From the run in the Champions League to another domestic double, this past season for the Chelsea Women has to be considered one of the most memorable in history.
Each season with Emma Hayes at the helm for the Chelsea Women, the team never fails to deliver some unforgettable performances. The first contest of the season has always been a hiccup, but never once has this side overreacted. It was a campaign that can be described as not only a step forward, but a reminder to the rest of Europe’s giants that the Blues are inching closer to another UEFA Women’s Champions League final. Considering all the moments sprinkled from September to the end of May, it is difficult to nail down just a few that stick out.
Sometimes it is about the quality of play from the west Londoners’, but other times it is their ability to get over the line in order to stay alive in certain competitions. A Champions League semifinal run, a third succussive FA Cup, and 22 league matches. Unlike the men’s side, there is far too much to chose from, but here are five of the best Chelsea Women’s matches from a campaign packed with highs.
Top-five contests across all competitions for the Chelsea Women in 2022/2023.
5. Chelsea v Everton, Women’s Super League
Date: May 7, 2023
Venue: Kingsmeadow
Result: 7-0 Chelsea
With goal differential looking to be an issue as the season came to a close against Manchester United, the Blues made a statement on their home turf. After a tough 2021/2022 campaign, Everton flipped the script under the new leadership of Brian Sorensen. The Toffees had won two out of their last three matches in the league heading to Kingsmeadow on May 7. From Hayes’ perspective, the west Londoners’ lacked energy to begin the match, but as the contest went on, Pernille Harder led a display that had an incredible sense of urgency to it.
The west London side had six different goal scorers on that Sunday. Never once in this match did the Blues take their foot off the gas. In the previous match, Hayes’ side was forced to come from behind against Liverpool, but back in the confines of Kingsmeadow, this was where the west Londoners’ put their stamp on the WSL title. You can’t get better than seven goals against a top-six side in the domestic top-flight. That is what end of season Hayes sides do, score one goal and never look back.
It was the Toffees’ largest defeat of the campaign across all competitions as Manchester City and Arsenal only managed to take down Sorensen’s team by one goal on their home turfs. The Blues’ efficiency was prolific, making the oppositions’ goalkeeper work with 11 of their 17 total shots on target.
Harder was extraordinary, scoring two while assisting Jessie Fleming just before halftime. After watching this game transpire, it was the perfect example of why it is going to be a tall task to replace someone with the quality of the Danish international.
4. Chelsea v Barcelona (Second Leg), UEFA Women’s Champions League
Date: April 27, 2023
Venue: Camp Nou
Result: 1-1 draw (Barcelona wins 2-1 on aggregate)
Heading to the toughest place to play in women’s football, nobody gave the Chelsea Women any shot. Down by just one goal with just 90 minutes remaining in the Champions League semifinal, Hayes manufactured a brilliant game plan to frustrate the Spanish powerhouse.
The Blues walked into a place that was packed with over 72,000 fans and ended Barcelona’s 80-game home wins streak which dated all the way back to February 2019. In the first leg, the team struggled to string passes together, but after even more preparation on the training pitch, the west Londoners’ saw a 14 percent increase in their pass accuracy.
They did not have a single shot attempt on target in the first 45 minutes, but Hayes’ side stayed firm in the back, holding Barca scoreless heading into the second half. It was all about keeping the home team out of the back of the net.
If they could do that, Hayes had players like Harder and Lauren James off the bench to go for the game-tying goal. Just one moment of individual brilliance from Caroline Graham Hanson changed the tie. Reiten equalized on the night a few minutes later, demonstrating the kind of character the world knows Hayes’ teams tend to have.
The final 45 minutes of the first leg was a tough watch for any Chelsea Women’s fan, but when the teams shifted to Spain, the girls in blue were not phased in the slightest. They remained mentally strong against arguably the most talented team in women’s football. This match ultimately concluded the team’s Champions League campaign, but it had to make this list due to the quality of opposition and what it means for this club going into next season.
