Read our match report
Manchester United manager Casey Stoney speaks.
I thought we weren’t at our best in certain spells and it allowed them to grow in confidence. We got back in the game and I can’t defend the defending for their goal. They got in a few times, and Mary [Earp] stood up. We asked them to play forward a bit more, and Lauren scored a fantastic goal. Second half we were a lot better. That second goal was a real sucker punch. [Tobin Heath] picked up a knock in midweek.
Elsewhere in the WSL, Arsenal have drawn with Reading to make this an even better day for Chelsea and Emma Hayes.
The match-winner, Fran Kirby, speaks.
We started a bit sluggish in the second half but it was a great win for us against a top side. I am still analysing my performances and have things I want to work on. I am happy to get the win again. Sam [Kerr]’s a great girl, not just a great footballer but a great person. She’s a confidence player, and we need to get around her. Today wasn’t a title decider, this league is still open now. It’s a really important win and we need to keep building.
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What does that mean for the table? It means Chelsea are in command.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chelsea Women | 10 | 24 | 26 |
| 2 | Man Utd Women | 11 | 17 | 26 |
| 3 | Arsenal Women | 11 | 30 | 23 |
| 4 | Man City Women | 10 | 21 | 21 |
| 5 | Everton Women | 10 | 6 | 17 |
| 6 | Reading Women | 12 | -7 | 14 |
| 7 | Tottenham Hotspur Women | 10 | -5 | 12 |
| 8 | Birmingham City Women | 9 | -4 | 10 |
| 9 | Brighton & Hove Albion Women | 11 | -12 | 9 |
| 10 | West Ham Women | 10 | -11 | 7 |
| 11 | Aston Villa Women | 9 | -16 | 6 |
| 12 | Bristol City Women | 11 | -43 | 2 |
Full-time: Chelsea 2-1 Manchester United
Berger clutches the ball after it is launched into the Chelsea area. The champions are back on top, and they are there due to the excellent finishing of Fran Kirby. Lauren James’ goal had cancelled out Pernille Harder’s opener. United fell just short against an opponent of greater depth and experience.
90+3 min: Fran Kirby runs the ball into the corner. Time being eaten into.
90+2 min: United’s bench ask Jess Sigsworth to push up and pressure Chelsea’s keeper. Their play at this point, it might be said, has been a tad aimless. Chelsea have shut this down.
90+1 min: Chelsea now pushed up, and in a mirror of how United began the game.
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90 min: Four minutes added for United to find an equaliser.
89 min: United players use the break to take on fluids and some final Casey Stoney advice.
88 min: Chelsea keeper Berger has gone down with an injury that requires treatment. It looks to be an ankle problem and her walk is ginger, if robust enough.
87 min: Emma Hayes still roaring on her team, who are presently taking the sting out of this one. Ingle steps forward to fire a shot wide.
86 min: United looking a little lacking in ideas. A moment of inspiration will be required, and James looks to be the player to provide it.
84 min: Lauren Cuthbert sticks right on Lauren James who is forced to pass back. Chelsea looking to hang on here.
83 min: Chelsea hoof it clear, they are back in numbers now. Tobin Heath is warming up but does not have boots on.
82 min: United free kick, and then James forces a corner. United players up in numbers, and Berger claws the ball away. Mjelde has to put the ball behind for another corner.
80 min: Emma Hayes looks nervous on her socially distanced bench. This could be a huge step towards retaining the title. Hayes isn’t impressed when Kirby shoots from distance over the bar, trying to catch out Mary Earp.
78 min: Chelsea looking circumspect, hanging on to their lead, and the out ball is Fran Kirby.
77 min: Off goes Ji, quiet today, for Chelsea, and on comes Reiten. Both these teams have big squads of talent. United have not brought on Tobin Heath, though an injury must be suspected.
75 min: United sub: Sigsworth on for Hanson, with Lauren James pushed out wide.
74 min: United’s aim should be getting the ball to James as she is causing all types of problems.
72 min: Lauren James again in space, and launches a shot. This time it goes wide. Chelsea’s Mjelde had gone to sleep in letting her get that off.
71 min: Two Chelsea subs: Off go Harder and Kerr, on go Ingle and England.
70 min: United’s energy and endeavour has somewhat faded. It was a slack goal to concede when they had fought so hard to get back into it.
68 min: Galton looks to be away for United before Mjelde’s fine tackle. There is an offside flag too.
66 min: Kirby needed one chance where Sam Kerr needed five. She got four last week, and that’s why. Just as they had got back into the game, United fell asleep.
Goal! Chelsea 2-1 Manchester United (Kirby, 65)
Another chance from a long ball, and unlike Kerr, Kirby keeps her cool, helped by some dithering defending and slots home.
