Kerr-less Chelsea survive early FA Cup scare with extra-time winner
It's Sam Kerr who likes these moments so much, the rush of adrenaline as a comeback is sprung and executed, the deflation of an opponent in the final moments.
Whether Chelsea could still muster that spirit without their taliswoman became the million-dollar question as West Ham raced into an unlikely lead in the FA Cup fourth round and Chelsea - disjointed and at times, desperate - struggled to offer a riposte as an early exit loomed.
But striker Mia Fishel's regular-time equaliser and two quick-fire from Erin Cuthbert and Sjoeke Nusken in extra time confirmed the answer, much to the chagrin of the reigning FA Cup champions' detractors, was yes. The FA Cup fifth round now awaits.
The lessons to glean from Sunday's FA Cup fourth round contest are complex. For West Ham, this was a display in direct defiance to talk of relegation, a barometer for the season's remainder and a glimpse at the impacts a positive transfer window can reap, even if it ended in defeat.
For Chelsea, there is the inarguable positive of character in the face of adversity, an attribute so often conflated as cliché but imperative to any title-contending side, particularly one contending with injuries to major players. The more prosaic viewpoint is the manner in which Chelsea huffed and puffed their way through this tie against manageable opposition, clearly struggling without a clear focal point for large portions of the match.
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A #Cupset was always going to be on the cards given Sunday’s array of Women’s FA Cup clashes and the weekend marking the return to competitive football for the first in over a month. But that the eight-time champions and current three-time holders would be the ones to potentially suffer the ignominy of an early exit was as close to inconceivable as one could get.
An all-WSL tie always tosses up its obvious challenges. As does a Chelsea side learning to adapt to life without defender Millie Bright and now Kerr. Even so, going into Sunday, Chelsea and West Ham sat on polar ends of the league table. The Hammers were still bidding to shed a wretched start to the campaign having wrested just five points from 10 league matches.
A strong January transfer window has seen the Hammers bring in three major signings in Kristie Mewis, Katrina Gorry and Shelina Zadorsky, an augur for potentially better days on the horizon. And so it surely seemed with West Ham–employing Gorry and Zadorsky in the starting XI–finding the back of the net first through Viviane Asseyi inside the opening 20 minutes with a neat finish.
Viviane Asseyi of West Ham celebrates after scoring against Chelsea (Photo by West Ham United FC/West Ham United FC)The bank of statistics to underscore just how big a defeat could be for Chelsea arrived almost immediately. It's been 1,204 days since Chelsea lost a game in the FA Cup. September 2020 was the last time they knew the taste of defeat in this realm. Hayes’ side have lost only one match so far this season, a 4-1 defeat to Arsenal. Since claiming their first-ever FA Cup title in 2015, Chelsea have reached either the finals or semi-finals every year.
The Blues’ attempts to ensure these statistics existed only in the conceptual became frantic as time wore on, with James--a nuisance throughout--attempting to take control. Chances arrived but were spurned, the hosts struggling to test keeper Mackenzie Arnold.
West Ham's resolve was obstinate and impressive, particularly as Chelsea continued to push forward. Defender Ashley Lawrence very nearly restored parity but her curling effort from outside the area only smashed the crossbar to the relief of the visitors.
Mia Fishel of Chelsea celebrates after scoring her team's first goal (Photo by Michael Hewitt - The FA/Getty Images)Hayes, ostensibly feeling the threat of an early exit, called on her bench, and it didn't take long for substitute Fishel to see a chance come and go as the USWNT forward rose to meet James' cross into the box but she was ruled offside.
The introduction of Fishel, a more traditional No 9, settled the hosts and as the home support ratcheted up the volume, an equaliser sat too tantalising on the brink not to indulge. And so it proved as Fishel provided with a lovely turn and finish smacked into the roof of the net via Johanna Rytting Kaneryd's assist.
Brought into the club into the summer as a tentative replacement for Kerr, Fishel's potential has been largely theoretical this season, having registered a goal only once thus far in the 2-1 opening day victory over Tottenham.
Poetic symmetry, one could argue, that Kerr's apparent understudy could pick up the charge so soon. How many goals has Kerr provided when Chelsea's pulse looked dangerously lifeless?
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Whether Fishel, with help from Beever-Jones and James, can replace the gargantuan void that Kerr leaves remains to be seen. But the signs are encouraging.
Lauren James was one of Chelsea's best threats against West Ham (Photo by Michael Hewitt - The FA/Getty Images)Chelsea continued to search for a winner in regular time, with James coming close with another effort from range before blazing a shot from inside the area over the bar.
Extra-time saw James once more at the centre of Chelsea's better chances, with the starlet using her pace to blitz past the Hammers defence on the touchline and fizz crosses into the box for her teammates.
But it was Rytting Kaneryd's deep cross from the right to the back post that Cuthbert leapt high to head home. With momentum on the host's side, a third soon arrived as substitute Aggie Beever-Jones, with her first touch of the game, teed up Sjoeke Nüsken to tap home.
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