3. Chelsea v Manchester United, Women’s FA Cup
Date: May 14, 2023
Venue: Wembley Stadium
Result: 1-0 Chelsea
The first half was not the type of football that Hayes’ side had been producing in weeks prior. Marc Skinner’s Manchester United in their first trip to Wembley Stadium in club history were on the front foot for the entirety of the first 45 minutes. Ann-Katrin Berger pitched a clean sheet in the first half, coming up with some sensational saves from close range. The Red Devils’ inability to be clinical in front of the net opened the door for the experienced Blues on the big stage.
Once Harder and Sophie Ingle came onto the pitch in the 57′, the fixture shifted back into the west Londoners’ favor. The Danish international brough the defending FA Cup winners back to life, forcing Mary Earps into a save within the first few minutes of coming on.
The Blues’ No. 23 refused to be denied, making darting runs forward and pressing the United defense work, leaving a player like Kerr open in the penalty area. The match summed up what kind of team this was. Uncover ways to win no matter the quality of the performance itself.
The result is the only thing that matters, and while Skinners’ side executed their plan in the first half, Sam Kerr would put the match to bed with her fifth goal at Wembley so far in her career in London. The defeat in the other domestic cup competition against Arsenal a few months ago only fueled this club in its attempt to secure its third successive FA Cup trophy.
It is difficult to leave out a cup final in a list of the top-five matches of any club’s season. This one was special in its own way as Kerr’s clutch gene once again came through to deny the Red Devils’ first major trophy in club history.
2. Chelsea v Paris Saint-Germain, UEFA Women’s Champions League
Date: December 22, 2022
Venue: Stamford Bridge
Result: 3-0 Chelsea
In the club’s first contest at Stamford Bridge against its competent opponent, the Chelsea Women put Group A to bed with an extraordinary display against Paris Saint-Germain. It was the final match of the 2022 calendar year, and the Blues made sure they would head out on winter vacation with loads of positivity.
The link-up play by the west London outfit tore up the French side’s backline, pressing them and forcing the opposition into a mistake for the second goal scored by James. They still had the option to lose the match and finish at the top of the group, but Hayes’ side did not want to leave their fate up to anybody else. The second and third goals required more than just two players to create it as the quick decision-making in the final third punished the away side in the blink of an eye.
Given some of the question marks or bumps in the road in the recent fixtures before this match, this was one that set everything straight. The PSG women’s team was coming off of three consecutive Champions League semifinal appearances.
For the west London outfit to pitch a clean sheet and net three goals on the French juggernaut was a massive turning point of the season for this club. It ended up being the worst defeat in any competition during 2022/2023 for Gerard Precheur’s side. In front of over 10,000 fans at the Bridge, Hayes’ team pieced together one of the most memorable outings of the season.
1. Chelsea v Lyon (Second Leg), UEFA Women’s Champions League
Date: March 30, 2023
Venue: Stamford Bridge
Result: 2-1 Lyon (2-2 on aggregate, 4-3 Chelsea wins on penalties)
This match was everything that makes football great piled into one special night in west London. With the defending Champions League winners coming to town, the second leg was bound to deliver. Nobody could have predicted the kind of rollercoaster that this contest became. From deflation to elation within minutes, the Blues pulled off one of the most shocking Champions League miracles of all time to oust the eight-time champions.
With just 10 minutes left in extra time down by a goal on aggregate, James’ elusiveness in the box ended up saving the Champions League campaign for the west London outfit. Maren Mjelde, Ann-Katrin Berger, and even Jess Carter among others came up huge for the team when they needed it the most in the penalty shootout. Mjelde would net the equalizer in the 128′ and then walk up to the penalty spot where she scored the first of the shootout.
The German goalkeeper kept French legend Wendie Renard, and USWNT midfielder Lindsey Horan out of the back of the net. Berger proved why there is no question in anyone’s mind she is the No. 1 goalkeeper at the club right now. This team may have gone down in the tie, but to have the belief that they could come back with so little time left on the clock is a testament to the club’s culture.
The entire world thought the hopes of the Blues advancing past the defending champions had come to a close, but Mjelde had something to say about that. In a few years, this will still be viewed as one of the greatest matches in the history of CFC on the men’s or women’s side. The way they won against the caliber of opponent in a competition like the Champions League etched this match in club lore forever.