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Chelsea now have four days to prepare for a huge game in the race for the title before travelling travel north for our clash with Manchester City on Wednesday evening.

Hayes and her side will then head to Germany for another important fixture as we face Bayern Munich in the first leg of our Champions League semi-final next Sunday.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1) Telford; Blundell, Carter, Eriksson (C) (Ingle 75), Fox; Leupolz, Wardlaw (Fleming 46); Charles (Andersson 77), Spence, Cuthbert; Beever-Jones (England 46)

Unused subs Musovic

Scorers Charles 21, Carter 29, Leupolz 35, Spence 56, 79

London City Lionesses (5-4-1) Yanez; Neville, Bennett (C), Priest, Short, Murphy; Primus, Agg, Nolan, Fitzgerald; Fyfe.

Unused subs Smith, Wilson, Mackie, Cowan, Kemppi, Rossiter, Balfour, Mason.

Referee Chloe Anderson

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On Saturday, Zola will form part of a four-person panel covering the game on the 5th Stand app, the Chelsea website, and our official Facebook and YouTube channels. Zola will be joined by host Jason Cundy, another Blues great Pat Nevin, and regular guest and radio DJ Abbie McCarthy.

The coverage starts at 4.20pm UK time with team news, and there will be detailed analysis of the Jorginho/N’Golo Kante midfield axis before kick-off.

Live commentary with Ben Andrews and Nevin then follows from 5.25pm. As well as a half-time update, there will be reaction after the final whistle beginning at 7.20pm.

Supporters can get involved in the show by sending in questions or comments on social media or via the 5th Stand app.

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‘We had a very tough challenge that we had to face. We had two very good and intensive matches and a big challenge against Porto, with a lot of pressure, with different situations. We arrived in the first leg when everything was open, we arrived in the second leg, we are suddenly the favourites, we have to manage the game, we have to manage the result, we have to manage a lot of influences from outside.

‘I was very proud of how we did this, we did absolutely what needed to be done, we deserved a clean sheet and we deserved to win. We conceded a late goal but this did not affect us.

‘It’s a good moment now to play City and Pep. They are for me, along with Bayern Munich, the benchmark in Europe. If we manage to beat them it will be a huge boost. If not, we’ll have to accept it and take it as a challenge and an opportunity to grow, because we have some fights coming up. It’s not only about the FA Cup here, it’s about the top-four race, it’s about the Champions League too.’

He also credited the spirit among the Chelsea players and the work they put in to compete for a place in starting line-up as helping to give him confidence going into the game, with a return trip to Wembley for the FA Cup final up for grabs.

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The form

Many of the Blues return from international duty this week following a series of friendlies and Olympic qualifiers played across the last two weeks. Chelsea went into the international break on a high with a huge 6-0 win against Birmingham City at Kingsmeadow. Sam Kerr kicked off the first half in style with a hat-trick taking us comfortably into the interval. Fran Kirby joined in the action by finding the net with an assist from Bethany England.

Kirby then turned provider, cutting the ball back for Guro Reiten to add a fifth before going on to grab her second of the afternoon, curling the ball into the visitor’s bottom corner in additional time.

Prior to their winning encounter against Birmingham, the Blues sealed their spot in the Champions League semi-final with a 3-0 (5-1 aggregate) victory over last year’s finalists Wolfsburg. The Blues executed the game plan perfectly with goals from Kerr, Pernille Harder and Kirby.

London City Lionesses sit sixth in the Championship, having won one and drawn one from their last five games. The Lionesses were last in action away to Leicester City with a 2-0 defeat and prior to this they drew 0-0 with Charlton.
 

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Heartbreak at the death

Chelsea were in the ascendancy and were seemingly the only team who were going to find the winner in the final minutes of normal time. However, an Everton attack in the final two minutes of normal time would clinch victory for the Toffees. McAllister, scorer of the first, tried his luck after a loose ball fell to him from outside the box. Hitting it first time, the ball forced its way through and over the line.

With that goal, we were deflated and there was little time for a response. Our Youth Cup journey has ended at the fifth round stage.

What’s next?

It’s a quick turnaround for Brand’s boys, who take on Arsenal in the Under-18 Premier League next Tuesday morning. Kick-off at Arsenal’s training ground is 11am.

Chelsea Lucas Bergstrom; Josh Brooking, Charlie Wiggett (Dion Rankine 90), Bashir Humphreys; Tino Livramento, Lewis Bate (c), Charlie Webster (Ben Elliott 89), Harvey Vale; Myles Peart-Harris, Joe Haigh, Jude Soonsup-Bell (Bryan Fiabema 68)
Unused subs Alfie Gilchrist, Sami Tlemcani, Silko Thomas, Josh Tobin
Booked Haigh 88
Scorer Haigh 70

Everton Luk Leban, Matthew Mallon, Thierry Small, Sebastian Kristensen, Elijah Campbell, Lewis Warrington (c), Lewis Dobbin (Stanley Mills 26), Luke Butterfield, Tom Cannon (Rafael Garcia 72), Charlie Whitaker, Sean McAllister
Unused subs Jak Stewart, Daniel Lowy, Harry Hagan, Iman Jagne, Jenson Metcalfe
Booked Mallon 54; Small 79, McAllister 90
Scorer McAllister 35, 88

Referee Jason Richardson

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The Foundation have explored different ways to engage with young participants on our programmes and the Freestyle Keepie Uppie Challenge is part of our Chelsea Foundation Kicks virtual programme which we are delivering to help maintain physical and mental well-being during these unprecedented times.