63 min: That Lauren James goal, by the way, was a touch, a turn, a give and go and then a rasping shot that Berger had no chance of saving. Fantastic, and her first goal of the season.
62 min: Chelsea almost go back ahead. Kerr - again - has a chance and - again - she can’t score. Mary Earp did well to block but that should have been a goal.
Goal! Chelsea 1-1 Manchester United (James, 61)
“Get LJ on the ball,” says Casey Stoney, and as if by magic, James turns, shoots and scores. What a goal!
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60 min: Something of a lull in play. It’s been full-blooded thus far, both teams giving everything.
57 min: Plenty of activity on the benches. Neither Emma Hayes nor Casey Stoney are holding back anything in urging their teams on.
55 min: United sub: on comes Lauren James for Christen Press, who was coming back from illness.
54 min: United corner, achieved by pressing Chelsea back. That’s cleared but United are back on the attack. It’s been a good response from United.
53 min: Better pressing from United, and they have Chelsea pinned back somewhat. Panicked passing by goalkeeper Berger suggests a level of anxiety.
51 min: Chelsea’s centre halves go up for a corner, but this time United clear their lines. Casey Stoney is asking her players to push up.
50 min: Chelsea attack, with Sam Kerr down the channels. United get back in numbers with Galton chasing back, and showing her energy levels have not dropped.
48 min: Galton fizzes in a cross from the left for United but there are no takers.
46 min: Back we go, and Chelsea are kicking away from the Surrey sun on Jack Goodchild Way, on which Kingsmeadow sits. Jack Goodchild, by the way, was a lifelong Kingstonian fan, who supported the club for most of the 20th Century.
Updated
Half-time: Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United
Both teams have played well but Chelsea’s extra quality and nous has shown. Their goal was not pretty but they had been knocking on the door for some time. Had Sam Kerr had her radar working better then they might have been further ahead. United though can take plenty of heart from that half. All is by no means lost.
45 min: Press takes too long on the ball as United attack breaks down and a breathless half comes to a close with no added time.
44 min: From distance, Chelsea’s Harder almost scores her second from long range. It’s saved, but only after a juggling act from Mary Earp.
43 min: United pushing on, and Galton’s cross spills to Press, who Chelsea require a some last-ditch stuff to get the ball away.
41 min: United had the ball in the net, with Hanson rounding Chelsea’s keeper. There is an offside flag. And, apologies to Sian Massey-Ellis, that looked onside.
39 min: Galton forces a United corner. And takes it herself. Eriksson heads away with a tinge of difficulty and Chelsea breathe a sigh of relief.
38 min: United trying to get control of the game and perhaps hold on to the score until half-time. They’ve played OK.
36 min: Chelsea prepared to sit back and use Kerr and Kirby on the break. Been a successful policy so far.
34 min: United attack. Dalton plays the ball out to Hanson, on the other flank and the ball spills to Press, whose shot is saved. Sian Massey-Ellis is the assistant referee today and has spotted an offside.
32 min: This is a big test for United, who have been not without an attacking threat but also looked highly vulnerable at the back.
31 min: Pressure finally told there, and Chelsea forced that goal home. For a moment it looked as if it would not go in, but United’s desperate defending ran out of road.
Goal! Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United (Harder, 30)
Kirby fires from close range, having been sent down the inside right channel. Earp saves well from the corner, and there’s a ricochet of chances before Harder forces the ball home. The goal celebration is socially distanced too!
27 min: At last, United get Hanson away and her ball into the centre causes all types of trouble. Press seizes on it and it whistles wide. That’s the closest United have come.
25 min: The first corner of the game is conceded by the alertness of United’s Galton. Ji takes it, but Hanson heads away with some ease.
23 min: United have some sustained possession before another overhit ball. There’s been something of a lull. The aim of United’s approach appears to be getting Hanson away down the flank but the passes to her have been unsatisfactory so far.
21 min: Earp’s goal kick is long, and a waste of the respite that United require. It’s back to defending Chelsea’s attacking.
19 min: United really struggling in midfield to stop Chelsea’s attacks. But they are putting in every effort. They need a little bit of respite.
17 min: Chelsea piling it on now, but Ji’s pass goes astray.
15 min: ANOTHER Kerr chance. She bursts through, and misses. She chose the outside of her boot rather than her left foot, and that’s a bad miss. Will Chelsea regret that?
14 min: Another Kerr shot, this time deflected, though oddly the referee gives a goal kick.
12 min: Kerr escapes for Chelsea, but her pass evades all known teammates, and there were a few candidates for a better ball, with Kirby the prime target. The champions putting the hammer down but Sam Kerr has been profligate.
