Chelsea lost 2-1 to Liverpool in their opening game of the Women’s Super League season
Chelsea bounced back from their opening-day defeat with victory over winless rivals Manchester City.
Fran Kirby headed home Guro Reiten’s low cross after a quick Chelsea counter-attack to open the scoring, to the delight of a packed Kingsmeadow.
City had the best of the defending champions for long spells, but some sloppy defenders let them down.
Powerful spot kick by Maren Mjelde after a handball that delivered the final blow.
England midfielder Kirby has been involved in 34 goals in her last 20 WSL appearances, scoring 21 goals and providing 13 assists.
Fans’ favorite Kirby will surely have again impressed England manager Sarina Wiegman, who was watching from the stands, but fellow Lionesses Lauren Hemp and Chloe Kelly struggled to assert themselves with many of City’s chances via Khadija Shaw.
Striker Shaw was lively, shooting from long range and asserting her dominance in the air, while Chelsea goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger, making her first appearance since receiving treatment for a cancer recurrence of thyroids, kept Laura Coombs busy.
Chelsea’s Lauren James may also have caught Wiegman’s eye, putting in an impressive display after many predicted she would be the breakout star of the season.
City dominated much of the first half, but some sloppy defending allowed Kirby to score the opener in stoppage time just before half-time to hurt the visitors.
In the second half it was Chelsea who were in the ascendancy – James broke into the box from just beyond the halfway line and saw his shot well saved by Ellie Roebuck while Kirby had a similar chance to double the lead but shot over the crossbar.
Leila Ouahabi’s handball, which led to the penalty, might have been soft, but it was just reward for Chelsea’s second-half dominance.
The hosts are now unbeaten against City in 11 WSL matches, with five wins and six draws.
Chelsea show why they are defending champions
After Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat by promoted Liverpool in their opening game of the season, manager Emma Hayes said her side “couldn’t hit the barn door”.
They missed chances again in the first half. Sam Kerr should have scored in the first minute but he poked Kirby’s cut in just wide.
Then, when Kerr latched on to Steph Houghton’s loose pass to Roebuck, Chelsea looked certain to break the deadlock. However, the chance was wasted when Kerr passed to Kirby instead of shooting and the England midfielder was unable to get a shot off.
When Kirby scored it was largely against the run of play. City had largely played in the 10 minutes before Chelsea’s half and had 12 shots to their opposition’s five, but the champions’ clinical passing and speed on the break meant you could never write them out of a game.
alignments
Chelsea Women
Formation 3-4-1-2
30 Berger
4Bright26Buchanan16Eriksson
17Fleming22Cuthbert18Mjelde14Kirby
11 Riding
20Kerr10James
- 30 Berger
- 4 Bright
- 26 Buchanan
- 16 Eriksson
- 17 Fleming Substituted for Ingleat 65 minutes
- 22 Cuthbert
- 18Mjelde Replaced by Périssetat 86 minutes
- 14 Kirby
- 11ReitenCharlesat substituted in minute 87′
- 20 Kerr
- 10James Replaced by Rytting Kanerydat 90+1’minutes
Substitutes
- 1 Musovic
- 5 English
- 7 Carter
- 9 England
- 13 Svitkova
- 15 He had died
- 19 Riding Kaneryd
- 21 Carlos
- 28 Cankovic
Men Women City
Formation 4-3-3
1 roe deer
2Casparij6Houghton5Greenwood15Ouahabi
10Castellanos4Aleixandri7Coombs
9Kelly21Shaw11Hemp
- 1 roe deer
- 2Casparij
- 6 Houghton
- 5 Greenwood
- 15 OuahabiBooked at 52 minutes
- 10 Castilians
- 4Aleixandri Replaced by Losadaat in the 84th minute
- 7 Coombs
- 9 Kelly
- 21Shaw Replaced Blakstadat in the 84th minute
- 11Cânem Replaced by Rasoat 79′ minutes
Substitutes
- 3 Stokes
- 8 Fowler
- 12 Angeldahl
- 13 Razo
- 17 Paved
- 22 MacIver
- 35 Complaining
- 36 Hutchings
- 41 Blakstad
Referee: Abigail Byrne
Attendance: 4,403
Live text
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End of match, Chelsea Women 2, Manchester City Women 0.
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End of second half, Chelsea Women 2, Manchester City Women 0.
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Offside, Chelsea Women. Ann-Katrin Berger tries a through ball but Sam Kerr is in an offside position.
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Change to Chelsea Women’s. Johanna Rytting Kaneryd replaces Lauren James.
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Foul by Magdalena Eriksson (Chelsea Women).
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Hayley Raso (Manchester City Women) wins a free kick on the right wing.
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Change to Chelsea Women’s. Niamh Charles replaces Guro Reiten.
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Change to Chelsea Women’s. Ève Périsset replaces Maren Mjelde.
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Erin Cuthbert (Chelsea Women) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Maria Losada (Manchester City Women).
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Change, Manchester City Women. Julie Blakstad replaces Khadija Shaw.
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Change, Manchester City Women. María Losada replaces Laia Aleixandri.
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failed attempt Attempt missed. Magdalena Eriksson (Chelsea Women) left footed shot from the center of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Guro Reiten with a cross into the box after taking a free kick.
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Fran Kirby (Chelsea Women) wins a free kick on the left wing.
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Foul by Stephanie Houghton (Manchester City Women).
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Corner, Manchester City Women. Corner taken by Magdalena Eriksson.
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Lauren James (Chelsea Women) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Leila Ouahabi (Manchester City Women).
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Attempt blocked. Chloe Kelly (Manchester City Women) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Alex Greenwood.
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Foul by Maren Mjelde (Chelsea Women).