BRO IT WAS GREAT. As in the score was not what I wanted to see and it was clearly not a very equal performance, but it was still amazing to see them all play. Captain Magda shouting in English and being super supportive and encouraging was great to witness, there’s a reason why she was made captain and she’s more than pulling it off. Tbh she wasn’t given much of an opportunity to shine as Birmingham didn’t cause many scares, Bright on the other hand.... my word what a goal. She zoomed up that pitch and made such a clinical finish that one would think it was a weekly event, my mouth was literally hanging open for a good minute afterwards. Bachmann played well on the wings but always seemed to mess up her final touch/pass, she was clearly going for goal as she got put up as striker near the end but yesterday just wasn’t her day. Maren Mjelde was absolutely fantastic, particularly merciless as right back but really opening up the game all round. Beth England was just being her usual self sentencing every pass and shot she took, and Ji really got the team going with that initial free kick.
As for Birmingham, they were lucky Lucy Staniforth was back but not even she could stop the on-going attacks. I thought Abbi Grant had a great match considering she was on Maren’s wing, she was constantly on the move really pressing high and getting some good balls in. Side note: she had to go round the pitch when she was subbed off and it was really sweet to see all the kids run up to talk to her and ask for autographs/photos. Chloe Arthur also stood out for me in the midfield, opening up the game as much as possible and stopping Chelsea from really wrecking havoc on the pitch.
Overall though I’m really glad I went, the atmosphere wasn’t bad (although it was practically only the Chelsea fans who could be heard all match long) and the match was fast paced and entertaining- even though I suffered with every goal that hit the back of the net I had to appreciate the quality of it all. Also, the black Chelsea kits were a complete plus!
