Chelsea edge seven-goal thriller against Aston Villa to reclaim second place

Sjoeke Nusken fired Chelsea back up to second place in the WSL with a dramatic late winner in a 4-3 victory over Aston Villa.

The Blues’ Champions League hopes looked set to suffer another blow when Villa came from 3-1 down to draw level in a breathless first half.

But Nusken struck with eight minutes remaining to keep the six-time champions’ slim title hopes still alive, mathematically at least, as they trail Manchester City by nine points.

Villa took a shock lead at Kingsmeadow with less than two minutes on the clock after Lucy Bronze gave the ball away to Chasity Grant.

The Dutch winger played it out to Lynn Wilms and then arrived at the near post to meet the cross and sweep the ball past Hannah Hampton.

Chelsea equalised in the 20th minute when Sam Kerr, back from Asian Cup duty with Australia, latched on to Nusken’s pass and fired home.

Within seven minutes the Blues were 3-1 up, first with Naomi Girma touching a Lauren James cross into the net for her first WSL goal.

Then James, who scored the Blues’ goal in Tuesday’s 3-1 Champions League first-leg defeat at Arsenal, drilled in the third from 20 yards.

But five minutes later Villa hit back when Wilms delivered another cross and Kirsty Hanson got in front of Bronze to dispatch it.

And the visitors made it six goals in a crazy first 35 minutes when Wilms tried to bring a cross down and Hanson buried the loose ball.

Chelsea dominated the second half and Alyssa Thompson missed a gilt-edged chance when she headed over from four yards.

But the winner arrived when Ellie Carpenter won the ball in midfield and found Kerr, who teed up Nusken for a first-time finish into the corner.