Sam Kerr and Beth England double up to keep Chelsea on their way to the hat-trick title

Kerr, the division’s top scorer in that term, has scored 16 goals from his 16 league appearances this term, and Kerr and England’s form has reduced the impact of the absence of injured duo Pernille Harder and Fran Kirby for Chelsea. They were also without midfielder Ji So-yun (Covid-19) and young striker Lauren James, who had a sore groin and was preventively calm, and Hayes added: “The team is showing flexibility and resilience and they were amazing again.”

For Reading, the defeat extended the WSL winless streak to seven games and remain eighth in the standings, but only a point behind the top six. Chambers described their performance in the second half as “unacceptable” and added: “When they scored the second goal, our heads fell. We played back in pressure, we played sideways in pressure, so it was up to us.”

Match details and ratings

Chelsea (3-5-2) Musovic 7; Bright 6, Nouwen 7 (Mjelde 6, 78), Eriksson 6; Carter 7 (Charles 7, 78), Fleming 7 (Abdullina 6, 81), Ingle 7, Cuthbert 7 (Spence 6, 82), Reiten 7 (Andersson 6, 79); Kerr 8, England 7.
Subs not used Berger (gk), Thompson.

Reading (5-4-1) Moloney 5; Bryson 5, Harding 6 (Primer 6, 79), Evans 6, Cooper 6, Woodham 5; Rowe 6, Eikeland 6, Peplow 6, Rose 7; Harries 5 (Troelsgaard 6, 57).
Subs not used Stewart (gk), Roberts, Dowie.

Judge Emily Heaslip (Bury St Edmunds).