Suzanne Wrack's match report from Stamford Bridge
I’ll leave you with this. Bye.
There are three other WSL matches under way now. Birmingham v Everton, Liverpool v Reading and champions Arsenal are already a goal up against West Ham. You can follow the scores here.
As for Spurs, they can take heart from the fact that they have managed to live with one of the WSL’s best sides away from home in front of a bumper crowd. They will be tough for the better sides to break down and, if they can build their team around Davison, they should be able to create enough chances against weaker opponents to give themselves a decent chance of a creditable first season in WSL. I was particularly impressed with Rebecca Spencer in goal, too, who they brought in from West Ham in the summer.
On the evidence of today’s match I’d say Chelsea will be in the mix for the WSL title. Technically, they looked very good, and they will improve immeasurably as the season goes on. They played within themselves today against a team who were working as hard as they possibly could, and still could have run out 3-0 winners on another day. Guro Reiten was sharp on her debut and looks to have been an astute buy, while the rest of the squad will soon find their feet after a gruelling World Cup summer.
Beth England, whose sublime strike settled the match, speaks:
In front of this crowd and on this pitch I’m so proud of the team. We used a high press and I got the ball and I thought ‘just hit it’. I trust my left foot and I thought ‘get in there!’ You look at our results last year and we made a slow start. But we got three points today. Tottenham did not make it easy for us. Credit to them, they’ve come up a league and done well.
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Full-time: Chelsea 1-0 Tottenham
Peep! It’s three points for Chelsea, who were the far better side but looked a little rusty against the WSL newcomers. As for Spurs, they will be happy to have come away with only a narrow defeat. And with so many new players in the side they will get better as the season goes on.
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90+4 min: Ji scuffs a shot at goal 10 yards from goal, which Spencer saves. A moment later, England wallops an effort straight at Spencer and ji is on her heels as the ball bounces out to her, allowing a Spurs defender to nip in ahead of her and clear. Ji has another chance a moment later, but chooses to square towards England instead and overhits her pass. Chelsea really should have scored a second there.
90+2 min: Spurs patiently play the ball forwards to Ayane. She finds Davison outsider her. The former Chelsea player swivels on the spot and shows lovely twinkly toes to escape her marker and dink a clever pass inside to Ayane, whose touch is clumsy as she races into the box. Davison will be key if Spurs are to have a good debut season in WSL.
90 min: England shrugs Neville off the ball and races to the touchline, but her second touch has too much on it and Spurs have a goal-kick. There’ll be five minutes for Spurs to find an equaliser or for Chelsea to put this game to bed.
88 min: Ji fizzes a pass into the path of Cuthbert on the right. The Scottish winger drops her shoulder and sits down one Spurs defender before clattering a shot at goal that is blocked by another. Lovely jinking footwork, though.
87 min: The official attendance has just been confirmed at 24,564, the second biggest for a WSL match. Will they see a second goal? Let’s hope so.
84 min: Tottenham’s Worm is replaced by Ayane, who is a former Chelsea player. She couldn’t, could she? And it was Andersson who came on for Blundell a little earlier.
83 min: Chelsea are pushing on here, which might just give Spurs a chance to nab an equaliser on the break. Furness overhits a cross to the back post when Spurs had decent numbers forwards.
81 min: Andersson is on for Chelsea. I didn’t see who she replaced I’m afraid. I did see Davison turn on a sixpence and drive into the Chelsea half, though. She then cut inside her marker and played a perfect pass into the path of Graham, who crossed low into the box, where a Chelsea defender cleared. Lovely stuff from Davison.
80 min: Reiten’s delivery is deep and needs a strong hand from Spencer to turn it over the bar for a corner. The corner comes to nothing.
78 min: Beth England turns away from Peplow with a lovely body-swerve and then races for the touchline with four Spurs players in hot pursuit. She uses a little bit of trickery at the last to wrong-foot Peplow before winning a free-kick near the touchline.
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76 min: Graham has clashed heads with Ingle and looks a bit groggy as she receives treatment. It’s a nasty-looking clash that the Spurs player has come out of second best. She’ll be checked on the touchline before coming back on.
73 min: The Chelsea fans give Erin Cuthbert a rowdy reception as the brilliant Scottish attacker replaces Engman. What a World Cup she had – including that soul-destroying, madcap exit!
72 min: Spurs make a change – Quinn’s shift is over. Addison comes on for her.
