Chelsea 2-0 Manchester City: Bompastor´s side go top of WSL with late show

Chelsea left it late, scoring twice in four minutes, to secure a 2-0 win over Manchester City in the Women’s Super League to leapfrog them to the top of the table.

Mayra Ramirez and Guro Reiten got the all-important goals, condemning City to their first league defeat of the campaign.

The visitors, who were without the injured Lauren Hemp, arguably should have taken the lead in the first half when Khadija Shaw latched onto Sandy Baltimore’s wayward backpass, but the forward could only drag it wide of the far post.

In a tight game, Chelsea stayed calm, though Ramirez wasted a chance to square it into the box to give a team-mate an easy tap-in early in the second half.

The Colombian did not make the same mistake a second time. On a quick counter-attack, she brushed Alanna Kennedy aside to reach Maika Hamano’s throughball before weaving away from Alex Greenwood to drive it into the bottom-right corner in the 75th minute.

Just four minutes later, they doubled their lead. Reiten was left in acres of space on the right of the box and curled a delightful finish out of Ayaka Yamashita’s reach.

Chelsea maintained their perfect record under Sonia Bompastor, making it 10 wins from 10, and moved two points clear of City at the top of the WSL, still with a game in hand over their title rivals.

FT: Two goals in quick succession secure all three points for Chelsea! pic.twitter.com/UhNZl0Y0VV

— Barclays Women’s Super League (@BarclaysWSL) November 16, 2024

Data Debrief: Battling to the end

Even so early in the season, there was a lot riding on this in regards to the title race, and City have seemingly blinked first.

They looked far from their usual best, possibly in part due to Hemp’s absence, as they struggled to create many meaningful chances.

Chelsea were also guilty of being wasteful early on but looked the more likely to score, managing 15 shots compared to City’s eight while also edging the expected goals (xG) count (0.85 to 0.56).

Bompastor also became the first-ever manager to win each of their first seven games in the WSL.