Sam Kerr scored twice in her first start in 692 days as Chelsea beat St. Pölten 6-0 to claim back-to-back wins in the UEFA Women’s Champions League.
Kerr, whose last start for the Blues came in December 2023, scored in vintage style.
She scored the first goal with a touch from her feet, then curled a shot into the box for her team’s fourth goal of the night. The second goal was a poacher’s goal, with Kerr scoring his fourth header of the season after the match had already been decided. Her previous two goals came off the bench in the Women’s Super League after rejoining the team in mid-September.
It promised to be a near-perfect game for the Blues on their return, with Lauren James credited with scoring from the bench in her first appearance since June’s Euro finals. However, her shot was said to have gone wide, but in a flurry of late goals, it deflected into the net from St. Pölten’s Lisa Ebert.
The impressive end came after a quick start for Chelsea, who were desperate for an early goal against a team that sits at the bottom of the league. Chelsea didn’t have to wait long at all as Vike Kaptein opened the scoring after a brilliant move set up Ellie Carpenter’s cross.
Vike Kaptein puts Chelsea ahead against St. Polten
Naomi Girma, also making her first start of the season, thought she had doubled the lead when she bundled the ball over the line after Kerr nodded in a set-piece from Catarina Macario.
However, this was immediately nullified as Kerr was ruled offside. This only whetted Chelsea’s appetite and Macario doubled their lead going into half-time with a fierce, low drill into the bottom corner. Sonia Bompastor’s side went within three points before the break, but Karina Schurter was inspired despite being so far behind to deny Johanna Ritting-Canelid a goal.
Chelsea’s third goal came quickly after Alyssa Thompson was deflected by Isabella Krizaj inside the area, only to be brought down by a St. Pölten defender. Macario prepared for the spot-kick and sent Schurter the wrong way with a confident penalty.
Bompastre showed strength showing their depth, with second-half substitute Niamh Charles setting up Kerr’s second goal, and they were able to bring in substitute players to increase their margin.
A win for Chelsea will move them into second place in the league table for the time being, with Barcelona, Manchester United and Leuven chasing them on Wednesday.
Kerr: Today was a good step for me.
Chelsea striker Sam Kerr told ESPN:
“It was good. I felt like I had to work hard, but I was happy to score.
“To be fair, they played good defense. We knew we had to be patient, but as the game went on, it was going to get more and more open. I just had to be ready, and luckily the ball fell to me and some of my teammates served the ball well.
“Obviously I want to play more. If you play 20 minutes, it’s a bit hectic and when you have a lot of subs you might get a little hopeful.
“Today was good, we had a few chances in the first half, but I’m really happy to be back here, playing in the Champions League again with a great team and enjoying every moment.”
“I feel 100 percent, but I’ve been out for a while so I have to push myself. Today was a good step.”
Bompastor: It was a great performance.
Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastre told ESPN.
“We were able to score the first goal early in the game and I think that always helps. Maybe I wish the team had scored the second goal a little earlier, but when you analyze the performance, it was a great performance. We scored some great goals and overall it was really positive.”
“We had a clear game plan going into the match. We talked a lot about being patient and moving the ball from one side to the other to create space. We controlled the ball most of the time. I think we were also pretty good at breaking lines and making runs behind the back line and created a lot of chances.”
“In the first half we could have shot from further away, but in the second half we had more space and we were able to create some great goals and score.”
