Servette Genf Women vs Chelsea Women. Women's Champions League Group A.
Stade de GeneveAttendance12,782.
Report as Chelsea move top of Group A on seven points after three games, two points above Wolfsburg, who drew 2-2 at Juventus later on Tuesday evening; Emma Hayes hails Maren Mjelde's return from injury
Monday 15 November 2021 11:35, UK
Fran Kirby and Sam Kerr each scored twice as Chelsea produced a first-half blitz en route to thrashing Servette 7-0 in Geneva in their third Women's Champions League group match.
Following the 1-0 Women's Super League win at Aston Villa on Saturday, boss Emma Hayes had said in the build-up to this contest that she wanted Chelsea to be "more relentless after the first goal".
She subsequently saw her team, last season's Champions League runners-up, deliver in emphatic fashion, with Melanie Leupolz's eighth-minute strike to open the scoring being added to five times in the first half.
Three of those came in a flurry between the 16th and 20th minutes, starting with Kirby, who had hit the bar at 0-0, firing past Ines Pereira having been teed up by Kerr.
Two minutes later Kerr got on the scoresheet herself with a close-range finish from Leupolz's cut-back, and the Australian then swiftly netted again for 4-0, prodding in following a lofted ball from Kirby.
There was only brief respite for Servette - Champions League debutants last season and beaten 3-0 by Juventus and 5-0 by Wolfsburg in their opening two games of this campaign - before the visitors scored another, with Kirby dinking in number five in the 26th minute.
Jessie Fleming then struck past Pereira from a tight angle to make it 6-0 with seven minutes of normal time to go before the break.
Five minutes into the second half the advantage was extended further as Kerr sent the ball across the box, Kirby left it and Guro Reiten side-footed in.
While further goals looked more than likely at that point, the closest Chelsea got to an eighth was Drew Spence rattling the bar with a shot in the 64th minute, shortly before Hayes brought on Maren Mjelde for her long-awaited return to action after injury.
Chelsea now have seven points from three Group A games, having previously drawn 3-3 with Wolfsburg and then won 2-1 at Juventus. Their next match in the pool is against Servette at Kingsmeadow a week on Thursday.
Chelsea manager Emma Hayes also reserved praise for the returning Maren Mjelde, who made her first competitive appearance since suffering a serious knee injury in March.
The defender was taken off on a stretcher during the Continental League Cup final win over Bristol City eight months ago, and Hayes was delighted that her work to get back to full fitness was rewarded.
"This is a special person in our environment. The work she has done and the work the medical team and my technical team have done with her, it was emotional for her," Hayes said.
"She is a Rolls Royce of a footballer. When she came on there was composure and I said to Jess Carter to watch her, look at her decision-making in possession and out of possession.
"She is a superb football player and we're delighted she is back. She is a quiet leader and has been the mother hen of this group for several years. The ability to read things you can't teach.
"She has been involved in this team in several positions and has an innate ability tactically and an awareness to drop off in the right situations but also in possession, she will give the team a lot. Maren is one of the most underrated players in the world."
Chelsea now go to Manchester City in the WSL on Saturday November 14 at 3pm, before hosting Servette on Thursday evening at 8pm in the Champions League.
