Chelsea goalkeeper Hannah Hampton is delighted to see Sam Kerr back and in fine goalscoring form – and not just for the sake of the team.
“It’s about time she starts annoying opposition goalkeepers!” Hampton joked to Chelsea’s official website. “She does it to me in training all the time, and let’s be honest, she definitely makes sure I know about it afterwards!
“It was great to see her back. It’s almost like we have an extra signing with her back. She’s an absolute demon in the box, always finding the back of the net, so she’ll be a huge help for us going forward.”
Kerr has been out for almost two years following a serious knee injury.
Hannah Hampton’s thoughts on Aston Villa
Kerr scored Chelsea’s third goal against Aston Villa on Sunday in the Women’s Super League, which marked her 100th strike for the club, and rounded off a 3-1 win. Aggie Beever-Jones had opened the scoring – her second of the season – with a Missy Bo Kearns own goal adding to the tally. Ebony Salmon had levelled for the hosts ten minutes before half-time.
It was Hampton, though, who was named player of the match, and the Lionesses hero reflected on the threat Villa had posed throughout.
“Villa are going to be a dangerous team this season. They use their width and their two strikers up top when they attack. They’re really fit, they’re really direct, and it’s a good fit. They were hard to break down and we were fortunate with the goals we scored.
“A lot of their attacking threats were down to our misjudgements, but at half-time we made we fixed that. In the second half they didn’t have as much going forward.”
Chelsea’s season so far
Chelsea are unbeaten so far in the WSL as they seek to defend their title. They defeated Manchester City on the opening day, beating them 2-1 with goals from Beever-Jones and Maika Hamano, with a Niamh Charles own goal giving City late hope. After two matches, they are third in the WSL table with a goal difference of +3, behind Manchester United and Arsenal.
Their next WSL match is at home against Leicester City, on Sunday, 21st September.
Sonia Bompastor’s side won a domestic treble last season and are desperate to add the UEFA Women’s Champions League to their trophy cabinet, having reached the final in 2021 when they lost to Barcelona.
