Chelsea made it nine wins on the spin as goals from Bethany England, Drew Spence and Hannah Blundell swept Everton aside.

The Blues, just outside the Champions’ League spots in third place, are building a very impressive run in their quest to wrestle the title back from early leaders Arsenal and Manchester City.

Chelsea manager Emma Hayes played down any expectation of her side being back in the title race at the final whistle, saying she feels the league is entirely out of their hands because of their poor start to the season.

“I’ll take responsibility for that," said Hayes.

"But my team have conceded just five goals, all in one game, the entire season.

"We might go unbeaten for the remainder of the season and still not qualify for the Champions’ League. But that’s the way it is.”

Professional Performance

It was a professional performance from Chelsea, if not spectacular. But it was good enough to merit more than the three goals they managed, the first of which arrived within six minutes through in-form England. After the Blues’ top scorer was played in by Erin Cuthbert six yards out, there was only one outcome, the ball nestling in the bottom-right corner of the net. It was England’s 11th strike of the season, her eighth in her last six games.

This lead should really have been doubled before the break, with the home side missing a host of chances to be out of sight of Everton, striking the woodwork twice through long-range shots from Millie Bright and Cuthbert.

The visitors almost made them pay for their missed chances five minutes before half-time, but Chelsea goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl pulled off a fantastic save with her foot from Chloe Kelly.

That was a warning sign, so Chelsea stepped up a gear in the second half, making it two on the hour. After Everton failed to deal with a Karen Carney corner, Spence pounced to poke the ball home and put the result out of question.

The gloss was put on another impressive display with just over 20 minutes left, from an unlikely source in full-back Blundell. After poor defending from Everton once again, the 24-year-old cut inside and found the bottom corner, giving Chelsea the margin of victory their performance deserved.