Macario scores on debut as Chelsea return to top of WSL after 4-0 win at Leicester City
By Paul Lagan at King Power Stadium
Leicester City 0 v Chelsea 4
Catarina Macario made her Chelsea bow from the bench, and within five minutes had notched her
first goal for the Blues, the fourth in a 4-0 away win at the King Power Stadium against Leicester City.
The other scorers were Nathalie Bjorn and Mayra Ramirez in the first half and Johanna Rytting-Kaneryd in the second.
The win leapfrogs the west Londoners above Manchester City, who briefly led the WSL after they beat Everton on Saturday.
Chelsea and City are level on points but the Blues have a better goal-difference.
The Brazil-born US striker Macario, 24, has had to bide her time to start her Chelsea career after sustaining an ACL injury with Lyon who she was signed from.
But she took it in her stride, and with Sam Kerr and Mia Fishel out for the season with ACL injuries, it will fall on her and Ramirez to provide the bulk of the firepower up front for some time to come.
Chelsea almost scored 13 seconds into the game when Guro Reiten, at the far post met a cute Eve Perisset right wing cross. But Lize Kop was quick to react and scuffed the ball away for a corner.
Three times in the first six minutes, Chelsea caused panic in the Leicester penalty area, and a minute later, Jelena Cankovic had a goal-bound header cleared off the line by Josie Green.
Nathalie Bjorn was sloppy at the back on 12 minutes allowing Jutta Rantala to get a shot away from the edge of the penalty area. Thankfully for the Sweden player, Hannah Hampton was alert enough to snaffle the shot.
This was a good period for the home side, and put pressure on the west Londoners.
A quick break by Leicester saw them overrun Niamh Charles on the left before the ball falling in the centre of the area to Yuka Momiki who forced an excellent diving save from Hampton.
Following sustained pressure by Leicester and against the run of play, the visitors took the lead when Bjorn hooked a perfect looping drive, from 10 yards pout, over the despairing dive of Kop on 40 minutes.
Mayra Ramirez, who seconds earlier looked like she had her shirt tugged and was pulled over in the penalty area, but did not get the spit kick, dusted herself down and score perhaps the individual goal of the season .
Shaking off the grasp of centre-back Julie Thibaud on the halfway line, the Columbia striker powered through the Leicester half. Facing a one-on-one with Kop, Ramirez kept her cool, rounded the keeper and slotted home with consummate ease to double the Blues' lead with seconds of the half remaining.
Sophie Ingle was brought on at half-time for Erin Cuthbert.
Chelsea started the brighter, forcing the home side to retreat to the edge of their area.
And a third was coming, and it did on 65 minutes.
An excellent break, started by a solid Ingle interception, saw the ball fed through to the in-running Johanna Rytting-Kaneryd, and her edge of the area left-footer took a deflection on its way to the back of the Leicester net.
Emma Hayes brought on Fran Kirby, Aggie Beever-Jones, and, for her Chelsea debut Catarina Macario, on 72 minutes, off went Reiten, Ramirez and Nusken.
Within five minutes Macario scored, and it was a classy, goalscorer's goal for the US star.
She collected the ball from Beever-Jones, took one touch, swivelled and stroked home an low, left-footer past Kop. To make it 4-0.
With the game won, Hayes brought on young Japan star Maika Hamano
Team: Chelsea Hampton, Nusken, Carter, Reiten, Perisset, Rytting-Kaneryd
Charles, Cuthbert, Cankovic, Ramirez, Bjorn
Subs: Musovic, Ingle, Leupolz, Macario, Kirby, Hamano Berger, Beever-Jones
Leicester: Kop, Nevin, Tierney, Bott, Rantala, Whelan, Cayman, Green, Takarada, Thibaud, Momiki
Subs: Howard, Pal er, Petermann, Ale, Pelgander, Siemsen, Baker, Draper, Dowsett
Referee|: Phoebe Cross
