Brace of penalties by Reiten and Cuthbert special saw off rugged Everton 3-0 who had boss Sorensen sent off
By Paul Lagan at Kingsmeadow Stadium
Chelsea 3 v Everton 0
A brace of penalties broke the resistance of rugged Everton as the Blues stay top of the WSL, three points clear of Manchester City.
The other scorer in a 3-0 win was live wire Erin Cuthbert.
Everton boss Brian Sorensen was sent off late on, clearly unhappy with the refereeing of Emily Heaslip, who awarded the first penalty on 27 minutes, when they was little in the way of appeal by the home side and fury from
Following a slew of substitutions from both sides, Sorensen suddenly found himself surplus to requirement by Heaslip.
Chelsea had to show a clinical edge to get over the line and the penalties certainly helped in that.
Everton were well drilled, aggressive when needed and had a game plan to disrupt free-flowing Chelsea.
It worked for the most part.
Everton started with a high tempo, determined to shake the Blues into uncertainly and hopefully mistakes.
But i was The Blues' Guru Reiten who had the best, chance to score on 21 minutes when a long, powerful run by Ramirez saw the Norway winger collect the ball at a tight angle, but she managed to get a right-footed shot away, on target, but the ball was hacked clear off the line .
A corner by Reiten foxed goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan and she almost clipped the ball I to her own net, but the woodwork saved her embarrassment.
Rather surprisingly, on 26 minutes, Chelsea were awarded a penalty by referee Emily Heaslip when Johanna Rytting Kaneryd when down in the box after a string challenge.
No one appealed for it, but up stepped Reiten, who powerfully drilled home a left-footer that zipped past Brosnan.
Reiten missed a golden opportunity to double the score on 38 minutes when she latched onto a long, deep, curler by Erin Cuthbert, but her diving header was weak and off target and the ball drifted away for a goal kick.
There were no changes by either side at half-time.
The tempo of the game continued I to the second half, with Chelsea having the better chances – Lauren James and Rytting Kaneryd in particular will be frustrated to have not scored.
On 68 minutes, Chelsea made their first change, bringing off Rytting Kaneryd and replacing her with Fran Kirby.
On 71 minutes, Ramirez showed pace and aggression to pile into the Everton penalty area from the right wing.
The result, she was upended near the n byline and the ref pointed to the spot again.
Reiten, once again showed her composure and slotted home, sending Brosnan the wrong way in the process to double the Blues' lead.
Hayes made more changes on 78 minutes – off went Ramirez an on came Mia Fishel, also Reiten was replaced by Aggie Beever-Jones and Sjoeke Nusken took James place.
With Brian Sorensen seemingly sent-off, confusion reigned on the pitch and Chelsea took advantage with Cuthbert cementing a top-class display by stroking the third goal home on 83 minutes.
That was her last action as she went off for Jelena Cankovic with a minute left.
Teams: Chelsea: Hampton, Carter, Leupolz, James, Reiten, Lawrence, Rytting Kaneryd, Charles, Cuthbert, Ramirez, Bjorn
Subs: Musovic, Fishel, Ingle, Nusken, Kirby, Perisset, Buchanan, Cankovic, Beever-Jones
Everton: Brosnan, Wheeler, Vanhaevermaet, Bennison, Piemonte, Payne, Finnigan, Kuhl, Galli, Madsen, Stenevik
Subs: Hart, Bissell, Dale, Hope, Snoeijs, Wilding, Olesen
