Kerr’s last-gasp strike earns Blues all three points to put pressure on leaders Arsenal

Sam Kerr's stoppage-time winner rescued a 1-0 win for Chelsea over a resilient Aston Villa at Kingsmeadow in the Barclays FA WSL.

Carla Ward's side had frustrated the hosts for over 90 minutes before Kerr's decisive chip right at the death, thanks in part to a star performance from Hannah Hampton.

It was Chelsea's first home match since the government sanctioned owner Roman Abramovich on Thursday.

Guro Reiten returned to the starting 11 for the hosts, and her promising ninth-minute shot was blocked by Sarah Mayling.

Kerr found space either side of the half-hour mark, but Villa keeper Hampton easily gathered both attempts.

In the 51st minute, a double save from Hampton denied the Blues, first from Kerr's low shot, and then she sent Reiten's instinctive follow-up wide.

Sophie Ingle was also denied after a shot on goal, but Chelsea kept pushing, with Beth England heading over just two minutes later.

In the 67th minute, a Villa free-kick found its way to Ramona Petzelberger, but the German's strike from the edge of the penalty area went over the bar.

Hampton was relied upon to deny Jonna Andersson and then Kerr again.

The Australian's header in the 80th-minute went wide, and she had another headed goal ruled out for offside two minutes later.

Remi Allen nearly scored for Villa a minute later, but her clever shot fell just wide.

The Australian broke through at the start of six minutes stoppage time, finding space to dink it over Hampton, sending the Chelsea fans at Kingsmeadow into raptures.

The loss leaves Aston Villa in tenth while Chelsea have closed the gap with leaders Arsenal.

PLEASE LEAVE IN FINAL PAR – To follow the action and sign up for The FA Player’s live Barclays FA Women’s Super League coverage visit womenscompetitions.thefa.com

Chelsea (4-3-3): Zecira Musovic, Aniek Nouwen, Millie Bright, Jess Carter, Beth England, Ji So-Yun, Guro Reiten, Sam Kerr, Niamh Charles, Drew Spence, Jonna Andersson

Substitutes: Sophie Ingle for Spence 46, Jessie Fleming for England 66, Erin Cuthbert for Ji 66, Lauren James for Charles 73

Substitutes not used: Ann-Katrin Berger, Alsu Abdullina, Aimee Claypole, Emma Thompson

Goals: Kerr 90

Bookings: None

Red Cards: None

Aston Villa (3-5-2): Hannah Hampton, Sarah Mayling, Remi Allen, Anita Asante, Alisha Lehmann, Chloe Arthur, Ramona Petzelberger, Jill Scott, Ruesha Littlejohn, Maz Pacheco, Anna Patten

Substitutes: Rachel Corsie for Littlejohn 62, Emily Gielnik for Arthur 62, Jodie Hutton for Lehmann 83

Substitutes not used: Sian Rogers, Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah, Olivia McLoughlin, Sophie Haywood, Shania Hayles

Goals: None

Bookings: None

Red Cards: None

Referee: Abigail Byrne

Attendance: 2655

Emma Hayes, Chelsea manager: “I think I even went down the touchline, which I never do, only to give them instructions. I could see they’d lost control. After the week we just had, you compete for championships when you win games like that. Games where you’re not the best, I didn’t think we looked the freshest. We have a hatful of chances, but we don’t convert. The opposition plays really well too. We’re competing for a championship because we’re able to win a game like that. Amazing spirit and camaraderie from the players who gutted that out. “I heard in the 90th minute saying “That’s why we’re champions”. That was before we scored. All I kept thinking was, we’re in our most difficult moment. You’re not abandoning the team and we’re not abandoning you. We have to stick together. Everyone is against us right now, and that gives us strength, that we’ve got each other. Everyone contributed to that win today.”

Carla Ward, Aston Villa manager: “Absolutely gutted. Gut-wrenching sums it up. It’s like that moment you find out you’ve been cheated on, as that goal goes in. Your whole stomach drops. Genuinely devastation among the group. Some people will go “You’ve done brilliantly. You got beat 1-0 by the champions”. No, I think we deserved a point today. We’re in a good place, we fancied it. We’re absolutely gutted.

“I think we looked sensational today. It’s a tough afternoon for them, and we’ve made them work for it. But there’s a reason they’re champions. They have some of the best players in the world, and certainly one of the best coaches. We have to take a lot of heart. With ten minutes to go, they were playing centre halves up front, and reverting to long balls. They couldn’t break us down, and we done our job brilliantly. To be undone by one long ball, we’re devastating. There are positives to take. We need to keep building on it. We’re building something special here. We’re in a positive moment, but it’s a disappointing afternoon.”