Full time: Reading 0-5 Chelsea
Peep peep! That was an ominous statement of intent from Chelsea, who hammered a decent Reading side to move up to second in the table. Fran Kirby scored four (yep) classy goals against her old club, and the substitute Ji’s stylish finish completed an emphatic victory. Chelsea have picked up where they left off before Christmas, and they will be in fine mood going into next week’s match against the leaders Manchester United. Thanks for your company, ta-ra!
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90+2 min Eriksson’s corner is volleyed a fraction wide by Ingle. In fact it took a deflection, without which it might have gone in.
90+2 min Chelsea are still trying to improve their goal difference. After a patient build-up, Fleming whistles a shot that deflects over the bar.
90 min There will be four minutes of added time.
GOAL! Reading 0-5 Chelsea (Ji 86)
Ji completes the rout with a beautifully taken goal. Blundell’s cross from the right skimmed the head of a Reading defender at the near post and flew towards Ji, arriving late in the box. She took it down on the chest, lobbed it past Leine and hooked a shot that hit Bartrip and flew past Moloney. The shot was going in anyway, and the way Ji created the space was lovely.
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85 min Ji curls the free-kick just wide of the right-hand post. Moloney looked very relaxed about it all but it wasn’t far away.
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84 min England is fouled 22 yards from goal by Cooper. Ji and Eriksson are over the free-kick...
80 min Danielle Carter replaces Emma Mitchell for Reading.
79 min Kirby wins the ball in midfield and gives it to Ji. She slides it forward to Harder, who outpaces the last defender Bartrip and lifts a shot that is really well saved by Moloney. Moments later, Eriksson’s mishit cross grazes the top of the crossbar.
77 min It’s really petering out now. The main point of interest is whether Fran Kirby can get a fifth goal.
74 min Yes, Bartrip is on for Woodham.
73 min There’s a break in play while Lily Woodham receives treatment. It looks like Molly Bartrip is going to replace her.
72 min Harder and Eriksson replaces Andersson and Charles.
70 min With Chelsea’s 4-0 lead in jeopardy, Emma Hayes is about to bring on the big guns, Magdalena Eriksson and Pernille Harder.
66 min Berger makes a terrific one-on-one save from Harding, though it wouldn’t have counted as the flag had gone up.
65 min The corner is headed away at the near post.
65 min This is a decent spell for Reading. Bruton finds the overlapping Woodham, whose cross is put behind for a corner by Blundell.
62 min A triple change for Chelsea. Beth England, Jessie Fleming and Ji replace Kerr, Cuthbert and Reiten.
61 min Rachel Rowe replaces Fara Williams for Reading, and immediately flattens Erin Cuthbert.
60 min Kirby’s imaginative pass is bravely claimed by Moloney, who just beats Kerr to the ball.
59 min Reading are wrongly awarded a corner on the left. Williams swings it straight out of play.
56 min This is a brilliant scoreline for Chelsea. Reading may not be among the big three/four but it’s a long time since they’ve been 4-0 down at home.
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GOAL! Reading 0-4 Fran Kirby (Kirby 53)
This is getting silly. Reiten drives the corner towards the near post, where Kirby gets above James and flicks an excellent header into the far corner. That’s her fourth goal, and her face is a picture of joyous disbelief.
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53 min Andersson fizzes a beautiful pass down the left to Kerr, whose cross is put behind for another Chelsea corner.
51 min Another chance for Chelsea. Cuthbert plays in the underlapping Kirby, who stands up a lovely deep cross towards Reiten. She heads just wide from eight yards.
50 min Kirby misses a good chance for her fourth goal. She was put through on goal but overran the ball slightly just enough to allow Fishlock to make a brilliant recovery challenge.
49 min A quiet start to the second half. Deep down, both teams know the game is over.
46 min Peep peep! Chelsea begin the second half. Reading have made a half-time change: the teenager Emma Harries has been replaced by Lauren Bruton.
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The Reading keeper Grace Moloney was booked for dissent after Chelsea’s third goal. She was convinced the ball had gone out of play before Sam Kerr lobbed it across to Fran Kirby.
Half-time reading
Half time: Reading 0-3 Chelsea
That was the last touch of the half. It was very tight as to whether Kerr kept the ball in play, but the flag stayed down and Kirby finished confidently. All three goals were expertly taken, and she is warmly embraced by some of the Chelsea backroom staff as she leaves the field. After all she has been through, that’s a seriously popular hat-trick. It’s also a perfect one: right foot, left foot and finally a header.
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Cuthbert flipped a free-kick over the Reading defence that was just kept in play by Kerr on the right side of the area. She lobbed the ball back into the middle, where the unmarked Kirby steered a header past Moloney.
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GOAL! Reading 0-3 Chelsea (Kirby 45+2) - KIRBY HAT-TRICK!
Fran Kirby has scored a first-half hat-trick against her old club!
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45+1 min Fara Williams is booked for a lunging tackle on Guro Reiten.
45 min Leupolz, who has done some excellent defensive work in midfield, nicks the ball off Fishlock just outside the penalty area.
44 min Here’s the WSL table as things stand. It’s deliciously poised ahead of Chelsea v Man Utd a week today.
