Here’s Suzanne Wrack’s match report
Summing up
And with that, I’ll bid you farewell. A magnificent game, with attacking play and ambition straight from the top drawer, and some wobbly defending to give it a particular unpredictability. The net result of which is that Chelsea still look marginally best placed to win the title, unbeaten and a point behind with a game in hand they’re unlikely to lose. City attacked with brio though, particularly the outstanding Lauren Hemp on the left, and there’s still all to play for at the top. This race will run and run. Thanks for following, and stay on the site for Suzanne Wrack’s report from the City Academy Stadium. Bye.
Next up is City’s interim manager Alan Mahon: “A great game for the spectator,|” he says, “though obviously a little bit disappointed with some of the defending. We’ll take a point and move on. There’s a lot of games still to come and we’ll crack on. I said in the huddle to the team to be proud because they’re a top team, Chelsea.”
On Ellie Roebuck’s injury there’s no definitive news as yet: “I don’t know much at this stage,” he says. “It’s the ankle she went over on,it didn’t look great, but we don’t know yet. We’ve got a break now and time to go back to the drawing board and plan the rest of the season.”
Emma Hayes is chewing over the game with her usual eloquent candour: “We’re still undefeated and coming here is such a tough place to come and we struggled throughout the game defensively but now I’ve seen the first goal was offside (other than that I can’t fault the officials) but it was great entertainment for the crowd. You lot ad a wonderful time, your nceks will have been strained from going from side to side. It’s a sign of things when our team are disappointed that a point feels like a loss, but i’m a bit older and wiser and I think a point’s a gain.
Hayes is critical of Chelsea and Bright’s defending for City’s second before the turning points in the middle period of the second half, with Chelsea going ahead then surviving a penalty. “I’m Frustrated with how we started after the restarts, diving in from Sophie she’ll be disappointed but a good early decision from Bergy for the penalty save. It didn’t feel like a game of a lot of control from both teams.”
A bit of post-match chat with Chelsea’s Magdelena Eriksson and Beth England: the former says “it could have been anyone’s game, we’re not happy with conceding three goals, but have to be happy with a point, City did well – they are an amazing team with a good structure and are really hard to beat.” England adds, with some understatement: “We’re still in this title race, we’re not taking our foot off the gas. Goal made up for the early miss, I’ve got to do better than that, and I’m just disappointed we couldn’t keep the win at 3-2.”
Full-time: Manchester City 3-3 Chelsea
The throw comes to nothing and Chelsea get it back down the other end. Not for long, but they’re pressing City well enough without the ball to keep themselves out of danger. And that’s our lot. And what a lot it was. A terrific match. Chelsea remain unbeaten, and with their title challenge in their own hands with that game in hand on their opponents, the WSL leaders.
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90+11 mins: More smart attacking play from Chelsea as England flicks it wide to Cuthbert whose ball in is eventually worked clear, and City now have a throw on the right midway through Chelsea’s half.
90+9 mins: So, one final sub then, for Man City: The French keeper Benameur comes on for WSL debut in place of the injured Roebuck.
90+7 mins: This doesn’t look good for Roebuck (or City, or England, with Phil Neville among the assembled today) – a stretcher is brought on and her afternoon’s work is over. She looks to have hurt an ankle.
90+5 mins: Cuthbert launches it into what might crudely describe as a mixer at this desperate late stage of a fluent high-quality game; but Roebuck comes out to gather brilliantly under pressure, but needs treatment after landing awkwardly. Added added time looms.
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90+4 mins: City win a free kick that is hoyed into the box and eventually whacked clear by Thorisdottir, enabling England to raid forward down the right and win a free-kick following Scott’s rash hack …
90+2 mins: Chelsea are handling this well so far, though Walsh causes them a couple of flutters with a slide-rule pass in for Stanway but it just runs away from the City attacker.
90+1 mins: Chelsea sub: Spence for Kerr, a midfielder for a star striker.
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90 mins: And we will have seven more minutes of this. Few neutrals will complain.
87 mins: Another big Chelsea chance: England picks up a loose ball, runs at Bright, with a player to her left, but then horribly slices the shot wide with her left foot. Fair play to Bright, who kept England at arm’s length and wisely decided not to dive in. And play halts while Bonner is treated for a knock. She has to leave the pitch temporarily.
