Here is the report.
And with that, I’m going to exit stage left. It looks very much like Manchester City, 2-0 up at Bristol City with eight minutes to play, will remain two points behind Chelsea when the night is out. It’s a much bigger night at the bottom of the table, where West Ham have come from a goal down to lead Birmingham 2-1, a result which would take them off the bottom of the table and to the giddy heights of ninth and send Bristol bottom. Bye!
There seems no stopping the Chelsea rollercoaster. Their next two WSL games see them play Aston Villa and Birmingham City at home, neither of which you would expect to cause them significant difficulties, before they head to Manchester for a potentially season-defining fixture - depending, perhaps, on whether they have found a way past Wolfsburg in the Champions League - against City.
Everton meanwhile continue their record of losing every game against the four teams above them in the table, and they still have games against Arsenal and Manchester United to come.
Final score: Everton 0-3 Chelsea
90+4 mins: And that’s it! Chelsea ease to victory, and if all scores stay the same Chelsea will lead the WSL with 44 points and a goal difference of +44, ahead of Manchester City on 42 points and a goal difference of +42.
90+4 mins: Chelsea pass the ball around their defence until Graham gets bored and gives one of them a kick.
90+1 mins: Nothing comes of that corner, and it does look like Everton could play on forever without creating a clear chance.
89 mins: Everton end strongly, with an excellent Christiansen cross from the right, punched away by Berger, and a decent centre from Emslie on the left, which flicks off a defender and out for a corner.
86 mins: Chelsea spend a while sending balls into the box, from both right and left, before Ji gives up on trying to pick out anyone else and sends a low cross-shot bouncing just wide from out on the right.
83 mins: A double change for Chelsea, as Kirby and Andersson go off and Carter and Fleming come on.
GOAL! Everton 0-3 Chelsea (Leupolz, 80 mins)
That’ll seal it! Charles’s ball into the box bounces to Harder, whose looping header is clawed away by Korpela but straight to Leupolz, who taps in!
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78 mins: The corner is cleared, sent back into the area, and Gauvin, who has been a handful since she came on, sends a weak header into Berger’s arms.
77 mins: A low cross from the right, and Gauvin’s shot hits a defender and goes wide. There are some appeals for handball, but Everton have to make do with a corner.
75 mins: Chelsea’s second goal looked like this:
Brilliant play from the Blues for @PernilleMHarder’s goal! 👏#CFCWpic.twitter.com/gTugiH5dtZ
— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) March 17, 2021
73 mins: Reiten is booked within 30 seconds of her arrival, for a foul on Graham.
72 mins: Chelsea get in on the substitutional action, bringing Reiten on for Kerr.
72 mins: Everton make a couple more substitutions, with Lehmann and Moe Wold coming on, and Raso and Sorensen going off.
71 mins: Tonight’s four WSL games are currently being won by an aggregate score of 6-0 by the away teams. All four away sides are now in front, with Brighton 1-0 up at Aston Villa, Birmingham a goal to the good at West Ham, Manchester City now two up at Bristol, and Chelsea making hay here.
70 mins: Harder squares to Kirby, who turns away from goal and lays off to Ji, whose shot hits a defender.
67 mins: Everton win a corner, which Gauvin sends looping gently goalwards. It looks like Berger helps it over the bar, but the referee gives a goal kick.
64 mins: This, as you may have noticed, is a bit of a blow to Everton’s hopes. They haven’t looked remotely like scoring at any stage so far, and no sooner do they bring Gauvin on to sprinkle some stardust on their front line, they fall two goals behind.
GOAL! Everton 0-2 Chelsea (Harder, 60 mins)
Another goal on the break for Chelsea! Kerr is played in down the right, she plays an excellent ball in to Kirby, and she takes a touch to control and then sets up Harder for an easy finish!
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59 mins: Valerie Gauvin comes off the bench for Everton, replacing Magill.
58 mins: Chelsea hog the ball for a bit, before eventually launching it from left to right, where Kerr gets to the byline before lifting a cross into the arms of Korpela, who is having a pretty good game.
