Emma Hayes described her team's performance as ‘champion-like’ after Chelsea FC Women sealed a 1-0 victory at home to Manchester City.
A first-half header from Guro Reiten helped the Blues secure a vital three points in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League at Kingsmeadow on Sunday.
Chelsea are now just two points behind Arsenal in the title race with a game in hand, and the Blues boss is full of confidence in her team after yesterday’s performance.
‘It was diligent out of possession, our defensive strategy was brilliant and our ability in the first half to contain Man City to the spaces we wanted them to be in worked really, really well,’ Hayes said.
‘The wind was a big factor and that was the biggest factor in the second half, it was hard to get out with that wind. It then made it unpredictable, but I thought it was a controlled, measured, calm, champion-like performance.’
‘I’ve seen this coming. This group is growing, I’m so happy we’ve got another generation of players coming through and that’s so pleasing when you’ve been at the top for a while. What this team does really well is what we’re doing in the business end of the season, producing performance after performance.’
The Blues boss was also full of praise for Player of the Match Erin Cuthbert, as well as Jess Carter who assisted Reiten’s goal.
‘Lots of different players in different positions sometimes, look at Erin Cuthbert – what a performance from her and Jess Carter. Both of those players – one’s been wing-back, one’s been central in a back three! It shows the versatility, the adaptability of the players and tactically it was a great game from that perspective, even if both teams were really tired.’
Hayes has said since the start of the New Year she has been pleased with the level of performances her team have been putting in.
‘Even when we drew at Brighton, the team were really happy with the performance. Sometimes you win games and you’re not happy with the performance, but you win.
‘The difference between the first half of the season and now is when we’re winning, we feel we’re playing well and that gives us even more confidence. With a small group you just have to figure it out, you have to be together you have to gut out results. That’s what we’ve done well, Fran [Kirby] didn’t really recover from the game at Aston Villa, Lauren [James] still can only really play 15-20 minutes so we’re squeezing the most out of every single one of them! They’ve been absolutely amazing.’
All eyes are on Friday’s fixture against Arsenal at Kingsmeadow, a challenge Hayes is relishing.
‘The accumulation at this stage of the season means getting fresh again is so critical, it’s really hard to do it when you’ve got back-to-back games. The crowd were immense, they will be Friday and I’m sure it’ll be a cracker.’
It was a sell-out crowd at Kingsmeadow on Sunday and tickets have already sold out for Friday’s clash against the Gunners. Hayes discussed just how important the fans are.
‘I love them, I do. They’re so brilliant! Every week, days like this when it’s packed it’s just that extra lift. We know there’s not a lot between the two teams, but with them, we just had that little bit extra in a game that was so tight and I hope that’s the case on Friday.’
Friday’s game against Arsenal will be broadcast live on Sky Sports, kicking off at 7:45pm (UK time). We’ll also be hosting our own pre-match coverage live from Kingsmeadow on our Instagram page, ChelseaFCW.