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85 mins: City continue to press, but Thorisdottir snuffs out their latest raid and Chelsea get a rare spell of prolonged possession, as Kerr cutely plays in Cuthbert down the right but her low cross is deflected behind, apparently off a Chelsea player as it’s a goal kick.
83 mins: No sooner do I say that than Chelsea counter and England scampers down the right to send in a presentable cross that needs to be turned behind for a corner. It’s a good ball in too, to Eriksson at the back post but she sends her header a fraction too high.
81 mins: City are pouring forward from all angles and all positions at the moment and it’s thrilling to watch, but Chelsea are clinging on to that unbeaten record.
79 mins: A couple of minutes earlier, there was another Chelsea sub: Ji, who’s been subdued despite scoring, makes way for Thorisdottir and City made a change too, Bremer for White.
78 mins: City press again, as the excellent Hemp initiates another move down the left; it’s worked from left to right and back again and eventually lands at Weir’s feet on the left edge of the six-yard box but she shoots straight at Berger, who saves smartly.
Goal! Man City 3-3 Chelsea (Hemp, 76)
… it’s cleared but comes back and Weir slides a subtle low ball into the box and Hemp beats her marker and the keeper to the ball and slides it into the corner. This is magnificent stuff now.
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75 mins: This is the stuff of champions from Chelsea, in the sense that they’d been second-best this half until the past seven or eight minutes, since when they’ve won all the key moments, saving a penalty and scoring two classic opportunists’ goals. City aren’t beaten though, and they win another corner on the right …
Goal! Man City 2-3 Chelsea (England, 74)
What a goal! England picks it up 25-30 yards out and thunders a searingly accurate shot to Roebuck’s right into the middle corner of the net.
72 mins: Amid all that, a Chelsea substitution: Bachmann replaces Reiten.
72 mins: And breathe. Another scramble in the Chelsea six-yard box is worked clear by the visitors as it all becomes deliriously joyously scrappy.
And it's saved!
Stanway sends it to Berger’s right at saveable height and she palms it away! It’s all happening. The penalty was won after a late challenge by Ingle just as Chelsea were basking in levelling against the run of play
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Penalty to Man City!
And City go straight down the other end and win a spot kick
Goal! Man City 2-2 Chelsea (Erikssen)
68 mins: Cuthbert wins a corner for Chelsea when her searching cross from the right for Kerr is headed behind and it’s worked out left, where a cross from England is flicked beyond the City defence for Erikssen to steal in and head it past Roebuck who fumbles it in.
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66 mins: City are rampant at the moment. The ball sits up nicely for Weir, 25 yards out, and after her initial blast is deflected out to Hemp, whose shot is deflected for another corner. Which Chelsea clear …
65 mins: City win another corner after more sprightly work from Hemp on the left. The corner prompts a bout of head tennis and the hosts have to work it all the way back to the keeper to retain possession, and the attack eventually breaks down on the right.
63 mins: City are on on the attack again straight from the off, as Stanway forages down the right and plays in Stanway whose close-range effort is blocked.
62 mins: And we have a delay as City’s keeper Roebuck needs treatment, possibly for the whack she’d taken in that earlier goalmouth scramble. But she’s Ok to continue, prompting more cheers from a now-happy home crowd. A big, big half-hour looms now
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59 mins: Hemp found some space on the left after a clearance by Bonner and curled a classy ball behind the defence, catching Chelsea square, and Hemp races clear, has time to steady herself and clip it beyond Berger with her right-foot.
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Goal! Manchester City 2-1 Chelsea
City are back ahead after a fine counterattacking goal
58 mins: It’s City’s turn to knock out some pretty passing triangles on the right as Beckie and Scott combine with the latter sending a low ball into the box but Ji manages to scramble clear.
57 mins: Just wide. A teasing near-post corner from is met by Reiten ahead of Beckie, but it’s narrowly wide.
56 mins: Cuthbert bullocks down the right, keeping Weir at bay until the City defender gets a foot in at the byline to concede a corner to Chelsea …
54 mins: Chelsea begin to assert themselves again, with England playing in Kerr with a neat defence-splitting pass but it’s just overhit a tad and Roebuck gathers.
53 mins: Chance for Chelsea! Reiten’s close-range volley at the near post, following a good combination from Cuthbert and Mjelde down the right, is beaten away for a corner. The corner is defended successfully following a brief scramble around Roebuck, who takes an inadvertent whack to the nose.
