Guro Reiten, Sam Kerr and Jessie Fleming all netted as the Blues secured a vital win on the road as the race for the league title heats up with the final day looming.

The Blues went down to 10 just after the half-hour mark when Ann-Katrin Berger was shown a straight red card for a challenge on Rachel Williams just outside the area.

The team showed their resilience with two second-half goals from Kerr and Fleming wrapping up a huge win for Chelsea, who remain top of the WSL one point above second-placed Arsenal with just a trio of games remaining.

Speaking at full-time, Hayes said: ‘That was so much fun, the game had everything. It didn’t surprise me, I know the pitch isn’t level, I know everyone’s complained about it. It’s hard as hell down the sides and soft in the middle.

‘I said to them at half-time don’t talk about it, I don’t want to know about it, it is what it is. How about we get our foot stuck in, because I feel like we didn’t do that in the first half.’

The Blues went 1-0 down following a corner from Molly Batrip which ricocheted off the post before unfortunately bouncing off Sophie Ingle and into the back of the net.

‘The corner that goes in, in all the years I’ve never seen that go in against us, it’s going to happen,' Hayes said.

‘Aggression-wise, they were on top of the game, then there was the red card… that was a game changer in terms of we went down to 10, it was a game changer because we actually improved the minute we went to 10.’

The boss revealed what she said to her side during the interval.

‘What I did say in there was we agreed together about how we were going to deal with the second half, that included in and out of possession, that included changes to the restarts – I thought that was the game changer, what we did do tactically. That meant a lot of running, especially for Sam!

‘It was the calmest dressing room in the world at half-time, ever since Villa it’s been extremely calm in terms of as it’s getting hectic we keep making right decisions, keep adjusting and we do a lot of work off the pitch in the classroom. This today was a victory for all the work we do behind the scenes and everyone, that’s what I felt it was.’

Second-half substitute Jonna Andersson assisted Kerr with her first touch of the game, sending in an inch-perfect cross for Kerr to head home.

‘I thought what a brilliant touch to put Jonna on. She went down the side, wonderful ball. Third goal… wow, Jessie Fleming – superb!’

Hayes praised the adaptability of her team, crediting the win to the mentality and camaraderie of her group.

‘To start with the 11 you do, lose a player, then you’re playing with Zecira who’s had to come into the game completely cold. Your captain [Magda Eriksson], Pernille Harder still building themselves back, Pernille particularly.

‘We’re having to adapt the whole way, but that was for me crucial because in crisis my team do really well, there’s rarely times in the last few years in crisis we go under and I thought that was an amazing, amazing display of courage, confidence, conviction, togetherness, camaraderie, all the things you cannot understate.’

Musovic made an outstanding finger-tip save at 1-1, a moment Hayes described as ‘massive’.

The boss added: ‘Especially when you don’t even get to warm up! You’re going in cold, she needed a moment like that. She’s been profound for us in the second half of the season, she’s really applied a lot of pressure on Ann.

‘This is a really tough place to come, she’s [Rehanne Skinner] done a really great job with that team. Was it a great game of football? I don’t know, it was great fun!’

The Blues will now prepare to host Spurs at Kingsmeadow on Thursday evening, when asked what she expects under the lights on Thursday nights, Hayes said: ‘Kingsmeadow at home, packed house… different game and a different pitch.’

On the tightness of the title race, Hayes said: ‘What I know is that at 35 minutes everyone’s putting the champagne out for the team down north London, so we’ve gone from they’ll lose it to, it’s going to go to the wire! It was always going to the wire and that’s the case, we cannot lose a game. That’s all I know.

‘Look at us in the end! Look at us with our fans, we love each other! That’s because we experience so much together, there’s genuine pride for this result and this performance. Genuine belief, yes, but genuine pride. This is the WSL of old, they’ve got full internationals throughout their team, for us to do that, I think it’s amazing.’

The Blues are back at home on Thursday night as we host Tottenham Hotspur in the reverse league fixture at Kingsmeadow, kicking off at 7.45pm. To purchase a ticket to our clash against Spurs, click here.