In the tournament where she's always shone brightest, Sam Kerr, the Queen of the Women's FA Cup, has scored another double for Chelsea to help ease the holders into the fifth round.
Given a start in Saturday's fourth-round clash against WSL2 side Crystal Palace, Kerr, who's scored five goals in three Women's FA Cup final triumphs, restarted her love affair with the competition as player of the match in their 5-0 stroll.
A clinical strike to make it 2-0 in the 22nd minute was followed by one of her trademark deadly headers six minutes after the break as Kerr lived up to her pre-match declaration that "I'm getting back to my best level."
When manager Sonia Bompastor decided to give the 32-year-old a rest and took her off just after the hour, replacing her with Matildas teammate Ellie Carpenter, she deprived Kerr of the chance of her first hat-trick since her return from her long-standing ACL injury in September.
But Kerr's enduring excellence is now really beginning to shine through as she took her season's tally to nine goals.
Remarkably, she's the English champions' leading scorer even though she missed the start of the season and has largely featured as a substitute, being introduced in the dying minutes.
"Every time I went out onto the pitch in the few games before Christmas, I scored or assisted. I think now it's just down to playing time, and I'd obviously like to be on the pitch as much as possible," explained Kerr in a club website interview before the match.
'Every game, I can feel myself getting better and better. During the Wolfsburg and Liverpool games, I felt like myself again."
These were Kerr's first goals in the Women's FA Cup since she scored the winner in the 2023 final against Manchester United at Wembley. In the two previous finals, she had netted doubles..
Her teammates also enjoyed the easy ride on Saturday as centre back Millie Bright opened the scoring in the 13th minute, Guro Reiten scored from the penalty spot just before the half-hour and Kerr's replacement Alyssa Thompson rounded off the rout with a 70th minute fifth.
No moment topped Kerr's second goal, though, when she was found with a superb cross from the left by Norwegian star Reiten, and guided her header home with effortless aplomb.
Kerr really does still look every inch the best header of a ball in the women's game.
In the day's other Cup match, Wassa Sangare's second-half strike was enough to earn London City Lionesses a 1-0 victory at second-tier Sunderland.
The Lionesses, with experienced Aussie international Alanna Kennedy shoring up their defence, made the breakthrough five minutes into the second half when Sangare nodded home from Grace Geyoro's corner.
