Emma Hayes gave a rallying call in her final home match as Chelsea manager as she insisted the Women’s Super League title race is ‘not f****** over’ after a remarkable day at the top of the table.
The Blues had started the day six points behind Manchester City with a worse goal difference and just one game in-hand.
But Hayes’ side are now in the driving seat after Arsenal came from behind to beat City 2-1 before Chelsea thrashed Bristol City 8-0. The results mean Chelsea are now three points behind with a game in-hand and a better goal difference.
Hayes had conceded that the title was all but mathematically done after her side had been beaten by Liverpool on Wednesday.
But as she addressed the Kingsmeadow crowd for the last time, Hayes called on her supporters to rally behind her team with two games remaining.
‘Let me be clear, it’s not f****** over,’ Hayes said. ‘There is no time for sentimentality. All work drinks are cancelled. There’s a title to be won.
‘That group of players, I’ve been here 12 years, no matter what, with a group of people driving standards, this group taught me something so special this week that you never, ever give up. This is Chelsea.’
Hayes later went on to say that her team had not given up hope despite the midweek defeat by Liverpool and that the players wanted to give Fran Kirby and Maren Mjelde a fitting exit in what was also their final game at Kingsmeadow.
‘They, the players, demonstrated all the things I’ve taught over the years. They drove it. They led it. It all came from them. They never gave up. They had belief amongst them.
‘They wanted to make sure they sent Kingsmeadow, Fran and Maren, yes me too, off in a way that was fitting of what 12 years has been about. I learned so much from them today. I learned a lot about the importance of belief.
‘I learned the importance of don’t write Chelsea off.
‘My team will not give up. This is who we are. Tonight will be a memory for me forever. I just wanted to take the pressure off them a little bit. I really mean what I say. They’ve been amazing in my time here. I’m going to have a photo with 15 trophies on Tuesday.
‘It’s hard to keep sustaining it. You have to go through a lot and I think we journeyed a lot this year. Everyone has wrote us off. So, you better buckle up everyone. Because we ain’t gonna lay down easily. Not now, we’re alive.’
Chelsea’s next league game is against Tottenham on May 15 before their final game of the season at Manchester United on May 18.