James gave us the lead inside the opening half an hour, beautifully sweeping the ball home from Guro Reiten’s intelligent pass. However, Villa responded shortly before the break when Rachel Daly converted Sarah Mayling’s cross at the near post leaving the teams all square at half-time.

Just two minutes after the restart, James restored our advantage when she smashed the ball into the roof of the net from Pernille Harder’s pass to register her brace. James then turned provider for Sam Kerr who converted from close range just after the hour and clinching a crucial three points.

The selection

There were four changes from the team who began the victory against Vllaznia in midweek. Ann-Katrin Berger returned in goal with Millie Bright partnering Kadeisha Buchanan in central defence. Erin Cuthbert joined Sophie Ingle in the holding midfield duo, while James came into an attacking trio behind Kerr who lead the line.

As confirmed by Paul Green in Friday’s press conference, there were three expected absentees for this one with Jelena Cankovic and Maren Mjelde continuing to recover from their respective injuries, while Melanie Leupolz remains on maternity leave. Fran Kirby was also missing from the matchday squad as a precaution, having recently returned to training after illness.

We set up in a familiar 4-2-3-1 formation with Bright returning to the backline having been rested in the Champions League in midweek. Eve Perisset and captain Magdalena Eriksson took up full-back roles while Reiten and James provided the width in attack. Harder and Kerr, who scored respective hat-tricks last time out, spearheaded a dangerous looking attacking line.

Showing support

Early morning rain had ceased ahead of kick-off and the sun emerged as Aston Villa got the game underway at Kingsmeadow. Today’s match was dedicated to showing our ongoing support across the club for LGBTQI+ inclusion by celebrating Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces campaign, as we encourage everyone to play their part in making sport everybody’s game.

The visitors began with a spring in their step but we were the first to create a meaningful chance on goal. Reiten received the ball from distance and shifted it onto her favoured left foot, before unleashing a fierce effort that was brilliantly tipped over the crossbar by visiting goalkeeper Anna Leat who was equal to the test.

There was a brief stoppage in play while Cuthbert received some treatment after taking a knock, but our tenacious midfielder was quickly on her feet and back in the thick of the action. A wonderful through ball left Reiten to race through on goal, but the Norwegian was denied by a expertly timed last-ditch tackle and the offside flag.

Villa were giving us reasons to think in the opening twenty minutes of the match. Alisha Lehmann delivered a teasing cross into our penalty area, but there was nobody in claret to meet it as the ball fizzed across the face of goal. We were looking strong in transition with James going on an inspirational run before picking out Reiten who frustratingly missed the ball on the volley.

Deadlock broken

With 22 minutes played, we found the crucial opening goal. Reiten turned provider when she picked out James in space on the edge of the box, who took one touch to control before sweeping the ball left-footed across Leat and into the far corner of the net. It was first blood to the Blues who were growing in confidence as the half progressed.

Despite the setback, Villa picked themselves up and could have equalised just moments later. Kenza Dali connected sweetly with a half-volley that whistled pass Berger’s left-hand post, much to our goalkeeper’s relief. At the other end, Harder was next to test the reactions of Leat, drilling a purposeful effort from the edge of the box into the grateful gloves of Villa’s goalkeeper.

On the half hour mark, we produced our best move of the match. A lovely, fluid display of combinations set Kerr through on goal, she rounded Leat but the Villa goalkeeper did brilliantly to re-adjust and smother the resulting effort. Kerr was getting good service and showing excellent movement to exploit the space, efforts that were deserving of a goal.

Villa began to wrestle back some control as half-time approached and they worked an equaliser on 38 minutes courtesy of Daly. Mayling drove to the by-line on the right side, whipping the ball across goal for Daly to turn home from close-range. It was a closely contested end to the half with Laura Blindkilde picking up a booking for fouling James, but the sides entered the interval all-square.

Perfect response

The Blues got the second half underway and restored our lead almost immediately thanks to James once again. Harder surged through the middle of the pitch before teeing up James who made the supporting run, taking a touch out of her feet before smashing the ball into the roof of the net for a perfect start to the second half.

Villa responded with their first change of the match as Blindkilde, who was booked late in the first half, was replaced by Natasha Harding. The visitors had responded to going behind before and were looking to do the same again when another enticing delivery across the box went begging, with nobody there to make a connection.

We rode our luck momentarily when a misplaced pass gifted an opportunity to Dali from just outside the box, but the Villa number 10 blazed her effort over the crossbar. The game was hanging in the balance on the hour mark. Both sides looked capable of scoring the next goal which would be crucial in determining where momentum would swing.

Much to the relief of the Blues faithful, we added a third goal on 62 minutes and it was Kerr who got the reward her hard work deserved. James showed great tenacity to win back possession, feeding the ball perfectly into Kerr who swept home from the centre of the goal to give us some much needed breathing space.

Game management

A double-change followed for the Blues with Harder and James making way for Jessie Fleming and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd to much applause from the home supporters. Kaneryd almost found herself on the scoresheet within minutes of entering the fray, but dragged her effort agonisingly wide of the near post as we ventured forward in search of a fourth goal.

We made another double change with fifteen minutes remaining. Niamh Charles and Bethany England replaced Reiten and Kerr with fresh legs required to help us get over the line. The substitutes provided new impetus as we continued to look after the ball with the focus firmly on protecting our two-goal cushion.

Perisset enjoyed another solid performance at right-back and was replaced by Jess Carter for the final minutes. Ingle took our first booking of the game after a slightly mistimed tackle stopped a promising looking Villa counter attack. We confidently saw out four minutes of additional time to extend our winning streak in all competitions to seven consecutive matches.

What’s next?

After a frantic fixture schedule in October, the Blues have a whole week to recover and prepare for our next game which sees us head north to take on Manchester United in the Women’s Super League.

The match takes place on Sunday 6 November at Leigh Sports Village, with kick-off at 1845 and the fixture will also be broadcast live on Sky Sports.

This will be our last domestic game before the next international break, after which we return to face Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge in the WSL on Sunday 20 November.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Berger; Perisset (Carter 87), Bright, Buchanan, Eriksson; Ingle, Cuthbert; Reiten (Charles 76), James (Rytting Kaneryd 65), Harder (Fleming 65); Kerr (England 76)

Unused Subs: Musovic, Nouwen, Svitkova, Abdullina.

Scorers: James (22, 47), Kerr (62)

Booked: Ingle (89)

Aston Villa (4-3-3): Leat; Mayling, Turner, Patten, Pacheco; Corsie (McLoughlin 81), Dali, Blindkilde (Harding 52); Hanson, Daly, Lehmann.

Unused Subs: Draper, Gregory, Goodwin.

Scorers: Daly (38)

Booked: Blindkilde (45)

Crowd: 4,373