This afternoon’s victory means Chelsea become the first team in WSL history to win five consecutive away matches without conceding.

Chelsea got off to the perfect start when Kerr opened the scoring on seven minutes when she met England’s cross and headed the Blues into a 1-0 lead.

The Blues duo then combined once again to double our advantage minutes into the second half and this time Kerr turned provider as she delivered a cross for England to nod home.

Guro Reiten and second-half substitute Fran Kirby both went close to extending our lead but the goals from Kerr and England proved the difference in this afternoon’s London derby.

Chelsea remain at the top of the league, two points above second-placed Manchester City.

The Blues will now prepare for our Champions League round of 16 second leg against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday.

We take a 2-0 lead into the second leg in Monza, Italy before focus switches to the Continental League Cup final, with Bristol City the opponents at Vicarage Road next Sunday.

Emma Hayes made three changes to the Chelsea team that secured a 2-0 first leg victory over Atletico Madrid at Kingsmeadow on Wednesday evening, with the Blues boss handing goalkeeper Zecira Musovic her first start for club.

With skipper Magda Eriksson still side-lined through injury, Maren Mjelde joined Millie Bright in central defence with Niamh Charles and Jonna Andersson occupying the full-back positions.

Sophie Ingle and Ji So-Yun lined up in front of the back four with Reiten, Pernille Harder and Kerr in attacking roles behind striker England.

Kerr netted her first hat-trick for the club when Chelsea secured a 3-2 victory over West Ham at Kingsmeadow back in December and just seven minutes into this afternoon’s contest, Kerr had grabbed herself another goal against the Hammers.

England found space on the right before digging out a teasing cross and Kerr rose highest in the box to head home her 13th of the season and give the Blues an early lead.

Despite the early goal, West Ham grew into the game with striker Martha Thomas holding the ball up well and providing an outlet for the hosts, but it was Chelsea who carved out the next real opportunity of the game just before the half-hour mark.

Kerr delivered a pin-point cross into the box, which was met by an unmarked Harder, but her header was palmed away by West Ham keeper Courtney Brosnan.

Harder looked the player most likely to extend our advantage and she had two glimpses at goal minutes before the interval.

Goalkeeper Brosnan first denied a fierce strike from Harder before the Denmark captain ran at the Hammers backline and shifted the ball onto her left foot before dragging her effort inches wide.

The second half began similar to the first, with Kerr and England combining to give the Blues an early goal.

A quick throw-in from Charles got Kerr in down the right and this time she provided the cross for England to head past Brosnan and double our advantage.

Ingle nearly added to her collection of spectacular goals when she lined up on the edge of the box to meet a Reiten corner on the volley, but the midfielder could not generate enough power to trouble the West Ham keeper.

Chelsea nearly added a third deep into the second half when substitutes Kirby and Jessie Fleming combined. Fleming picked out Kirby in the box, but the striker’s headed effort struck the crossbar and Reiten latched onto the rebound, but the Norwegian’s close-range strike was saved superbly by Brosnan in the West Ham goal.

The Blues had to weather some late pressure from the hosts, but the Chelsea backline, in particular the solid partnership of Bright and Mjelde, was able to limit West Ham to few clear-cut opportunities and earn another three points and another clean sheet.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1) Musovic, Charles (Carter 82), Mjelde, Bright (C), Andersson; Ingle, Ji (Spence 82); Harder (Fleming 68), Reiten, Kerr (Kirby 68); EnglandUnused subs Berger, Orman, Blundell, Leupolz, FoxScorers Kerr 7 England 47

West Ham (3-4-1-2) Brosnan, Fisk, Flaherty (C), Vetterlein (Cissoko 90); Redisch, Dali, Longhurst, Brynjarsdottir; Svitkova (Pacheco 77); Thomas, van EgmondUnused subs Ramsey, Mustafa, Barker

Referee Robert Whitton