55 mins: Everton have a shot on target! It’s a weak header from Graham, though, and Berger catches it.
52 mins: Pass of the night! Harder rips the defence open with a fabulous through-ball to Kirby, but Korpela is off her line like lightning and the Chelsea player shoots right into her.
50 mins: Charles tackles Emslie on Everton’s left, and the Everton players stays down for a while clutching an ankle before finally getting back to her feet.
48 mins: Save! Emslie cuts onto her right foot and sends in a good shot, which Berger is equal to.
47 mins: Good work from Harder on the right, but her cross is cleared. Everton negotiate the first minute of this half without conceding a penalty, or anything else.
46 mins: Peeeeep! The second half is under way!
You may now enjoy the goal at your leisure:
That ball. 😍
— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) March 17, 2021
That finish. 🔥
𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 @SamKerr1 and @FranKirby connection. 🙌#CFCW
pic.twitter.com/2ytScNeY5R
Three of tonight’s four WSL fixtures are currently being won 1-0 by the away team. Birmingham lead at West Ham, Emily Murphy with their goal.
YESSSSSSSS!!!! MURPHYYYYYY!!!
— Birmingham City Women (@BCFCwomen) March 17, 2021
[0-1] @BarclaysFAWSL pic.twitter.com/TKL1rPlVKv
Half time: Everton 0-1 Chelsea
45+2 mins: Peeeeep! That’s all for now. The league leaders haven’t had it all their own way, and the stats (which show that they’ve had 10 shots and Everton only one) are a little skewed by their willingness to shoot from range, but they’re good value for their lead.
45 mins: We go into a single minute of stoppage time, which starts with Everton’s first corner, the result of their first shot.
43 mins: Meanwhile Chelsea’s closest challengers are also in the lead, Caroline Weir scoring for Manchester City at Bristol with the game’s first shot on target.
THERE'S THE OPENER!!! 💥
— Man City Women (@ManCityWomen) March 17, 2021
🔴 0-1 🔵 #ManCity | https://t.co/HkTzfLv0HJ pic.twitter.com/F22MOJ7jiG
41 mins: Chelsea hit the bar! Finnigan does well to challenge Harder but the ball rolls to Cuthbert, who from 25 yards sends a lovely shot over Korpela but off the bar and behind!
39 mins: Chelsea are really dominating possession now, but the game is being played at quite the pace, and there’s a general lack of accuracy about proceedings.
36 mins: Everton give the ball away inside their own half, and Kirby races with it towards the penalty area, but once she gets there she takes a heavy touch, and it’s stolen away again.
35 mins: Ji hits another shot from outside the area, but this one is straight at Korpela.
33 mins: Magill slides in to turn the ball behind for a corner. Chelsea are winning an awful lot of them, but Everton are defending them very well, and head this latest one away.
29 mins: Disallowed goal! Chelsea’s left-wing corner is headed out, then played back to Bright, who from near the byline and wide on the right sends in a low cross that ends up in the back of the net! It’s not clear who turned it in, but whoever it was was offside.
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27 mins: Berger flaps badly at a left-wing cross, and is lucky to see it run safely out of the area.
26 mins: Save! Kerr’s shot hits a defender and deflects to Harder, who from wide to the right of goal hits low and hard but too close to Korpela, who pushes it away.
24 mins: Raso’s poor clearance rolls to Ji, on the edge of the area, whose shot deflects back of Raso and wide.
20 mins: Everton attack down the right again, but Sorensen’s cross is poor and goes straight into touch.
19 mins: Kirby thumps a long-range shot wide from 30 yards.
17 mins: The home side get half a chance, as a cross from the right is half-cleared to Scott on the edge of the area, but instead of shooting she shuffles the ball back out wide.
17 mins: By contrast Everton come forward, but a pass wide towards Raso is rubbish, and goes out for a throw-in.
16 mins: Chelsea played two through-balls in a minute there that were pure quality, the first for Harder and the second for Kirby.