70 min: Spurs are making life more difficult for Chelsea. They’re being brave in possession this half and trying to play out from the back and find space down the channels. It’s a pity they haven’t got Davison on the ball more as she looks a class above, but Chelsea have kept a close eye on her.
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68 min: Another free-kick for Chelsea wide on the left. But Reiten’s delivery is poor and Spurs clear at the near post. Here’s the video of Spence’s vicious shot at goal that Spencer did well to tip on to the bar.
✌️ double woodwork for @ChelseaFCW!
— Barclays FA Women's Super League (@BarclaysFAWSL) September 8, 2019
First @23Spence, then @guro_reiten! pic.twitter.com/P3PPeGQ09I
66 min: Neville has introduced her studs to Reiten’s left shin. Ouch! The sparky Norwegian is OK but it’s a nasty little tackle and the referee awards a free-kick and gives Neville a stern ticking off. Reiten’s deep free-kick is cleared by Neville on the far post and Engman’s shot at goal from 25 yards is wild and well wide.
64 min: Chelsea have looked at their most dangerous when Ji has been involved. She’s the player most likely to unlock the Tottenham defence. When Chelsea have gone wide they’ve looked predictable. But Ji looks more than capable of popping a killer pass through the Spurs backline in central areas.
62 min: And that’s it for Spence. She’s replaced by Cooper.
60 min: Ji finds Spence in midfield. She looks up and sees green grass and decides to run into it. Spurs defenders back off and Spence’s eyes light up. Thwack! She unleashes a fierce shot that Spencer gets a strong hand to and diverts on to the bar. Reiten is alert and jumps to head at goal but the ball clatters the far post before Neville blocks Reiten’s attempted follow-up shot. Spurs escape! What drama!
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58 min: The ball’s clipped down the line for Neville to scurry on to. The rampaging right-back does well to get to the ball first but then her touch lets her down and Chelsea get a goal-kick. Promising by Spurs again, though.
56 min: Spurs are beginning to grow in confidence. They’re hanging on to the ball and playing crisper, more incisive passes forwards. Godfrey has a pop from distance but it’s a wild effort and flies well over.
54 min: Blundell, who was looking to sprint down the left wing, is blocked crudely by Neville. Reiten curls the ball into the box, but Spurs clear and Davison picks up possession. The former Chelsea player is booed as she does so. She won the Double with Chelsea! Jeez. What happened to respect?
52 min: Spence gobbles up a shooting opportunity after Ji is stopped in her attempt to slip between two Spurs defenders. Her right-footed shot is powerful but straight down the throat of Spencer.
50 min: Furness is set free on the left by Graham. She steams into the Chelsea area and wallops a low first-time shot across Berger, which the Chelsea keeper does well to get down to and turn away for Eriksson to clear. Chelsea look half asleep. Complacency?
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49 min: A chorus of “Spurs go Marching in” can be heard now. The travelling fans like what they’ve seen in the opening minutes of this half. There’s still no official record of the attendance but my estimation would be around 25,000, which means the Manchester derby attendance of 31,000 yesterday would still be the WSL record.
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47 min: Spurs go on the attack straight away. Quinn hooks a deep cross to the back post. Davison collects. She does a smart stepover and smashes a low shot at goal that is deflected out for a corner, which comes to nothing. A brighter start though.
Peep! It's the second half!
45 min: Spurs get the second 45 minutes under way. Can they get back into the game? It will take some effort to do so. Spurs have brought England U-21 international Peplow on for Haines. It doesn’t look like Chelsea have made any changes.
England manager Phil Neville is watching at Stamford Bridge. Beth England was left out of Neville’s World Cup squad – and with a name like that too! She probably enjoyed scoring that goal in front of him.
Great to see England women’s manager Phil Neville in attendance at Chelsea women’s vs Tottenham women’s pic.twitter.com/Pt8dm7fBct
— Scott Tweed Photography (@ScottTweedPhoto) September 8, 2019
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Half-time reading:
Half-time: Chelsea 1-0 Spurs
Peep! And that’s that. Spurs will be happy to get in to the dressing room only one goal down. Chelsea are playing within themselves. If they lift it in the second half Spurs may struggle to contain them.
45+1 min: Spurs are working their socks off to stop Chelsea getting a second before half-time. And that hard work by Tottenham forces Spence to play a speculative pass over the top of the defence that Spencer gathers.
44 min: Chelsea fly back up the other end and Reiten stings Spencer’s palms with a left-footed shot drilled with power from 20 yards out. This game’s warming up. It’s a pity it’s almost half-time.
