Catarina Macario: Chelsea forward's return 'just what we need', says boss Emma Hayes

After 641 days without playing and 644 days without scoring, Catarina Macario is back.

Chelsea boss Emma Hayes said the American forward's return is "just what we need coming into the run-in" after her first goal for the club.

The 24-year-old made her Blues debut in Sunday's 4-0 win at Leicester after 20 months out with an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury.

Macario was injured when she signed for the club from Lyon in June 2023.

"She hasn't played for more than 600 days. She came to Chelsea and wasn't in a fit state to play until now," said Hayes.

"We've had to do a lot of work with her off the pitch so for her to get this moment I'm so immensely proud of her and the team behind the team who have put the hours into her.

"She's a super footballer and just what we need coming into the run-in. Of course she has to get a bit more match fit but she played her part."

Macario's return is especially good news for Hayes, who will continue to work with the United States international when she takes over the national team in June.

"I love her to bits," Hayes said. "She's a great human and I knew bringing her to Chelsea we would have to go backwards before we went forward. I can tell the Chelsea fans this: 'I'm leaving you a super player'.

"I hope she plays a big part for the remainder of the season but long-term Chelsea have got a world-class forward and so have USA."

Macario suffered her ACL injury in Lyon's final game of the 2021-22 campaign, a 4-0 win over Issy on June 1, 2022.

Her 78th-minute goal at King Power Stadium was her first since scoring the winner against Paris St-Germain on 29 May.

"That was really fun honestly," she told Sky Sports. "Finally I'm able to be back on the pitch and it just felt like a dream come true, not only to be back from injury but to play for Chelsea for the first time.

"Emma has been tremendous. She has been so supportive, not pressuring me to come back which is rare. No one wants to come into a club being injured but I couldn't have asked for a better manager. I attribute that a lot to her."

'This is her moment'

Catarino Macario scored five minutes and 11 seconds after coming on

Only five minutes after her introduction, Macario produced a composed finish to beat Lize Kop with a powerful shot on the turn before being mobbed by her teammates in celebration.

"I've got a smile from ear to ear and I've never met her and I don't know her," former Chelsea midfielder Karen Carney told Sky Sports.

"For a new player coming in and to see the reaction from the rest of the squad, she must be very special in that dressing room to that group of players. This is her moment.

"When you're out for that long, there are so many lows and to come back on the pitch and get a goal that is a high. When you're out, whether it's a week, or a day, [to be out] that long I don't know what she must have been feeling when she stepped onto that pitch."