Reigning Women’s Super League champions Chelsea moved to within a point of leaders Arsenal with a dominant victory at Manchester City.
Chelsea opened the scoring in the first minute when Jessie Fleming pounced on a defensive mistake to score.
Emma Hayes’ side got a second just before half-time when they broke quickly before Sam Kerr fired home from Fran Kirby’s ball.
Kirby then curled in after the break before Magdalena Eriksson headed home.
It was an impressive victory for the visitors, who have now won six WSL games in a row since losing their opening fixture to Arsenal.
For Manchester City it was a third home defeat of the season and another heavy loss. They were beaten 5-0 by Arsenal earlier in the campaign.
The result will have been all the more frustrating given the hosts were the better side in the first half after falling behind but, for all their possession, struggled to create clear-cut chances.
The closest they came was in the second half when Ann-Katrin Berger kept out a decent strike by Lauren Hemp.
‘We were punished for our mistakes’ – what they said
Manchester City boss Gareth Taylor, speaking to Sky Sports: “We dominated the first period, played some good stuff. Conceded an early goal which doesn’t help. We looked in control but were punished by a good team. Make those mistakes against a team like Chelsea and they will punish you.
“You have to keep going. We would have taken a big step if we pulled three points out of the bag today. We keep moving forward – teams are taking points off each other and we have to stay in the mix.
“In terms of the way we played I felt we dominated in the first half – we had chances. The second half was a bit more even. I thought our first-half performance was one of the best we’ve had.”
Chelsea boss Emma Hayes, speaking to Sky Sports: “I knew this would be a tricky game. I thought we struggled with everything in the first half. We got pinned, we were slow, we couldn’t respond in the way we should. I changed the shape and our team has shown their ability to adapt and second half I felt we were immense.
“I can only talk about my own team: we were decisive, we are adaptable. We were nowhere near our best in the first half yet we were 2-0 up. A superb performance from the whole team.”
Line-ups
Man City Women
Formation 4-3-3
- 34Benameur
- 10Stanway
- 8Scott
- 5GreenwoodBooked at 74mins
- 3Stokes
- 12AngeldalSubstituted forCoombsat 69′minutes
- 24Walsh
- 19WeirSubstituted forLosadaat 77′minutes
- 16ParkSubstituted forBeckieat 69′minutes
- 18White
- 15HempSubstituted forSatinat 79′minutes
Substitutes
- 7Coombs
- 11Beckie
- 13Satin
- 17Losada
- 30Mace
- 31Pilling
- 33Kennedy
Chelsea Women
Formation 3-4-3
- 30BergerSubstituted forMusovicat 77′minutes
- 4Bright
- 7Carter
- 16Eriksson
- 22Cuthbert
- 10From theSubstituted forIngleat 45′minutes
- 8Leupolz
- 11rideSubstituted forCharlesat 78′minutes
- 14KirbySubstituted forSpenceat 78′minutes
- 20KerrSubstituted forEnglandat 67′minutes
- 17Fleming
Substitutes
- 1Musovic
- 5Ingle
- 9England
- 18Report
- 19James
- 21Charles
- 24Spence
- 25Andersson
- 29Fox
- Referee:
- Rebecca Welch
- Attendance:
- 3,174
Live Text
-
Match ends, Manchester City Women 0, Chelsea Women 4.
-
Second Half ends, Manchester City Women 0, Chelsea Women 4.
-
Attempt missed. Janine Beckie (Manchester City Women) left footed shot from long range on the left is too high. Assisted by Vicky Losada.
-
Attempt missed. Jessie Fleming (Chelsea Women) right footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Bethany England.
-
Corner, Manchester City Women. Conceded by Magdalena Eriksson.
-
Attempt blocked. Hayley Raso (Manchester City Women) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Demi Stokes.
-
Attempt missed. Georgia Stanway (Manchester City Women) left footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Jill Scott following a set piece situation.
-
Laura Coombs (Manchester City Women) wins a free kick on the left wing.
-
Foul by Sophie Ingle (Chelsea Women).
-
Substitution, Manchester City Women. Hayley Raso replaces Lauren Hemp.
-
Substitution, Chelsea Women. Drew Spence replaces Fran Kirby.
-
Substitution, Chelsea Women. Niamh Charles replaces Guro Reiten.
-
Substitution, Chelsea Women. Zecira Musovic replaces Ann-Katrin Berger because of an injury.
-
Substitution, Manchester City Women. Vicky Losada replaces Caroline Weir.
-
Attempt missed. Bethany England (Chelsea Women) right footed shot from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Fran Kirby.
-
Alex Greenwood (Manchester City Women) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
-
Foul by Alex Greenwood (Manchester City Women).
-
Melanie Leupolz (Chelsea Women) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
-
Attempt saved. Lauren Hemp (Manchester City Women) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the top left corner. Assisted by Demi Stokes.
-
Foul by Laura Coombs (Manchester City Women).