By OkayGoal 
Sam Kerr matched Fran Kirby’s Chelsea Women’s Super League scoring record of 63 goals on Sunday.
The Australia striker reached the mark with two goals in Chelsea’s 4-1 win away to Everton at Goodison Park, scoring in the sixth minute and again two minutes after half-time.
Yuka Momiki briefly brought Everton level before Chelsea pulled clear, with Ellie Carpenter and Erin Cuthbert also on the scoresheet in a result reported by ESPN and FotMob. The win kept Chelsea firmly in the title race and extended their strong recent record against Everton.
Kirby’s 63-goal WSL mark had stood as one of Chelsea’s modern benchmarks, and Kerr is now closing in on her former team-mate’s all-competitions club total of 116. Kerr has 113 Chelsea goals in all competitions and, according to the club’s official website, reached her WSL tally in 91 appearances.
The milestone lands in another big season for Chelsea, with the club also continuing to shape its long-term future off the pitch through plans around Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge WSL ambitions. And it comes in a league still expanding in profile and reach, as shown by the wider changes around the WSL’s new trophy and expansion.
Sam Kerr: very privileged to be on the same level
Kerr paid tribute to Kirby after the win, according to the club’s official website:
“I have a lot of respect for Fran. She’s a great player, not only for this club but for women’s football in general. I’ve had some very fun memories with her, so it feels fitting that I’m level with her. Hopefully, I can beat it, but I’m very privileged to be on the same level as Fran.”
She added:
“It was a tough game. I thought we started really well, and I think they were striker goals: getting played through, and a one-touch finish. But I thought the whole team played really well. We had to grind there a few times, but the win’s the most important today, so I’m happy with it.”
Sonia Bompastor: the intensity needed to be raised
Head coach Sonia Bompastor said Chelsea improved after the break and felt there was still more to come from her side:
“We needed to pick up a little bit and clean things up. But I think the biggest thing was that the intensity needed to be raised by all of us. You saw when we do that, we can really explode and score more goals. We probably should have scored more in the first half and probably more in the second, but a 4-1 win’s pretty good. Every win’s important. We’ve just got to finish the season out strong and keep it in our hands and, you know, wins like today do that.”
Another recent WSL legacy marker came with Matt Beard’s WSL Hall of Fame recognition, and Kerr has now added her own name to that conversation again.
