Erin Cuthbert believes the team togetherness was crucial to Chelsea FC Women’s 3-1 victory over Manchester City at Kingsmeadow on Sunday.
A first-half penalty from Maren Mjelde and second-half goals Sam Kerr and Fran Kirby earned us all three points against our fellow title contenders.
Attacking midfielder Cuthbert was impressive throughout Chelsea’s clash against Man City and the Scotland International highlighted aspects from our performance which proved influential in our triumph.‘I thought we was fantastic,’ she said. ‘The base of our team is hard work – we’ve got so much talent in our squad, but hard work first and foremost is a foundation for us to then go and play.‘When everyone is working together, we are all sharing the load. When the work is evened out throughout the whole squad it means we are able to go and press.‘When the ball went out to Lucy Bronze, I felt like I was able to go and press because I had the energy to do that because all the other girls had set the foundations.‘We’ve got a star-studded team but first and foremost we are a team and we are together. We want to work for each other, we had a look at each other in the changing rooms before the game and we all wanted to win for each other.’
With the summer arrivals of Melanie Leupolz, Jessie Fleming, Niamh Charles and Pernille Harder, competition for places in the Blues squad is higher than ever but Cuthbert is relishing the extra competition and believes the depth of the squad will be vital in helping Chelsea achieve success on all fronts this season.‘If we want to win the major trophies, like we all do, if we want to compete for every single trophy, including the Champions League, then we are going to need all the depth in the squad we can get.’ Cuthbert said.‘We saw from Wednesday to Sunday how much we’ve changed the squad and we’ve managed to keep the performance levels so high.‘The foundations for that performance is done in training and everyone will see what we do on a Sunday but actually all that is built from the week.‘Everyone is working together as a squad because we all want to help each other achieve the best and when we do it provides a performance like that.‘We all want success – we all want the best for each other. I started on the bench on Wednesday and I was cheering on the girls and when I started the game today I could hear the girls cheering for me.‘Everyone wants the best for each other, we are the ones pushing each other to reach new heights and if we keep pushing each other then the sky will be the limit for us.’
Cuthbert played a key role in our third goal on Sunday afternoon as she played a defence-splitting through ball to Kirby who took the ball round goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck before slotting home to complete the scoring.That goal takes Kirby’s tally to three this season and Cuthbert is delighted to see the England international back among the goals.‘Fran is one of my good friends as well so seeing her journey and seeing what she’s been through – it’s an absolute pleasure to see the performances she is providing on the pitch.‘That’s testament to all the hard work she has done because she has really worked so hard in pre-season including the time through lockdown to get herself to a fitness level where she is able to compete with the team.‘Her technical ability speaks for itself, she is a top-class player and she is a joy to play with. She is always able to find angles for me and she makes my job easier.‘If I can do the hard work for her and she can go on and score like she did then I’m happy with that.‘She is outstanding and when I give her the ball I know she is going to provide something beautiful.'