Chelsea 3-0 Tottenham: Manager Emma Hayes returns as Blues go top of WSL
- Published
Chelsea 3-0 Tottenham highlights
Emma Hayes said it was "like being back with family" as she returned to the dugout for Chelsea's 3-0 Women's Super League victory over Tottenham.
Hayes had been missing since early October as she recovered from surgery.
She oversaw a comfortable win thanks to goals from Sam Kerr, Erin Cuthbert and Guro Reiten.
Hayes said: "My back was killing me in the second half, but I didn't feel like I'd been away. I just felt like I was going back to my family."
The match was played in front of 38,300 fans at Stamford Bridge - a record home crowd for Chelsea women.
The victory puts Chelsea three points clear at the top of the WSL after they, Arsenal and Manchester United started Sunday level on 18 points from seven games following United's extraordinary 3-2 comeback win at Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
Hayes comes home
Hayes, 46, has been away for six weeks following an emergency hysterectomy as part of her "ongoing battle with endometriosis".
In her absence assistant Denise Reddy and general manager Paul Green have guided the team to six wins out of six in all competitions - and there was little doubt about Hayes picking up where her colleagues left off.
In a typically irreverent press conference afterwards - in which she answered the phone to Kerr halfway through, before saying she had baked cookies and banana bread rather than watch Chelsea from home given her confidence in her staff - Hayes said: "Pitch-side, when you're without the ball, you can get more stressed about something.
"At home, against Man Utd, I felt comfortable first half, and I'm not sure everyone felt comfortable pitch-side - you can't be calm about it.
"Today, even when the game started slowing, I used my experience from home, and I chilled out - at least for the portions of the game which might stress the team out.
"I don't want to be home on the sofa any more - Harry [her son] wants me there but I don't.
"For the most part I was left alone - I needed to recover, I was poorly. I don't think I spoke to Millie [Bright] and Magda [Eriksson] for two weeks, which I really needed.
"I feel like a mother hen, coming back."
Kerr scored after 12 minutes through the first decent chance Chelsea had. A Bright ball from the back opened Spurs like a tin of beans, the Australian shrugged off her defender, had the freedom of Stamford Bridge to set herself and place the ball into the far corner past the goalkeeper and three covering defenders.
Having quietened the crowd in the opening 10 minutes, it was a poor goal for Spurs to concede and they never fully recovered.
Rehanne Skinner's side won 8-0 against Brighton in their previous WSL game on October 30 - a waterlogged pitch cancelled their game against Everton before the international break - but they looked a shadow of that side.
Skinner said afterwards: "There were some positives to take out of the game in terms of how we played in possession at times, I thought we moved the ball really well, created some opportunities to get into the final third but I don't think we were convincing in our shooting opportunities as much as we probably should have been.
"We made a few mistakes and they capitalised on them and ultimately that cost us today."
The comfortable win for Chelsea will also reassure Hayes that they can deal with the absence of Pernille Harder, who suffered a hamstring injury while on international duty with Denmark.
Cuthbert celebrates contract with wonder goal
Cuthbert this week signed a new deal that will keep her at Chelsea until 2025 - nine years after she joined as a teenager.
She celebrated by scoring a stunning goal after 26 minutes, chesting down a half-cleared corner and volleying into the top corner from 20 yards. Spurs keeper Tinja-Riikka Korpela got a hand to it but could not stop it.
Hayes said of Cuthbert: "I'm sure I won't stop hearing from her. It was an outstanding goal from an outstanding player."
Soon after it was 3-0 as Ashleigh Neville clipped the heels of Lauren James in the area. Reiten was an unexpected choice to step up, but she confidently sent Korpela the wrong way.
From then on it was a straightforward afternoon out for the hosts in a game which marked the 30th anniversary since the official founding of the women's team.
They could have had more - Bright clattered the crossbar and Beth England flicked over the bar with her heel - but a Mexican wave midway through the second half showed just how comfortable the game became.
The attendance eclipsed the 24,564 that saw Chelsea take on Spurs at Stamford Bridge in 2019, making it a successful afternoon all round for Chelsea and Hayes.