51 mins: Just a little bit of sloppiness in Chelsea’s passing so far this half and City are pressing them hard, Stokes harrying Cuthbert deep into her own half. When City next gain the ball they raid down the right through Beckie but her cross for Hemp is overhit and drifts behind.
48 mins: There have been no substitutions as yet. Houghton meanwhile is caught in possession by Kerr, who scampers down the left. Her initial ball in is cleared but Reiten reestablishes possession only to overhit a diagonal deep-raking cross.
46 mins: Weir and Hemp combine down the left for City and win a corner, when the latter tries to play in the former by the byline and Mjelde has to intercept. But it fails to clear the first defender and the visitors clear
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Peep!
And we go again for the second half. City kick us off again.
Thanks Daniel. I’ll level with you – I missed the early exchanges of this due to cricket duties – but this looks deliciously poised, with City showing their creative potential but Chelsea just so darned hard to beat. Don’t go anywhere, but you can have a quick peak at what’s going on in the men’s games here.
Right, that’s me done – join me for Arsenal-Everton later on. Tom Davies will take you through what promises to be a bazzing second half.
Half-time: Manchester City 1-1 Chelsea
City will be the happier of the two sides in a way: they’ve played better; but Chelsea will be happier in another: they’re level. In other words, both managers have work to do.
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45 min There’ll be one additional minute.
45 min I should note that this is the final league head-to-head between the top three teams, so if Chelsea wind up top at the final whistle, they’ll be very hard to stop, given their game in hand.
44 min It’s gone a little scrappy.
43 min Elsewhere, Wolves lead Norwich 2-0, Diogo Jota, who scored three in midweek, scoring both, and Man United have just taken the lead against Watford, Bruno Fernandes winning and scoring a penalty. You can follow those games here:
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42 min Here come Chelsea again, Cuthbert lifting toward Kerr at the back post, but again the ball is fractionally high.
41 min Save for the fact that it arrived, that goal was not coming. Chelsea looked about to score for the first 20 and didn’t, looked nothing like scoring for the next 20 and did. Football eh.
GOAL! Manchester City 1-1 Chelsea (Ji 39)
Houghton climbs high to head away Mjelde’s cross, but the ball drop to ... Ji! Who gets right over it to drive hard, and the ball flicks off the head of Stokes before beating Roebuck and nestling in the bottom-left corner!
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38 min We’ve seen hardly anything of Ji so far.
37 min Hemp chases a long ball and collects it just by the corner flag. She then cuts back towards her own goal, easily beating Mjelde, who trips her. The free-kick comes to nowt.
35 min Looking at that again, Stokes is lucky. She’s very close to England, but her hands – both of them – are up by her face, where they’ve no business chilling.
34 min The corner goes near post and England is there, crouching to flick on. The ball perhaps brushes the hand of Stokes, behind her, and there are beseechings for a penalty, but the ref is having none of it.
33 min Bright finds England, who’s pulled onto the left touchline. She sets off towards goal and crosses, earning a corner...
32 min City have been much the better team since the goal.
30 min Weir, who’s having a good day, dashes across Cuthbert to open up a shooting lane just outside the box. She gets reasonable hold of the ball too, but directs the effort straight at Roebuck.
30 min We’ve not seen much of Mjelde so far, but suddenly she appears, sliding a lovely reverse-pass in front of Kerr, dashing into the box, right-hand side. But Roebuck gets out well and catches the attempted dink.
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28 min A long ball beats Chelsea’s entire back four, and Stanway is onto it. But she doesn’t have the pace to get away, and recognising that fact, checks to set up a shot, only to be crowded out.
27 min But here’s England, finding Kerr down the left; Bonner comes across to see her away.
26 min Chelsea have struggled to muster successive passes since the goal.
24 min Chelsea have themselves a situation now. If they commit more players forward, they risk getting buried on the counter, but they can’t really wear a draw.
23 min You can’t say that goal wasn’t coming; you can say that you’d be saying exactly the same had Chelsea scored it.
GOAL! Manchester City 1-0 Chelsea (White 22)
Walsh battles towards the box and when she’s eventually unloaded, Weir is on-hand to send the ball wide, where Beckie delivers a perfect, first-time cross in behind – it’s more of pass than a cross really; obviously White is exactly there, and she turns an expert’s finish home, off Berger.
