Title rivals Chelsea and Manchester City faced off at Stamford Bridge in the Women’s Super League (WSL) on Saturday in a game that saw Chelsea come away with all three points.
Chelsea scored two goals without reply against Manchester City in the WSL, overtaking them to go two points clear at the top of the league.
Chelsea, who still have a game in hand against Manchester United, have won all of their last 13 matches in all competitions stretching back to last season.
“This game tonight won’t decide the title,” Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor said to Sky Sports before kick-off, as Chelsea are looking to win their sixth consecutive WSL title.
Bompastor has not missed a beat since taking over from the highly successful Emma Hayes, winning all seven of her opening games, a new WSL record.
“I see a lot of similarities in Emma and Sonia,” said Erin Cuthbert of Chelsea, speaking to Sky Sports.
Cuthbert added: “Emma left a great foundation for Sonia.”
“We could have maybe scored earlier in the game,” Bompastor told Sky Sports.
She said that Chelsea started the game slowly, but also added: “I think it’s a great performance and a great result.”
The first half proved to be slow for both sides with neither team creating any big chances, but it was Manchester City who had the better opportunities.
City striker Khadija Shaw failed to capitalise on a loose ball given away by Maika Hamano in the 22nd minute, dragging her shot wide of Chelsea goalkeeper Hannah Hampton’s far-post.
It was a frustrating first half for Shaw, who despite failing to score remains the leading goal scorer in the WSL with seven goals.
Both sides stepped up their attacking opportunities in the second half as the game began to open up.
“I felt we were in control of the game,” said Manchester City manager Gareth Taylor, who spoke to Sky Sports at full time.
Taylor said that by the 70th minute he was expecting his side to come away with a draw.
It was Chelsea striker Mayra Ramírez who broke the deadlock in the 75th minute after a through ball provided by Hamano played her well into City’s half.
Ramírez shrugged off City defenders before finishing with precision into the bottom right-hand corner of the goal. She left no chance for the City keeper.
Just four minutes later Guro Reiten, Chelsea’s number 11, picked up the ball in the City box and provided a fantastic low curling finish into the bottom left-hand corner, which proved to be the winning goal.
“It was a really tight game, there were chances for both teams” said City midfielder Jill Roord in an interview with Sky Sports.
When Chelsea scored, Roord said: “There was not enough time for us to turn it around.”
Despite this setback in the race for the title, Roord was unfazed, she said: “Its really early, apart from this game we’ve done well so far.”
Outside of Chelsea’s record-breaking start, this match week has been historic for women’s football.
For the first time ever, every single game across the WSL and Barclay’s Women Championship was to be played in a main stadium.
