Chelsea qualify for UWCL quarterfinals: takeaways from Albania trip

Jelena Cankovic continues to impress at Chelsea

It is difficult to find a more in-form player on CFC over the last two contests. Sure, Guro Reiten is putting herself in the best player in the WSL discussion, but since making her first start in a Chelsea kit against Reading, the former FC Rosengard has added a new threat to the already talented Blues attack. Cankovic caught the opposition off guard for the second straight match, taking the free kick from outside the box as quickly as possible, setting up a goal each time for the west Londoners. While the Royals could argue that Johanna Rytting Kaneryd was offside, and Vllanzia could say the Blues should not have been allowed to take a free kick that close to the box that quickly, but at the end of the day, Cankovic’s quick thinking has to be praised.

The Serbian not only set up the second goal but whipped in a plethora of dangerous crosses along with making the right decisions in the final third to create continuous opportunities. Her left-footed cross in the second half that just made it over the Vllaznia defender and onto Sam Kerr’s head was incredibly impressive. Although Kerr did not convert on that particular chance, Cankovic could now become another option on top of Reiten that has the quality to generate opportunities with ease from wide areas.

Cankovic may have begun her CFC career slowly due to injuries, and Hayes implementing her into the system step by step, but as the Blues head into the break in just about a week, there is no telling just how valuable having a player like Cankovic for a long period of time is going to be. Her composure in multiple areas around the pitch to find that pass that breaks the line of defense makes the Blues less reliant on a midfielder like Erin Cuthbert who has been run into the ground with the number of minutes she has played in the beginning of the season.

Cankovic had the most shot-creating and goal-creating actions on Friday night while winning the most tackles on the other end of the pitch. It is hard to drop a player like Cankovic in the starting lineup currently, and with first place in the group up for grabs at Stamford Bridge next time out, Cankovic has the ability to show just how talented she is against one of the elites in all of Europe.