41 min: Spurs keep possession diligently and work the ball to the right, where Graham cuts inside before feeding Haines on the edge of the box. There isn’t much on for her on either side, so she drops a shoulder and shifts the ball on to her left foot before curling a fine effort inches wide of Berger’s top right corner.
40 min: Godfrey’s back up and running, which is just as well because Chelsea are pushing huge numbers of players forwards and have just won a corner. Reiten plays an outswinger towards Mjelde on the edge of the box. She tries to shimmy past her marker but is caught in possession and Spurs break …
38 min: Godfrey comes off second best in a shoulder-to-shoulder challenge with Engman, who is supremely strong. It looks like she’s landed on her shoulder, Mo Salah-style. Hopefully the physio will help to bend it back into full use.
35 min: Davison shows her class on the right, bamboozling her marker with quick feet before passing inside her and racing into the box. Graham picks up possession on the left and floats a lovely ball to the back post, where Neville controls with a lovely first touch but then loses possession with a clumsy second one.
33 min: Spurs almost steal an equaliser on the break. Haines turns sharply in central midfield and feeds Graham on the right, who is completely unmarked. She looks bemused to have so much space ahead of her but uses it well, driving into the box before fizzing a cross-shot towards Furness, that Berger gets a hand to before Eriksson clears under pressure. What a turnaround that would have been.
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30 min: And Chelsea almost get that second goal! Spence plays a lovely no-look pass on the edge of the box for Reiten to race on to. She wastes no time in pulling a cross back towards Blundell, who steams in at the back post and scoops a shot at goal that Spencer does well to hold on to. She was under pressure as she hit it, which explains why it wasn’t a clean connection.
28 min: For all Chelsea’s dominance, they’ll be disappointed if they don’t go in at half-time with more than a 1-0 lead.
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26 min: Ji, who is brimming with bright ideas, floats a lovely little ball in to Spence on the right side of the box. Spence volleys across the six-yard box first-time and England is this close to getting her head to it before Neville can clear. Wonderful play.
24 min: Mjelde stretches her legs on the right and drives forwards, before feeding Engman outside her. She shows the ball to Worm, who stabs at it and concedes a corner. Reiten whip it into the near-post. It’s cleared and headed back in, where Bright leaps and nods over with a speculative back-header.
22 min: Like many openers, this has the feeling of a pre-season game as players get used to the pace of their first competitive match of the season. Chelsea are in total control. They’re using the full width of Stamford Bridge and dragging Spurs all over the place. It’s almost like they’re toying with their newly-promoted London rivals.
20 min: Reiten goes in late on Neville, who is shaking her hand in fury and pain as a result. It appears the Norwegian stood on it in the follow-through. Oof! Here’s the goal, in case you haven’t seen it.
😱😱😱 @Bethany_Eng15 #CFCW pic.twitter.com/6MwZb6Disq
— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) September 8, 2019
16 min: Chelsea cut through Spurs again with some lovely, crisp passing. Percival is penalised for a foul near the edge of the box. Chelsea’s players contest the decision. They believed play should have continued. From the resulting free-kick Eriksson has stab at the ball on the back post but it bounces up into the air and the Spurs goalkeeper Spencer collects.
13 min: Spurs are giving the ball away far too cheaply when they have it. It’s a result of them playing too deep. When midfielders get on the ball they have very little ahead of them to aim at. Furness is the latest to be crowded off the ball in midfield but Reiten can’t find Ji with her through-ball. Spurs were in trouble had she done so.
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11 min: The free-kick is taken short but it’s almost too clever for any Chelsea team-mate to read and Spurs clear.
10 min: The Chelsea fans are loving this, making a fair din as Reiten whips in a corner from the left towards Bright. Spurs clear but Chelsea are straight back on the ball and forming another attack. Schillaci slides into Spence with a horrible-looking tackle to bring the attack to a grisly end on the edge of the box. The Spurs captain is rightly booked. Thankfully, Spence isn’t badly hurt and runs off the injury to her ankle.
6 min: The Spurs players need to keep their heads here. Chelsea are keeping possession with ease, pop, pop, popping the ball around their opponents in little triangles. Tottenham need to keep their shape and ride the next 10 minutes through without conceding.
Goal! Chelsea 1-0 Spurs (England 4)
That didn’t take long. And what a strike! Percival is robbed of possession in central midfield by England. The Chelsea midfielder drives forwards before curling a left-footed shot into the far top corner beautifully. She was a full 25 yards out, too. What a start for the home side at the Bridge!