41 min There’s an impressive authority to Chelsea’s play, with and without the ball. Ingle sprays a superb crossfield pass out to Charles on the right. She confidently beats Woodham and tries to pick out Kirby, who is tackled by Fishlock. The ball runs back towards Charles, whose snapshot is accidentally blocked by her teammate Kerr.
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39 min A half chance for Reading. Harding’s flick-on releases Fishlock on the left side of the area. She tries to screw a cross back towards James on the edge of the area, but it’s slightly overhit and Chelsea clear.
36 min: Chance for Chelsea! Kerr breaks through on goal in the inside-left channel. She could shoot herself but tries to give a hat-trick goal to Kirby, who has the ball taken off her toes by Mitchell. That’s twice in this match that Kerr has tried to find Kirby when she was in a good position to score.
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34 min A quiet spell in the game. We haven’t seen possession stats but I suspect Reading have had more of the ball. This hasn’t been the mismatch that the scoreline might suggest.
30 min Reading have played pretty well in the first half hour. The difference has been Chelsea’s quality in the final third, and particularly the ruthless finishing of Fran Kirby.
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28 min Harding runs onto a long pass from James and tries an imaginative, booming lob over Berger from 25 yards. It drifts just wide of the far post, though Berger probably had it covered.
25 min After more good play from Kirby, who is having a stormer against her old club, Reiten’s tame shot is easily saved by Moloney.
GOAL! Reading 0-2 Chelsea (Kirby 23)
Twenty seconds after hitting the post, Fran Kirby gets her second goal. She intercepted Mitchell’s pass into midfield and set off towards the Reading area. Mitchell tried to wrestle her off the ball but Kirby was strong enough to resist the challenge and calm enough to slide the ball past Moloney. That’s another excellent finish.
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23 min: Kirby hits the post! That was a spectacular effort. She received a short pass from Andersson, turned and rifled a rising shot that beat Moloney and smacked off the far post.
21 min “Hi Rob,” says Redmond Grimes. “Chelsea leaving out Ji is always a mystery for me. She is the most creative player in the WSL.”
I’m sure she’s just being rested. Chelsea have a lot of fixtures coming up, including a humdinger against the leaders Manchester United next weekend.
19 min Reading win their first corner. Fara Williams drives it towards Fishlock in the D and Kirby intercepts. The ball goes back to Williams, whose cross drifts over the bar.
17 min There hasn’t been a side-on replay, never mind VAR graphics, but the angles we have seen suggest Kirby was offside.
GOAL! Reading 0-1 Chelsea (Kirby 16)
Chelsea are in front! A hooked clearance was headed on by Kerr towards Kirby, who looked offside but was allowed to continue. She scurried into the area and moved smoothly around Moloney before clipping the ball into the empty net.
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12 min Chelsea are starting to look dangerous, particularly on the counter-attack. Reading have had plenty of the ball but need to be careful when they lose possession.
8 min Kerr’s shot is well saved by Moloney, though the flag had gone up for offside. I’m not that sure that was the correct decision, not that it matters.
5 min Kerr’s low cutback towards Kirby is put behind for a corner by Fishlock. That was a vital interception, without which Kirby could probably have scored.
4 min Reading have straight brightly. Williams played a nice through ball towards Harding, who is flagged offside. She miscontrolled the ball anyway.
1 min Peep peep! Reading kick off from left to right. They are in blue and white; Chelsea are wearing their ember glow (sic) third kit. There’s been a late change to the Chelsea team: Hannah Blundell has replaced Maren Mjelde at right-back.
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The teams in (probable) formation
Reading (4-4-2) Moloney; Leine, Cooper, Mitchell, Woodham; Williams, James, Fishlock, Eikeland; Harding, Harries.
Substitutes: Bartrip, Bruton, Carter, Rowe, Skeels, Roberts Stewart.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1) Berger; Blundell, Bright, Ingle, Andersson; Cuthbert, Leupolz; Charles, Kirby, Reiten; Kerr.
Substitutes: Telford, England, Ji, Eriksson, Fleming, Harder.
Referee Abigail Byrne.
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Pre-match reading
Team news
Chelsea manager Emma Hayes has rested Magdalena Eriksson and Pernille Harder.
🔵⚪️ TEAM NEWS 🔵⚪️
— Reading FC Women (@ReadingFCWomen) January 10, 2021
Here’s our Starting XI for this afternoon’s @BarclaysFAWSL clash against Chelsea at Madejski 🤩#REACHE pic.twitter.com/SxeiMEJsRA
Today's starting XI to take on Reading! 👊#CFCW pic.twitter.com/W9iot0r8Nj
— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) January 10, 2021
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Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of Reading v Chelsea from the Madejski Stadium. For a variety of reasons - Covid, injuries, trips to Dubai - this the only WSL match being played this weekend. It’s a chance for the champions Chelsea, who were in fine form before the winter break, to move above Arsenal and into second place.
Emma Hayes knows that Reading are awkward opponents. They’ve already drawn at home to Manchester City this season, and the leaders Manchester United needed a late goal win at the Madejski last month. Whatever happens, at least we have a football match to watch and discuss; it’s better for the soul than arguing about trips to Dubai.
Kick off 2pm.
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