Wieke Kaptein showed great determination to get beyond the Manchester City defence to score Wednesday night’s Women’s League Cup semi-final winning goal, but according to the Dutch midfielder, she is an unlikely candidate to net with a header.
When Sandy Baltimore’s perfectly weighted cross sailed into the box against Manchester City on Wednesday night, the 20-year-old looked like a seasoned pro at scoring headed goals as she rose up strongly to power the ball home.
Yet as Kaptein explained, the reality is exactly the opposite, and it was clear that this was another example of Chelsea’s team spirit, grit and determination on an evening where we came out on top after a stern test from our title rivals.
‘I don’t think I’ve ever scored a header!’ she smiled afterwards. ‘Sandy played in a really good ball, and I just saw it. I was thinking I must get on the end of it, and luckily I did.
‘I don’t even score headers in training; they all say I need to use my head more, but I’m not really a header of the ball, so it was really good.’
The Blues have now won the first of three crucial games, with Women’s Super League fixtures against Arsenal and Manchester City next on the agenda.
With a seventh consecutive place in the League Cup final safely secured, Kaptein explained why it’s in our DNA at Chelsea to pull together during a difficult run of fixtures.
‘I think we had control in the first half, but maybe in the second half, we lost that control a little bit. But we are Chelsea, we are always fighting, and the important thing was that we won.
‘It was really important to keep our belief. We did so well as a team and stayed together.’
Focus now shifts to the WSL with a huge clash against the Gunners at Stamford Bridge on Saturday lunchtime. Chelsea sit six points behind leaders Man City, and have a huge opportunity to cut that lead when we return to Manchester next weekend.
For Kaptein, the aim of collecting more silverware is very much the end goal for the campaign, but she explained the team’s focus is always on the next task in front of them.
‘We’re really hungry,’ she concluded. ‘We take it game by game, which is very important from our side. Of course, we want to keep winning trophies, and we’re doing well so far.’