There is an inevitability to the narrative in any game in which Sam Kerr plays. On Tuesday she capitalised on an error to put Australia ahead in a 2-0 win against England and five days later she was at the far post to nod in the goal, against the run of play, that ensured Chelsea’s passage to the FA Cup final against Manchester United on 14 May.
Kerr had promised she would be OK for this fixture, after she sat out Australia’s 1-0 defeat by Scotland and limped off late against England. She was right and, while she was kept quiet for much of this semi-final against Aston Villa, she again showed that giving her only one sniff will prove costly almost every time. “I’d rather have the most efficient player in the world than someone who has a million chances, she’s just unbelievable,” said the Chelsea manager, Emma Hayes.
“You can’t [stop her] … I’ve never seen a centre-forward move as much as her. It’s not just a single movement. It’s a double movement. Next time you watch her play, watch her transition, and then watch who makes the first movements – it’s always Sam.
“Even if she strays into an offside position, she doesn’t stay still, she goes again, I think she’s a nightmare to defend. Because she can do it running across the front of you, she can come on your back shoulder. Her energy levels, it’s like she’s a 12-year-old, it’s infectious.”
Hayes made five changes to the side that beat Villa 3-0 in the Women’s Super League before the international break. Some were enforced, with Millie Bright and Kadeisha Buchanan still injured. That meant Chelsea started with Maren Mjelde partnering Magda Eriksson in central defence and Ève Périsset and Jess Carter at full-back.
For Aston Villa’s manager, Carla Ward, there was only one change from that league defeat to Chelsea, with the right-back Sarah Mayling fully fit, replacing Laura Blindkilde.
Ward had said her side “learned quite a lot” from the previous meeting. “We didn’t look after the ball well enough,” she said. It was different this time round. Ward’s side matched the FA Cup holders, with 49% possession in the first half and Kerr kept quiet.
Lauren James was the most potent outlet for Chelsea, twice sending the ball narrowly wide of the post. There were chances for Villa too, with Kirsty Hanson’s cross towards Rachel Daly pushed out by Eriksson’s thigh. Lucy Staniforth also went close, forcing a low save from Zecira Musovic.
Two weeks earlier, Villa had been two goals down at the break. This time the game was goalless and Villa came out after the interval with the bit between their teeth. They had their greatest success targeting Carter on the right, who struggled to cope with the pace of Alisha Lehmann and the guile of Jordan Nobbs.
Villa, though, just could not get the ball on target and they would be punished for missing two tantalising chances a minute apart. First, Kenza Dali did well to cut around Périsset before curving a cross towards Daly, but the forward failed to direct it goalwards when the ball smacked off her forehead.
Then Nobbs whipped in the ball from the right only for the Chelsea midfielder Melanie Leupolz to send it into the path of Lehmann but the Swiss forward’s shot went agonisingly wide of the near post.
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The double warning shot gave Chelsea the boost they needed, and the reaction was immediate. Guro Reiten raced free of Mayling on the left before playing a one-two with Jelena Cankovic, then lofting her cross towards Kerr, who shifted away from Anna Patten to nod home.
“I told Emma to leave her at home, she didn’t listen,” said Ward. “She’s world class and that’s the reality. A world-class player has come up with a big moment in the game and they haven’t had many moments in the game today.”
Villa poured forward in search of the equaliser, with Nobbs stabbing wide and Mayling crashing the ball off the base of a post in a frenetic finish, but they could not find the net.
“We’re heartbroken, that’s the reality,” said Ward. “It’s hurting a lot, it really is, because I thought we did enough to win the game. We’ve had quite a few chances and we just haven’t put them away. But I’m so proud of the group.”
Instead Chelsea head to Wembley with the chance to lift the FA Cup for a third consecutive time.
