second goal was a little simpler before the break, cutting onto her right foot and placing the ball underneath Baggaley after Kerr played her through on goal.
While Chelsea did make three changes at the break, chief tormentor Kirby remained on the pitch and she set up a further two before her work for the afternoon was done. If the first was unselfish, opting to tee up Kerr to complete her hat-trick rather than shooting herself, the second would have fooled most teams.
Kerr found her teammate on the corner of the six-yard box and everyone expected Kirby to try and sweep the ball home. Instead, she took a touch and without seemingly looking, laid the ball on a plate for Guro Reiten to find the back of the net.
Kerr and Kirby were both taken off shortly after the hour-mark and it led to the best spell of the game for Bristol City. Ebony Salmon twice forced the previously unneeded Katrin-Ann Berger into good saves, the first coming after she showed Mille Bright a clean pair of heels.
The afternoon did end on a sour note, however, as Maren Mjelde needed oxygen on the pitch before she was stretchered off with what looked like a serious knee injury in the closing stages. That led to muted celebrations at the final whistle with Chelsea's minds clearly on their stricken teammate.
From the very first minute, Kirby was simply untouchable. Every time she had possession Bristol City were fearful and when she wasn't on the ball, Kirby was usually finding pockets of space between the City defence to cause them headaches.
If she wasn't so selfless, such a team player, Kirby could have had four goals of her own at Vicarage Road, instead opting to set up team-mates for simple finishes.
Her link-up with Kerr was a joy to behold and they seemed to find each other with ease. "She is quality on the ball. She is a special talent," Kerr said at full-time.
It's not often you score a hat-trick in a cup final and aren't your side's best player, yet Kerr will be happy to acknowledge that this was Kirby's day.
What the managers said:
Chelsea boss Emma Hayes: "We were unbelievable for 60 minutes, the pace, intensity and movement. It was a great team performance across the board. Fran Kirby and Sam Kerr were unbelievable.
"It was a performance of a team that were very confident in what they were doing and I really enjoyed it. We could have scored more than we did. We were exceptional going forward."
Bristol City interim boss Matt Beard: "The occasion got the better of us, no matter how much we tried to play it down in the week"
"Earlier this week I asked the team how many of them have been in a cup final, and only one of them put their hand up."
What's next?
Chelsea travel to Everton on Wednesday night in the WSL, while Bristol City host title challengers Manchester City on the same evening.
