‘Not many teams can stay with us’

LONDON — Chelsea emerged from the tunnel for the second half at Kingsmeadow Stadium on Sunday with just 45 minutes to settle a Women’s Super League season like no other. Little had gone right before then. They had been sloppy, ill-disciplined and lacking in tempo. For all their talent, Chelsea head coach Emma Hayes said she felt like substituting a number of them.

That’s why, when Chelsea look back on this title-winning season, they will remember it as a period when they were pushed to their limit like never before. The stakes could not have been higher: They were playing on the final day of a drama-filled WSL season, just a single point ahead of second-place Arsenal, who were playing 21 miles to the east against West Ham United on the other side of the city. Whoever achieved the better result would win the title. The league even ensured there was a trophy at each of the two matches.

Chelsea entered their home game against Manchester United on Sunday as clear favourites, and yet nothing had gone right. That’s when the WSL’s leading scorer, striker Sam Kerr, took the game into her own hands.

She had been telling teammates the day before that she would score a “worldie.” She had visualised it, confident in her ability to deliver in the biggest moments. Her prediction came true: With her side trailing, she picked a floating ball out of the sky and thundered a weak-footed volley from the edge of the box. It would be the moment Chelsea turned the tide, when they finally seized the opportunity ahead of them. Winger Guro Reiten sent them ahead before Kerr took centre stage again, sending another long-range volley into the back of the net.

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It was the perfect way to end a landmark season, one that was surely the most entertaining in WSL history….