Chelsea hit six in the Conti Cup final to win the title against Bristol City. The hat-trick of Sam Kerr and 72% possession were too much for Bristol.
Chelsea started strong right out of the blocks. Already in the 2nd minute Fran Kirby beat her marker on the right and served Sam Kerr to tap home. The pair combined again in the 10th minute to double the lead. Kirby again assisting, Kerr scoring her second. The 27-year-old scored her first of the night after Bristol’s goalkeeper Sophie Baggaley’s poor clearance. The English international, that just extended her contract with the Blues, scored a brace in 38th minute with a low strike.
#ContiCup celebrations! 🎊💙 pic.twitter.com/NsIlhOTCIy
— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) March 14, 2021
Bristol started the second half better but were picked off on the counter-attack, Ann-Katrin Berger’s quick kick finding Kirby who again assisted Kerr for her hat-trick. In the 54th minute Kirby was again invovled in yet another goal when she slipped Guro Reiten in for a simple finish. Ebony Salmon was the most active one in the Bristol’s team and fired the first shot on the target, drawing a sharp save from Berger. In the final phase, Norwegian defender Maren Mjelde had to be carried off on a stretcher and went to hospital with what appeared to be a serious knee injury.
Thank you for your support. ❤️
Not the end to our Conti Cup journey we had hoped for but we all felt your support from home! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/ErsdCKNCjF
— Bristol City WFC (@bristolcitywfc) March 14, 2021
Fran Kirby, who was involved in all 6 goals of the London team, is in incredible form, with 13 goals and 10 assists in the season. The Blues, who defended the Conti Cup title from last year, will hope to add more silverware this season, as they are leading the FA’s Super League and facing Wolfsburg in the UEFA Women’s Champions League.
Reactions
“We were unbelievable for 60 minutes. The pace, the intensity, the movement, the cohesiveness was brilliant. It was a great team performance. It’s only what we’re capable of. I did think it would be a tighter affair. But when you score so early, it gave us the belief we needed to go on and we could have scored more than six. That’s not a discredit to Bristol, you have to talk about my team and we were exceptional going forward.” – Emma Hayes, Chelsea’s head coach
Fran Kirby is so good at football.
— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) March 14, 2021
“The occasion got the better of us. The frustrating thing is the first three goals came from our mistakes, which was disappointing. But we can take a lot from this experience. I asked a lot of players yesterday whether they’d been to a cup final, and only one player put their hand up. This is a new experience for the club. We’re not going to let this defeat ruin what we’ve been doing over the last eight weeks.” – Matt Beard, Bristol City’s head coach
Score
Bristol City – Chelsea 0-6 (0-4)
Scorers: 2′ Sam Kerr (C), 10′ Sam Kerr (C), 28′ Fran Kirby (C), 38′ Fran Kirby (C), 48′ Sam Kerr (C), 54′ Guro Reiten (C)
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