Sjoeke Nusken fired Chelsea back to second in the WSL with a dramatic late winner as the Blues edged Aston Villa 4-3 at Kingsmeadow.
The result keeps Chelsea’s slim title hopes alive, though they still trail Manchester City by nine points, and offered a boost in their fight for Champions League places.
Villa shocked Chelsea inside two minutes after Lucy Bronze lost possession to Chasity Grant. The Dutch winger played it out to Lynn Wilms, who arrived at the near post to meet the cross and sweep the ball past Hannah Hampton.
Chelsea responded. In the 20th minute Sam Kerr, fresh from Asian Cup duty with Australia, finished from Sjoeke Nusken’s pass to level. Within seven minutes Chelsea were 3-1 up: Naomi Girma diverted a Lauren James cross into the net for her first WSL goal, then James drilled in a third from about 20 yards.
Villa hit back quickly. Wilms delivered another cross and Kirsty Hanson headed home to make it 3-2, and moments later Hanson pounced on a loose ball after Wilms’ involvement to make it 3-3 — six goals in a frantic first 35 minutes.
Chelsea dominated the second half. Alyssa Thompson missed a gilt-edged chance when she headed over from four yards, but the winner arrived with eight minutes remaining. Ellie Carpenter won the ball in midfield and found Sam Kerr, who teed up Nusken for a first-time finish into the corner.
Team news
– Chelsea made three changes: Sam Kerr, Ellie Carpenter and Wieke Kaptein came in.
– Aston Villa’s only change saw Oceane Deslandes replace Lucy Parker.
Sonia Bompastor (Chelsea): “As you could see there was a lot of joy and partly some relief because right now the reality is we are fighting for the Champions League spots and this win is huge. … When we are leading 3-1 we should be in control of the game more. For sure [there is hope]. The main thing for the players, staff and myself is to focus game by game. We know it will be difficult until the end but we will fight. I’m really proud of the players.”
Natalia Arroyo (Aston Villa): “The game at the end makes me feel a little bit frustrated. We were suffering a lot in the second half. They were sending in crosses and we were defending the box decently. We tried to push higher, make one mistake and they are clinical. In the end, I think we should be proud of how we started the game, how we were able to come back after conceding three goals. It was an entertaining game and our performance can make us smile a little bit.”