Chelsea come from behind to hand out a hammering

Ji So-Yun and Bethany England scored twice as Chelsea came from behind to thrash Bristol City 6-1 at Kingsmeadow in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League.
So-Yun Ji  battles for the ball with Frankie Brown of Bristol City during the Barclays FA Women's Super League match (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)So-Yun Ji  battles for the ball with Frankie Brown of Bristol City during the Barclays FA Women's Super League match (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
So-Yun Ji battles for the ball with Frankie Brown of Bristol City during the Barclays FA Women's Super League match (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)

While the Blues’ dominated from start to finish, City took a shock first-half lead through striker Ebony Salmon.

But goals from England, Hannah Blundell, Jess Carter and Ji gave the Blues the commanding first-half lead their dominance deserved.

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Ji and England both added to their tallies after half-time as Chelsea remain unbeaten in the WSL but still lie in third behind leaders Arsenal and Manchester City.

Despite the Blues controlling all the possession in the opening 15 minutes, the away side surprisingly went ahead as Salmon picked up a loose ball outside the box and fired a precise left-footed shot into the corner of the net.

But just like in their last WSL game – a 3-1 win at home to Reading – Chelsea completed the turnaround before half-time.

England’s header and Blundell’s deflected strike put Chelsea ahead, while Carter’s close-range finish and Ji’s strike from distance effectively ended the contest just before the interval.

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The Blues then brought highly-rated winter signing Sam Kerr on at the break, and the Australian had an immediate impact after five minutes.

The forward’s exquisite flick put Guro Reiten away down the left-hand side, and she crossed for Ji to add a fifth.

Chelsea’s latest attacking recruit then had an effort cleared off the line, but the Blues eventually got a sixth with eight minutes to play through England’s close-range header.

To follow the action, buy tickets and sign-up for The FA Player’s live Barclays FA Women’s Super League coverage visit womenscompetitions.thefa.com

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Chelsea striker Bethany England said: "We should have got more goals. Although I got two goals I’m still a bit disappointed as I’ve had about 15 chances in that game give or take and I should be doing better than just getting two goals - especially at this level – so there’s more work to do.

"In this league, goals are important and when we’re getting good chances like that we should be burying them. I’m glad we managed to get six on the board but I’m gutted we couldn’t get anymore.

"When Arsenal played them they put 11 away so that was our chance to catch up today. I’m disappointed in myself a little bit and a few of the girls who missed chances will be as well but at the end of the day it’s about getting the win and points which is more important at this stage.

"Right now, all our minds are ongoing and winning the game against Arsenal next week."

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Bristol City goalscorer Ebony Salmon said: "I think we put in a great effort today and we conceded a few unlucky goals. Of course Chelsea are a great side but I don’t think the scoreline reflects the performance. The manager asked us to execute the game plan and then try and work as hard as we did last week in our win over Manchester United.

"We went 1-0 up today and our confidence was quite high but our heads dropped a bit through to half-time after we conceded twice. After half-time the manager spoke to us and we had a much better second-half.

"It’s always good to score against the top sides but we want to be winning games. From last week and this week’s performance we can take some confidence going into the Liverpool game next week. Hopefully we will get three points in that one because it’s an important one for our season."

Chelsea (4-5-1): Ann Katrin-Berger; Hannah Blundell, Jess Carter, Millie Bright (C), Joanna Andersson; Drew Spence, Ji So Yu, Sophie Ingle, Erin Cuthbert; Guro Reiten; Bethany England

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Substitutes: Sam Kerr for Drew Spence 45, Romano Bachmann for Erin Cuthbert 69, Jamie-Lee Napier for Ji So-Yun 77

Substitutes not used: Adeline Engman, Deanna Cooper

Goals: England 28, 82, Blundell 40, Carter 45, Ji 45+1, 50

Bookings: Jess Carter 90+2

Bristol City (5-3-2): Sophie Baggaley; Meghan Sargeant, Loren Dykes, Jas Matthews, Gemma Evans, Poppy Pattinson; Olivia Chance, Frankie Brown Yana Daniels; Ebony Salmon, Elie Hughes

Substitutes: Katie Robinson for Loren Dykes 45

Substitutes not used: Eartha Cumings, Vita Van der Linden, Charlie Wellings, Maisy Collis, Katie Robinson, Ellie Mae Sanford, Ellen Jones

Goals: Salmon 15

Referee: Emily Heaslip

Attendance: 2,866