St. Polten 0-6 Chelsea: Kerr nets brace on first start in 692 days during Champions League rout
Chelsea made it back-to-back wins in the Champions League by thrashing St. Polten, with Sam Kerr and Catarina Macario both netting braces.
Sam Kerr marked her first Chelsea start in 692 days with a brace as the Blues stayed unbeaten in the Champions League with a 6-0 thrashing of St. Polten on Tuesday.
Kerr, who last started a match for the club on December 23 in a 3-1 win over Hacken in the same competition, was on target with two late strikes in the second half.
Chelsea's early pressure was rewarded when Wieke Kaptein tucked home Ellie Carpenter's cross from close range in the 13th minute to round off a well-constructed move.
Naomi Girma thought she had doubled Chelsea's advantage when her initial header rebounded back to her off the post and in, but the goal was ruled out for offside against Kerr.
However, the Blues would go into the break two goals in front thanks to Catarina Macario, who steadied herself before finding the bottom-right corner from just outside the area.
The pattern of the game continued after the break and Izabela Krizaj's foul on Alyssa Thompson seven minutes after the restart saw a penalty awarded, with Macario stepping up to send Carina Schluter the wrong way from 12 yards for her second of the match.
But the moment many Chelsea fans craved came 15 minutes from time, with Kerr collecting a pass into the box before shifting the ball onto her right foot to finish.
Lauren James also made her first appearance of the season from the bench, and played a role in Chelsea's fifth as her shot deflected off Lisa Ebert and past Schluter four minutes from time.
Chelsea concluded the scoring in the second minute of second-half stoppage time, with Kerr guiding substitute Niamh Charles' delivery home with a simple header.
Data Debrief: Kerr helps Chelsea reach Champions League milestone
Ahead of kick-off, Bompastor urged her Chelsea team to find their clinical edge in the final third, and they most certainly did that here with a ruthlessly dominant display.
The Blues ended the match with a staggering expected goals (xG) total of 5.36 from their 42 shots on goal, 19 of which were on target, compared to St. Polten's measly 0.02 from their sole attempt at Livia Peng's net.
But Kerr, of course, had to have her say, ending the game with team-high totals for shots (11), shots on target (five) and touches in the opposition box (18), with her goal also seeing Chelsea make history in the Champions League.
The Australian's first goal brought up 150 for the Blues in the competition (152 overall), a feat only achieved by seven other teams, while they became only the second English side to score that many times in the Champions League, after Arsenal (196).