The challenge promoted an activity that young people could complete while in lockdown at home or in a social distanced setting.

The challenge was also part of our youth work delivery and involved partner youth clubs including it within their timetable of activities, as well as participants on other Foundation programmes and also young people in the wider community through our partner networks including local authorities and youth club providers.

Participants aged between eight and 18-years-old were invited to send a video of themselves taking part in the challenge with the best three entries awarded a prize.

The videos were judged and scored by the Chelsea Foundation Social Inclusion team, with the winning entries chosen based on their freestyling skills and the variety and complexity of their routine.

Coming in first place was 16-year-old Zak who won a £100 Nike voucher for his winning entry. Second-placed Yusuf, aged 11, won a Chelsea shirt and 10-year-old Kate came third, receiving a £40 Amazon voucher for her entry.

Check out all three winning entries below…

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Chelsea Foundation’s senior officer of Football Projects, James Phillips said: ‘We are delighted to be back physically delivering all of our college academy programmes after what has been a difficult year for everyone.

‘We have successfully delivered our virtual programme to our college academy students throughout the lockdown periods but there is no substitute for getting back out on the pitches and returning to training and fixtures.

‘We are already looking forward to the 2021/22 season with plenty of plans afoot to have an even bigger and better programme.

‘These programmes offer those students that want to combine an education programme with their love of football and represent one of the world’s leading clubs.

‘Playing in high quality leagues against top opposition wearing the blue of Chelsea is something I wish I had the chance to do when I was younger and would certainly jump at the chance to do so now!’

Nick Brown, Foundation Sussex area manager, added: ‘College Academies are so important to the Foundation as they are the culmination of our football player pathway.

‘What a great opportunity to learn and train in one programme and compete against some of the top clubs in competitive leagues.’

If any students are interested in joining a Chelsea Foundation College Academy please visit here to find your nearest college.

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Were there any other sports you were into as a kid?

I was pretty good at tennis and gymnastics. I enjoyed gymnastics and wasn’t afraid to try anything. Football was still my go-to sport though and the one I took part in the most. When I’m on holiday now I play tennis and basketball.

Did you play in any other positions as a youngster?

Full-back and in midfield are my two favourite positions. When I joined Chelsea, I was a midfielder but I quickly moved out wide and eventually into defence, which is where I play now.

What one footballing memory stands out in your career so far?

Making my international debut. Playing for England was a big moment for me and it would have to be the highlight of my career so far. It was in Marbella and we played against Russia – it was an honour and I hope to be able to represent the country again.

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‘We’re ready for the fight, we’re ready for the battle. Now we get to sit down and watch it and really analyse it and the best team will go through, so we’ll be ready for anyone.’

The 22-year-old also discussed the second leg against Porto, when a determined performance from the Blues stifled our opponents and defended our aggregate lead, despite a late goal giving them a 1-0 win on the night, and the scoreline didn’t seem to dampen his excitement about reach the semi-finals.

‘It doesn’t get better than that. Last night the most important thing was getting through. We could have done better on the day, we could have played better, but performance was probably at the back of our minds. Getting through to the semi-finals of the Champions League was at the forefront and we did that.

‘We had a few chances, I had a couple, but the most important thing was defending, staying strong. We all knew that as a team and us three up top – me, Kai and Christian – we knew we had to work our socks off the whole game, keep going.

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Porto coach Sergio Conceicao has made just one change to the team from the first leg in Seville, with this season’s top scorer Sergio Oliveira returning from suspension in midfield, in place of Luis Diaz. Defender Malang Sarr, currently on loan from Chelsea, is on the bench.

Chelsea: Mendy; Azpilicueta (c), Thiago Silva, Rudiger; James, Jorginho, Kante, Chilwell; Mount, Havertz, Pulisic

Substitutes: Caballero, Kepa, Christensen, Zouma, Alonso, Emerson, Hudson-Odoi, Ziyech, Abraham, Giroud, Werner

Porto: Marchesin; Manafa, Pepe (c), Mbemba, Sanusi; Oliveira, Grujic, Uribe; Corona, Marega, Otavio

Substitutes: Ramos, Diogo Liete, Loum, Diaz, Taremi, Romario Baro, Martinez, Evanilson, Nanu, Sarr, Vieira, Conceicao

Referee: Clement Turpin

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