GOAL! Everton 0-1 Chelsea (Kirby, 14 mins)
The visitors take the lead on the break! Everton have a good spell of possession, but when it breaks down Chelsea rip them apart with two passes: Ji to Kerr, inside the centre circle, and a first-time through-ball to release Kirby, who slides the ball past Korpela!
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12 mins: A lovely ball from Andersson to Harder, who gets in down the left and plays in a low cross-shot that goes wide of the far post.
11 mins: Given that there was a penalty award inside the first 60 seconds it’s been a pretty low-drama opening. Other than the spot kick there have been no clear chances for either side.
8 mins: Kirby plays Cuthbert into the penalty area, but Sevecke comes across to steal the ball with a perfectly-timed challenge.
7 mins: Everton win a free-kick on the left, which Christiansen sends into the box, but Chelsea head clear.
3 mins: It was apparently a handball, that’s all I’ve got for you. I can confirm that Tinja-Riikka Korpela certainly got her hands to the ball shortly afterwards.
2 mins: SAVED! Leupolz puts it at a nice height, to her left, and Korpela goes the right way and pushes it round the post!
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1 min: Chelsea have a penalty! I must admit I’ve no idea why, due to a hopefully temporary FA Player glitch.
1 min: Peeeeeep! The game has begun.
The players are on the pitch! Everton are in their traditional blue, Chelsea are also in blue but not their traditional hue.
Here’s a photo for you. It is not exactly revelatory, but it does confirm that Chelsea have indeed turned up.
I’d love to show you a live picture of the stadium, but there are none that I’m allowed to use. I can tell you it looks like a lovely evening at Walton Hall Park, and that the venue is looking remarkably chipper given that it was apparently victim of an arson attack last week.
The teams!
Team news is in, and this is what it looks like. Everton make five changes, with Korpela, George, Graham, Magill and Sorensen coming in:
Everton: Korpela; Sevecke, George, Christiansen, Magill, Emslie, Sorensen, Raso, Graham, Scott, Finnigan. Subs: Kirby, Moe Wold, Boye-Hlorkah, Lehmann, Stringer, Gauvin, Clemaron, Clinton, Pattinson.
Chelsea: Berger; Bright, Leupolz, Ji, Kirby, Eriksson, Kerr, Charles, Cuthbert, Harder, Andersson. Subs: Musovic, Telford, Blundell, Carter, Reiten, Fleming, Spence, Fox, Wardlaw.
Referee: Emily Heaslip.
🔵 𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐌 𝐍𝐄𝐖𝐒 🔵
— Everton Women (@EvertonWomen) March 17, 2021
📋 Tonight's starting XI to face Chelsea...#BarclaysFAWSL pic.twitter.com/Mk8FBACdtA
Here's how we line-up to face Everton! 💪#CFCW pic.twitter.com/XlbHzfn53y
— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) March 17, 2021
Hello world!
Everton have had a completely consistent season: they have lost to Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal, the only teams now above them in the table, every time they have played them, and they have not lost to anyone else. Never has a league position been more appropriate than their current fifth place. They are demonstrably less good than every team above them, and demonstrably not worse than any of the teams below them.
The same can’t be said of Chelsea, who last month lost 2-1 at home to then-struggling Brighton, ending an unbeaten league run that stretched back a frankly offensive 33 games. That is the one game that gives Everton some hope, and it was an absolute freak: Chelsea had 30 shots in the game. Thirty! That’s twice as many as Manchester City’s men manage in an average fixture, and comfortably more than the Premier League leaders have managed in any single league game this season (they did, to be fair, manage 27 against Aston Villa on the opening day of the season; the most Chelsea’s men have managed in a single game is 25, and that was against Morecambe in the FA Cup). Brighton meanwhile had three. I supposed it proved that miracles can happen in this game, and Everton will be hoping for another one.
Whatever happens, there should be plenty of entertainment. The last time Chelsea were involved in a goalless game in any competition was at Birmingham in October 2018, getting on for two and a half years ago. Everton’s was comparatively recent, at Brighton in January 2019. Here’s hoping for some fun, and certainly a few goals. Welcome!
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