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2 min: Tottenham’s Furness smashes into a tackle on Ji that we’ll call a reducer. From the resulting free-kick, Spurs clear to the edge of the box, where the ball is flicked back into the danger zone for Eriksson to stab just wide from 10 yards out. It was a tricky chance that Chelsea’s captain had to take on the stretch.
Peep!
1 min: We’re under way at a semi-full Stamford Bridge, where there’s a decent atmosphere. Chelsea, in blue of course, get the match started. They’re kicking from right to left on my TV. Spurs, wearing their famous white, are kicking the other way.
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It’s almost time for kick-off at Stamford Bridge, which is filling up nicely. Liquidator has started playing on the PA. And here come the teams …
Here’s Spurs head coach Karen Hills on today’s match, her side’s first in the WSL:
It’s going to be a really proud moment for both myself and [fellow head coach] Juan [Amoros] – and obviously for the club and the players. It’s an absolutely amazing stage – to go into the WSL and play at Stamford Bridge in front of what will probably be a record crowd, I’m extremely proud. We’ve got a fantastic squad that we’ve built with new additions over the last 12 weeks. Every single one of the players is ready and excited to go out there, to perform and to play the best they possibly can.
Karen Carney’s retirement has led to Sweden’s Magda Eriksson being handed the Chelsea armband. She’s a brilliant player and person. In case you missed it, here’s Nick Ames’s summer interview with Eriksson and Denmark’s Pernille Harder, in which they talk about their kiss in Paris that went viral, what it was like coming out and joining Common Goal.
The Chelsea manager, Emma Hayes, believes the grand stage will suit her team more than Spurs:
The slight advantage we have is a bit more experience and we’re used to playing in front of bigger crowds. We’ve got a lot of international players that are used to be playing at major tournaments and competing for major trophies. So this is not anything that they are experiencing for the first time. I’m looking forward to a packed house and to welcome a lot of new fans who are coming to the game. Sing as loud as you can, I want to hear your voices and players will want to too.”
Some more pre-match reading for you as we wait for kick-off. Here’s Arsenal’s Daniëlle van de Donk on why she thinks the reigning WSL champions will be a grooved machine this season:
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So the Norwegian forward Reiten is straight into the starting XI for Chelsea, while Davison, a summer signing from Reading, starts for Spurs. The Tottenham players got a warm welcome as they arrived at Stamford Bridge.
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Team news
Chelsea: Berger, Blundell, Bright, Ingle, England, Ji, Reiten, Eriksson (c), Engman, Mjelde, Spence. Subs: Telford, Thorisdottir, Asante, Andersson, Cooper, Cuthbert, Fleming.
Spurs: Spencer, Neville, Schillaci (c), Godfrey, Worm, Percival, Furness, Haines, Davison, Quinn, Graham. Subs: Morgan, Peplow, Leon, Filbey, McLean, Ayane, Addison.
Preamble
Hello. Welcome to coverage of today’s WSL derby match between Chelsea and Tottenham. It’s an intriguing opener for both sides, given that Spurs are new to the league and have brought in nine new players, seven of whom have WSL experience. The most noteworthy is Gemma Davison, who has bags of experience and can play in midfield or at full-back. Her influence will be key as head coaches Karen Hills and Juan Amoros try to mould a cohesive side with so many new recruits. Davison won the Double twice with Chelsea, too, so if you’re looking for narrative in today’s game, she provides plenty of it. You can read more about her here:
While Spurs might not be likely to challenge for the WSL title this season, there’s a feeling that Chelsea might. They were narrowly beaten in the semi-finals of the Champions League by untouchable Lyon last season but patchy domestic form led to them failing to qualify this time round. While that is a blow, it means they can put all their focus on the league. Chelsea’s experienced manager, Emma Hayes, has shunned upheaval and kept a talented squad mostly intact, as well as adding the lethal Norwegian forward Guro Reiten to the squad. She scored 51 goals in 53 appearances for Toppserien champions LSK Kvinner. If she can transfer that form to the WSL, Chelsea could be a real force.
Today’s game is being played at Stamford Bridge, where 40,000 tickets have been given away to fans. Yesterday’s Manchester derby attracted 31,000 to the Etihad Stadium, a new record for the WSL. Can today’s game beat it? We’ll soon see but, in any case, here’s Suzanne Wrack on why more WSL games should be played in bigger stadiums:
And while we wait for kick-off, why not peruse our club-by-club guide to the season ahead:
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