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

Chelsea came on late to score twice in four minutes to secure a 2-0 win over Manchester City in the Women's Super League, leapfrogging them to the top of the table.

Mayra Ramirez and Guro Reiten scored the all-important goals to condemn City to their first league defeat of the season.

The visitors, who were without the injured Lauren Hemp, probably should have taken the lead in the first half when Khadija Shaw latched onto Sandy Baltimore's wayward backpass, but the striker could only slot it past the far post.

In a tense match, Chelsea remained calm, although Ramirez missed an opportunity to get the ball into the penalty area and give a teammate an easy tap early in the second half.

The Colombian did not make the same mistake a second time. On a quick counter-attack, she pushed aside Alanna Kennedy to reach Maika Hamano's through ball before turning 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 a space on the right side of the box and curled a beautiful finish beyond the reach of Ayaka Yamashita.

Chelsea maintained their perfect record under Sonia Bompastor, making it 10 wins from 10 to move two points clear of City at the top of the WSL, still with a game in hand on 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 Debriefing: Fight to the End

Even this early in the season, there was a lot going on in terms of the title race, and City have seemingly blinked first.

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

Chelsea were also guilty of wasteful behavior early on, but looked all the more likely to score. It scored 15 shots compared to City's eight, while also trailing expected goals (xG) (0.85 to 0.56).

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