After the Women’s Super League, Chelsea are on track to ‘win’ Europe

Scoring more and conceding fewer than all their rivals, Emma Hayes’s side are indisputably the best team in the country, writes Ben Burrows

A win was all Emma Hayes’s side needed, but they put on a show on Sunday (The FA/Getty)

Thanks to Sergio Aguero’s lack of penalty-taking prowess there was only one champion of England crowned this weekend.

Manchester City’s men have to wait before they are finally mathematically over the line in the Premier League, but Chelsea’s all-conquering women are already there.

A second consecutive Women’s Super League title was inked into the record books on Sunday, resoundingly put there with a 5-0 win over Reading at Kingsmeadow.

A win was all Emma Hayes’s side needed, but – as they have for much of a dominant season both at home and abroad – they put on a show.

Fran Kirby grabbed two goals to add gloss to what will surely be a Player of the Year campaign, while strike partner Sam Kerr added another to secure the top scorer’s golden boot.

They were pushed all the way by Manchester City, with Gareth Taylor’s side finishing just two points shy after also winning on the final day.

That margin perhaps doesn’t fairly reflect just how far ahead Chelsea have been at times in 2020-21. An unprecedented quadruple might just do that, however.

They already have the Continental Cup in the bag, won in style with a 6-0 win over Bristol City back in March. An FA Cup, delayed by the pandemic, won’t be won until much later. Next weekend, though, they will face Barcelona in the Champions League final – a first Champions League final in the Blues’ history.

Secured by dramatic wins over Wolfsburg and Bayern Munich in back-to-back knockout rounds, one more victory will seal the holy grail for Hayes after her nine years at the club.

“We don’t tire of winning,“ she said, still gleaming with her league title-winner’s medal in hand. ”There’s not enough of it. I’m not sorry for what I’ve put the players through.”

Scoring more and conceding fewer than all their rivals, Hayes’s side are indisputably the best team in the country. One more win and they’ll be the best in Europe too.

Yours,

Ben Burrows

Sports editor