Chelsea were awarded a penalty after an Everton defender was adjudged to have handled the ball in the box but Leupolz seen her spot kick saved by Everton goalkeeper Tinja-Riikka Korpela.

The saved spot-kick didn’t have any effect on the Blues and just 10 minutes later, Kirby put Chelsea ahead as she latched onto a sublime pass from Sam Kerr before slotting home.

Kerr and Kirby were involved once again as they both combined before Kirby squared the ball to Harder for her to extend our lead on the hour mark.

All three points were secured with 10 minutes remaining when Toffees goalkeeper Korpela palmed a Harder header into the path of Leupolz and the midfielder poked home from close-range to complete an impressive performance from Chelsea.

Tonight’s victory keeps the Blues at the top of the WSL two points above second-placed Manchester City.

Chelsea now have a week to prepare for the first leg of our Champions League quarter-final against Wolfsburg, with the Blues facing the German side in Budapest, Hungary next Wednesday.

The Blues will then return to England for our league fixture against Aston Villa at Kingsmeadow on Sunday 28 March before heading back to Budapest for the second leg of our Champions league quarter final.

Emma Hayes made four changes to the side that started our Continental Cup final on Sunday, with Niamh Charles, Ji So-Yun, Erin Cuthbert and Harder all named in the starting 11 against the Toffees.

Charles took the right-back role after Maren Mjelde was ruled out for the season following a knee injury picked up in Sunday’s victory over Bristol City.

The youngster was joined by captain Magda Eriksson, Millie Bright and Jonna Andersson in the Blues defence ahead of goalkeeper Ann Katrin-Berger.

After being rested for our Continental League final at the weekend, Ji returned in midfield with Leupolz, while Kirby, Harder, who was also an unused substitute in our Conti Cup win, and Erin Cuthbert lined up in attacking roles behind the in-form Kerr.

Chelsea opened the scoring within two minutes of our Continental Cup League final, and with barely a minute played of our meeting with the Toffees, the Blues had the opportunity to take another early lead.

Everton defender Megan Finnigan was adjudged to have handled the ball in the box and the referee pointed to the spot.

With regular penalty taker Mjelde side-lined with a long-term injury, Leupolz stepped up but the German’s spot kick was saved by Everton goalkeeper Tinja-Riika Korpela.

Kirby and Kerr ran riot in our victory against Bristol City and it didn’t take them long before the Blues duo were linking up again for another Chelsea goal.

Ji won possession in midfield and found Kerr who delivered a defence-splitting pass to Kirby to put the England international through on goal.

In her current form, not many would bet on the forward missing and Kirby made no mistake with the finish as she slotted past an on-rushing Korpela to give Chelsea a lead on 13 minutes.

Five minutes later and Kirby came inches away from her second of the evening as she received a pass from Kerr before turning and shooting narrowly wide of the post.

Chelsea had the ball in the back of the net again just before the half hour mark as Harder directed a low cross from Bright past Toffees keeper Korpela, but the attacking midfielder’s effort was ruled out for offside.

While it was the official’s flag that prevented Harder from adding a second, it was the woodwork that denied the Blues minutes before the interval.

Cuthbert picked up a loose ball deep in the Everton half before running at the Toffees defence and unleashing a right-footed effort towards goal and with the keeper beaten, it was the crossbar that saved the hosts.

Both teams emerged for the second half and Ann Katrin-Berger had to be switched on immediately to palm away a curling effort from Everton’s Claire Emslie.

Moments later and Everton keeper Korpela was called into action as Harder threaded a ball through to Kirby but this time Korpela managed to deny the striker, saving well with her legs.

There would be nothing the Everton keeper could do minutes later when Harder scored from close-range to further our advantage.

Charles got Kerr in down the right with a perfect ball and the Australian found Kirby in the box and the No.14 unselfishly laid the ball off to Harder who took one touch before firing low past Korpela to give the Blues a much-deserved two-goal cushion.

Harder was involved once again as Chelsea added a third and it was her header that looped over Korpela and although the Everton keeper managed to get a hand on the ball to stop it going over line, she could only palm away into the path of Leupolz.

The No.8 was on hand to tap into an empty net and complete the scoring on an impressive night for the Blues.

Chelsea will now turn attentions to the Champions League, with Hayes and her squad having a week to prepare for our quarter-final clash with Wolfsburg in Budapest next Wednesday.

Chelsea (4-3-1-2) Berger; Charles, Bright, Eriksson (C), Andersson (Carter 82); Leupolz, Ji; Cuthbert, Kirby (Fleming 82), Harder; Kerr (Reiten 72)Unused subs Musovic, Telford, Blundell, Spence, Fox, WardlawScorers Kirby 13 Harder 60 Leupolz 79Booked Leupolz 72

Everton (4-2-3-1) Korpela; Raso (Lehman 71), George, Finnigan, Sevecke, Sorensen (Moe Wold 71); Christiansen, Graham (C), Scott; Emslie, Magill (Gauvin 59).Unused subs Kirby, Boye-Hlorkah, Stringer, Clemaron, Clinton, PattinsonBooked Raso 49

Referee Emily Heaslip