Chelsea Punished Us, Says Kirk
- LCFC Women defeated 8-0 by Chelsea at King Power Stadium
- The loss leaves City in 12th position in the Barclays Women’s Super League
- Manager Willie Kirk outlines his aim to bounce back next week
- The Foxes face Sunderland in the Continental Tyres League Cup on Thursday
Guro Reiten was the star of the show as the Norwegian winger scored and assisted four, in Leicester’s heavy defeat to current Super League champions, Chelsea, at King Power Stadium.
With six different scorers on the day, the Londoners proved a handful for Kirk’s outfit, and he admitted they were punished for not performing well enough during periods of sustained pressure.
The manager spoke to LCFC TV following the result: “It’s hard to assess a scoreline like that. There were elements we were happy with, but there were small parts, that if done better, could’ve had a huge impact on the game.
“We forced Chelsea into several errors in the first half but then never had the extra player to capitalise on those moments, which means we never punished them, whereas they did against us. As far as I’m concerned, this game is now done. We need to learn from it and move forward.”
Despite the unsettling score, there were positives to take for the City camp. In particular, the return of Welsh forward, Hannah Cain, and the hard-battling performance from substitute, Natasha Flint.
“I think [Natasha] Flint made an impact when coming on; it was also nice to see [Hannah] Cain back after a year out injured.
“We’ll always look at the positives and believe it not, there were some from today. We just need to collect our thoughts and do better in the moments we’re under pressure.
“I’ve told the players that both games next week (Sunderland & Liverpool) are important. Our work will start against Sunderland on Thursday in the Continental Tyres League Cup, and we’ll look to get three points.
“We want to make sure we head into that cup match against Man City with it meaning something. Getting a win midweek will give us great confidence heading into Sunday’s WSL fixture against newly promoted side Liverpool.”
With the game now gone, the Foxes must look ahead and learn from this disappointment, as Kirk believes there is still a lot of football to be played.
“I think we’ve got four injured players who would’ve made a difference, three of those with necessary experience. Regardless of what happens next week, we’re still confident that we’re capable enough of doing what needs to be done this year to survive.”