10 min: Chelsea on the attack, and Ji gets to the byline, only for the ball to be cleared. Both defences being stretched when they are being put under pressure.
8 min: Galton’s cross is headed away by Mjelde. Chelsea having to defend deep and being put through their paces. Casey Stoney roaring on her team to chase every ball. It’s working.
6 min: End to end, and Christen Press looks to have escaped and tries a speculative shot, though an offside flag is waved.
5 min: Another glimpse of Kerr as Kirby releases her. The shot is screwed wide. United’s defence has wobbled.
3 min: A howling pass from Chelsea keeper Berger is played straight into United’s hands. It’s eventually cleared and Chelsea go all the way down the other end. Kerr drops the shoulder and drives into the box, and shoots. Mary Earp makes a save with her foot in the style of Pat Jennings or David de Gea in new money.
2 min: A quiet start, but one in which United have pressed hard. Casey Stoney can be heard to urge on the press.
1 min: Chelsea get the game underway with the kick-off after the players and staff take the knee.
The teams take to the field at Kingsmeadow to the tune of the Harry J Allstars’ The Liquidator.
Manchester City stepped off the gas against Aston Villa, and won 7-0, having led 6-0 after the first half.
Chelsea manager Emma Hayes speaks.
I know I shouldn’t be saying this with all the social distancing and that, but these are the days you want the fans in. This is the message, we will make sure we will give you entertainment. We are both deserving of where we are. It will be a cracker. Too many good players for it not to be. The way the league has gone there’s been three cancellations. I’m just grateful we can get the game underway. She [Casey Stoney] knows what she’s doing, she will be ready for this.
Manchester United manager Casey Stoney speaks.
Every game is a big name and this is not more important than playing Reading. If you want you be in and around the top three you need you win. Earlier in the season, we took a point off Chelsea and beat Arsenal, and that breeds belief. We know we will have to be clean in possession. No different than normal. We’re here to get a win. [First game in 2021]. It’s not ideal preparation but that was beyond our control. I think it’s gong to be about both boxes, defending well in our box and attacking well in theirs.
Both teams have big names to come off the bench, with Beth England there for Chelsea as Sam Kerr and Fran Kirby start, while Tobin Heath and Lauren James are options for Casey Stoney.
Those teams again:
Chelsea: Berger; Mjelde, Andersson, Bright, Eriksson (capt), Ji, Leupolz, Harder, Cuthdert, Kirby, Kerr.
Subs: Telford, Blundell, Ingle, England, Reiten, J Fleming, Charles, Spence.
Manchester United: Earps; Batlle, A Turner (capt), M Turner, Smith, Ladd, Groenen, Hanson, Toone, Galton, Press.
Subs: Bentley, Harris, McManus, Zelem, Fuso, Heath, James, Ross, Sigsworth.
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Chelsea are unbeaten in 30 WSL matches, having not lost since January 2019. They are defending their title, of course.
There is much respect between the two managers today, as reported by Louise Taylor.
In the other WSL matches being played today, Manchester City are leading Aston Villa 6-0. At half-time, while Everton are leading Bristol City 1-0. Reading v Arsenal kicks off at 2pm as does Birmingham v Brighton and West Ham and Tottenham begin their London derby at 3pm. After last week, it’s good to see the matches being played.
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Here are the teams.
Team news is in! ✍️
— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) January 17, 2021
Here is your Chelsea team to take on Man Utd! 👊#CFCW pic.twitter.com/1QJTq1do80
📋 Our first starting XI of the year — go get 'em, Reds! ✊#MUWomen #BarclaysFAWSL pic.twitter.com/9rdxcO4vKR
— Manchester United Women (@ManUtdWomen) January 17, 2021
This is one that could go some way to deciding the destiny of the WSL title. A Chelsea win would put Emma Hayes’ team in the box seat, as they have an extra game in hand. Casey Stoney’s United squad were one of those who made their way to Dubai, but unlike Manchester City and Arsenal returned without any positive tests. After last weekend, all but blank save for one fixture, Chelsea’s 5-0 thumping of Reading, this is the match of the season so far, and two unbeaten records are being placed at stake. United didn’t play last week due to Covid cases among Everton’s players. This is their first match of 2021, in fact.
Kick-off is 2.30pm, join me.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Man Utd Women | 10 | 18 | 26 |
| 2 | Chelsea Women | 9 | 23 | 23 |
| 3 | Arsenal Women | 10 | 30 | 22 |
| 4 | Man City Women | 10 | 17 | 21 |
| 5 | Everton Women | 10 | 2 | 15 |
