Praise for Carney after Chelsea Ladies victory

Chelsea Ladies boss Emma Hayes believes her team will score with more headers following the arrival of Karen Carney.

Winger Carney was outstanding on her Women’s Super League debut for the champions as they began the defence of their title with a 4-1 win at Doncaster Belles.

Hayes said: “Karen Carney was at the heart and the core of everything, especially in the first half, and she looks like she’s been playing at Chelsea for years.

“I thought she was instrumental in everything we did, whether she was on the left side, down the middle, or on the right.

“If we had had Karen in our team last year we would have scored even more headed goals.

“We’ve always had players that can do that, we just haven’t had the quality of delivery on a regular basis.

“Last year we were fourth in the league for headed goals from set pieces and our target is to go higher than that.”

Carney opened the scoring from the penalty spot and there were also goals for Beth England, Katie Chapman and Eni Aluko in a resounding victory for Hayes’ side.

The result put Chelsea top of the table after the first round of matches.

“That’s where we want to be – we’re happy leading from the front,” said Hayes.