Chelsea put on a show for fans at Kingsmeadow with a 7-0 goal fest over Leicester City to send them through to the FA Cup quarter finals.
The Foxes started out strong but suffered an early blow which saw them battling the current cup holders with only ten on the pitch.
Leicester’s squad was affected by the news that forward Jess Sigsworth had unfortunately sustained an ACL injury in training. Meanwhile, Millie Bright once again wore the armband for Chelsea in the absence of skipper Magdalena Eriksson.
Lauren James also made her first start for the home side, a welcome appearance after her signing over seven months ago.
The visitors got off to an energetic start, putting the Blues to the test on their home turf with a few early set pieces.
Disaster struck however, when Sophie Howard was shown the red card for a late challenge on Jonna Andersson. This left the Foxes a player down after only 17 minutes. From that point on, Chelsea were ready to exploit their opponents.
By the break, the WSL champions were ahead 2-0 with a brace from Pernille Harder.
Second half onslaught
In the second half, Chelsea showed no sign of slowing down, delivering five more goals for the home crowd.
Reliably, Sam Kerr got herself on the scoresheet, closely followed by midfielder Ji So-Yun with an impressive finish from distance.
New signing defender Aniek Nouwen proved a threat at both ends of the pitch. She netted the fifth from Harder’s header into the box. After Kerr got her own brace, late substitution Bethany England finished the Chelsea goal fest.
Emma Hayes demonstrated the impressive range of goal-scoring talent on the current Chelsea squad. With recent success for the Blues internationally in the Arnold Clark and Algarve cups, Hayes’ side are in great shape.
They next face West Ham as they continue their pursuit of Arsenal in the league title race. First though, Chelsea must take on big rivals Manchester City in the Continental Cup final. A win would secure their first piece of silverware for the 2021 season. Leicester City will travel north to face Manchester United.
