Chelsea 7-0 Everton: Champions thump visitors to keep title defence in their own hands

Pernille Harder scored with her archetypal interaction aft coming disconnected the seat during Chelsea's thumping triumph implicit Everton

Chelsea ruthlessly exposed Everton to support the defence of their Women's Super League rubric firmly successful their ain hands with 4 games remaining.

Harder and Erin Cuthbert stretched the pb to 7 aft the break.

Chelsea determination into 2nd spot successful the table, 4 points down Manchester United, with 2 games successful hand.

Everton, who big Arsenal successful their adjacent game, stay successful sixth successful the table.

The Blues volition clasp their rubric if they triumph their past 4 matches of the season, and manager Emma Hayes says her broadside are timing their tally to execute success.

"It's astir peaking for the close moments successful the season," Hayes told Sky Sports.

"We've been chasing successful the league each twelvemonth and we cognize we person to beryllium cleanable to triumph the league this twelvemonth but this was the benignant of performance, and the goals, that we needed to assistance america footwear on."

• WSL: Chelsea v Everton - arsenic it happened

Giant measurement towards a 4th consecutive title

When the Blues narrowly slipped retired of the Champions League successful Barcelona past month, the look became simple: triumph the remaining six games of the play and present a league and cupful double.

Victory implicit Liverpool connected Wednesday was the archetypal hurdle successfully flooded and the Blues were rapidly into their stride against the different apical formation broadside from Merseyside.

Reiten opened the scoring with a objective decorativeness arsenic she took a interaction to acceptable herself wrong the country earlier smashing an angled decorativeness past Courtney Brosnan.

Kerr got successful connected the enactment soon aft with a leaping header to conscionable Niamh Charles' delicious transverse though the Australian appeared to onshore awkwardly arsenic she came backmost down to world and had to beryllium replaced soon after.

Harder was introduced disconnected the seat to capable the void and the Danish guardant could not person asked for a amended interaction arsenic she added a 3rd extremity with her archetypal interaction successful the crippled aft a sublime first-time decorativeness with her near foot.

More Chelsea unit and much panicked Everton defending saw Jessie Fleming stay composed arsenic she acceptable the shot backmost for Ingle to present a 4th extremity with a guided side-foot decorativeness from extracurricular the box.

And the hosts were not done determination arsenic Fleming turned from supplier to goalscorer with a sweeping onslaught from Harder's cutback wrong the area.

Hayes says she was pleased with her side's ratio successful beforehand of goal.

She added: "We were truly clinical, we scored 3 goals from 4 shots which was businesslike but the show successful the archetypal 20 minutes, not acceptable.

"I thought we struggled to get clasp of the game, we didn't enactment unit connected the shot truthful we had to set that."We person a cupful last adjacent week, everyone wants to play. You spot Pernille Harder coming back. We've missed a batch of goals this play without her and Fran Kirby."

Everton's situation was implicit successful the archetypal fractional but they improved aft the interruption arsenic they seemed to judge the inevitability of decision and played with much freedom.

Chelsea were coasting and did not person the aforesaid cutting borderline until Harder stretched the pb with different first-time finish, but with her close foot.

Cuthbert added a precocious seventh arsenic Chelsea doubled the fig of distant goals Everton had conceded each play successful 1 day astatine Kingsmeadow.

The Blues big Leicester successful their adjacent league crippled earlier facing rubric rivals Manchester United successful the FA Cup last astatine a sold-out Wembley Stadium connected 14 May.