Sunday, May 18

Sam Kerr may have missed her Chelsea team celebrating their Women’s FA Cup final triumph over Manchester United at Wembley — but the Blues had a special guest cheering them on to the 3-0 win that sealed their domestic trophy treble in England.

Tennis great Serena Williams, whose husband is buying a stake in the team, must have recognised a good investment as she watched Chelsea add the Cup to their Women’s Super League and League Cup victories in what has been a remarkable unbeaten domestic season.

Kerr, who’s not played a single match for the Blues this season as she recovers from her long-term ACL injury, was not around for the celebrations, having instead been a surprise attendee at the A-League Women grand final at AAMI Park back in Melbourne.

But off the pitch at England’s national stadium in London hours later on Sunday, all eyes were on Williams sitting next to husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, who announced on Wednesday he’d bought a 10 percent stake in the team — reportedly worth Stg 20 million ($A41 million).

Once again, Chelsea demonstrated that the entrepreneur has bought into the powerhouse of English women’s football following their annexation of a domestic treble for the second time in five years, while not losing a match in any of the three competitions.

France international Sandy Baltimore scored a 45th-minute penalty, whipped in a free kick for Catarina Macario to head home in the 84th and then scored her second goal in stoppage-time to power Chelsea to their sixth FA Cup win and their fourth in the last five years.

The only thing they failed to win this season under French manager Sonia Bompastor was the Women’s Champions League after losing both legs against Barcelona in the semi-finals.

“Chelsea is very unique. These are the queens of global soccer and they’ve got the trophy case to prove it,” Ohanian told the BBC.

“This will be a billion-dollar franchise one day and I hope my dollars, my pounds, can go towards that and especially back home in America. This is going to be America’s team.”

https://thewest.com.au/sport/soccer/no-kerr-but-serena-watches-chelsea-seal-trophy-treble-c-18737487

Share.

Leave A Reply

fourteen + four =

Exit mobile version