SAM KERR’S LONG-AWAITED COMEBACK PUT ON HOLD AS ELLIE CARPENTER SETS STAMFORD BRIDGE ABLAZE ON DEBUT!
- Ellie Carpenter makes a stunning debut for Chelsea, laying on the opener in a 2-1 win over Manchester City.
- Sam Kerr remains on the bench, her comeback from a 20-month injury layoff delayed.
- Carpenter’s virtuoso performance earns her the player-of-the-match award.
SAM KERR’S highly anticipated return to the pitch was put on hold as her Matildas teammate ELLIE CARPENTER stole the show on her debut for Chelsea. The Australian superstar was expected to make her comeback in the Women’s Super League opener against Manchester City, but instead, she spent the evening watching from the bench.
However, Kerr’s disappointment was tempered by the dazzling debut of Carpenter, who proved to be the game’s outstanding player. The 22-year-old’s coruscating burst down the right flank and pinpoint low cross in the 31st minute allowed Aggie Beever-Jones to slot home the first goal of the new season from point-blank range.
“She’s a world-class player, genuinely one of the quickest players ever, and just laid it on a plate for me,” enthused Beever-Jones, who received the perfect assist from Carpenter. The debutant returned the compliment, saying: “Aggie tapped it in, so made me look good. It was really nice to create those relationships with the team, being new.”
Carpenter’s debut was nothing short of spectacular, with six crosses and a new dimension added to Chelsea’s attack with her penetrating runs from wing-back. Her performance earned her the player-of-the-match award, and the Blues’ fans will be hoping to see more of the same in the coming weeks.
City, without their own injured Matildas star MARY FOWLER, nearly equalised six minutes later when Alex Greenwood’s left-foot free-kick curler thumped off the crossbar. The visitors started brightly after the break too, but when Wieke Kaptein got away from Greenwood down the right in the 64th minute, just as Carpenter had done for the earlier goal, her cross allowed Maika Hamano to drill home Chelsea’s second.
Chelsea’s Niamh Charles threw the visitors a lifeline when she steered the ball into her own net six minutes later, and as City piled on the pressure, coach Sonia Bompastor decided not to bring on Kerr, opting instead to introduce US international Catarina Macario as a second-half sub ahead of the Australian captain.