Chelsea 7-0 Everton: Champions thump visitors to keep title defence in their own hands

Chelsea ruthlessly exposed Everton to keep the defence of their Women's Super League title firmly in their own hands with four games remaining.

Guro Reiten, Sam Kerr, Pernille Harder, Sophie Ingle and Jessie Fleming scored in the first half as Chelsea maintained their perfect home record in the WSL.

Harder and Erin Cuthbert stretched the lead to seven after the break.

Chelsea move into second place in the table, four points behind Manchester United, with two games in hand.

Everton, who host Arsenal in their next game, remain in sixth in the table.

The Blues will retain their title if they win their last four matches of the season, and manager Emma Hayes says her side are timing their run to achieve success.

"It's about peaking for the right moments in the season," Hayes told Sky Sports.

"We've been chasing in the league all year and we know we have to be perfect to win the league this year but this was the sort of performance, and the goals, that we needed to help us kick on."

When the Blues narrowly slipped out of the Champions League in Barcelona last month, the formula became simple: win the remaining six games of the season and deliver a league and cup double.

Victory over Liverpool on Wednesday was the first hurdle successfully overcome and the Blues were quickly into their stride against the other top flight side from Merseyside.

Reiten opened the scoring with a clinical finish as she took a touch to set herself inside the area before smashing an angled finish past Courtney Brosnan.

Kerr got in on the act shortly after with a leaping header to meet Niamh Charles' delicious cross although the Australian appeared to land awkwardly as she came back down to earth and had to be replaced soon after.

Harder was introduced off the bench to fill the void and the Danish forward could not have asked for a better impact as she added a third goal with her first touch in the game after a sublime first-time finish with her left foot.

More Chelsea pressure and more panicked Everton defending saw Jessie Fleming remain composed as she set the ball back for Ingle to deliver a fourth goal with a guided side-foot finish from outside the box.

And the hosts were not done there as Fleming turned from provider to goalscorer with a sweeping strike from Harder's cutback inside the area.

Hayes says she was pleased with her side's efficiency in front of goal.

She added: "We were really clinical, we scored three goals from four shots which was efficient but the performance in the first 20 minutes, not acceptable.

"I thought we struggled to get hold of the game, we didn't put pressure on the ball so we had to adjust that."We have a cup final next week, everyone wants to play. You see Pernille Harder coming back. We've missed a lot of goals this season without her and Fran Kirby."

Everton's challenge was over in the first half but they improved after the break as they seemed to accept the inevitability of defeat and played with more freedom.

Chelsea were coasting and did not have the same cutting edge until Harder stretched the lead with another first-time finish, but with her right foot.

Cuthbert added a late seventh as Chelsea doubled the number of away goals Everton had conceded all season in one afternoon at Kingsmeadow.

The Blues host Leicester in their next league game before facing title rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup final at a sold-out Wembley Stadium on 14 May.