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21 min There’s no pattern to this whatsoever, but there’s absolutely gallons of tempo.
19 min The corner then goes right across the face of goal! Again, England misses it, and Bright, heaving in two-footed at the back post, can’t apply the touch required.
18 min Chelsea take the sting out, knocking the ball along the back four ... but then they break quickly, sending Ingle away down the left. Her cross is a good one and Kerr is there again, heading down towards the corner ... but Roebuck dives full-length to tip behind.
17 min Wright finds Bright, striding up from the back, and Kerr is there to her left. The ball goes that way too, but her cross is too close to Roebuck, who gets it away.
15 min Walsh sticks one in behind, seeking Stanway, but Berger hares out to kick clear.
14 min Beckie coaxes in another cross towards White, but Ericsson is there to get the ball away, more or less.
14 min City are improving, and Hemp flies down the left but then overhits her cross.
12 min How is this this still goalless? City win a free-kick 30 yards out and Weir floats it directly onto White’s bonce. Again, anything on target is a goal unless it hits the keeper, but the header goes just wide of the near post.
10 min But have a look! Beckie retrieves a cross that floats beyond the back post and slings in a ball that White misses but which falls perfectly for Kerr, arriving onto the scene! Anything on target and it’s a goal, but she opts to give it everything, leathering a shot over the top. It’s one of those where, if anything, Brian, she’s hit it....
9 min City haven’t got to grips with Kerr at all, and when Reiten turns up down the left, a long ball set her away with a target in the middle. Her cross is a goodun too, but just too high for Kerr, who can only impart a glance, when a full brow was required.
8 min Andersson darts a ball into Kerr, but Houghton cleverly makes to go in then steps off, so she’s ready to collect hen Kerr turns.
7 min City are sitting off Chelsea, but its not really helping – Chelsea are playing out of defence and through midfield; as I type that, England serves in a cross from the left, looking for England, but Roebuck collects easily enough.
6 min Chelsea look much the better side and Kerr gets away again at inside-right, looking to cross low for England ... but the ball is behind her.
5 min Beckie nicks the ball past Reiten, who nicks her leg. Beckie stays down for a moment, but seems fine.
4 min Things are settling down. Chelsea knock it about, looking to tease City out.
3 min Phew!
2 min Now White finds space down the other end and looks to drill low inside the near post, only for Berger to block behind. The corner comes to nothing.
1 min WHAT A MISS! I SAY, WHAT A MISS! Immediately, Reiten drives at the City defence and slips Kerr in, who flicks the ball over the keeper – by the way she wheeled away, she thought she’d scored – but Roebuck gets something on it and the ball squirts across the box to England ... WHO TOTALLY MISSES HER KICK!
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1 min Away we go!
In less important but still important footballing activity, Man United are playing Watford and Wolves are playing Norwich. Follow all that here:
By the looks of things, City will play 4-4-2 – don’t tell Guardiola – and Chelsea will play a diamond. So City will be looking to get the ball wide, while Chelsea will intend to win the number’s game in midfield.
Here they come!
Talk to people, people. Ask people how they are, tell people how you are.
We are showing support for the #HeadsUp campaign today! 💙 #KickOffAConversation #CFCW pic.twitter.com/HOPzbKWEwt
— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) February 23, 2020
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“I’ve got wonderful players,” the wonderful Emma Hayes tells BT. In interview, she’s much more bullish than Alan Mahon: she expects her team to win and is clear about how important that is; Mahon gives it the just another game, long way to go shtick. I know who I find more convincing.
Gosh, approaching half-time, Lewes are still holding Arsenal.
I’m looking forward to seeing how England does today. She’s been in terrific form this season, and City will have to go some to contain her. Their midfield need to have a proper one today, because I can’t see their defence doing enough if they’re exposed to a serious amount of pressure.
To get you in the mood.
City have opted against starting Pauline Bremer, presumably mindful of Chelsea’s attacking prowess. Only Vivianne Miedema and Beth England have more league goals that Bremer this season; I’d expect her to turn up in the second half, when legs are tired.
Elsewhere: Manchester United are 2-0 up away to Everton, playing their first game at their new Walton Hall ground. Arsenal, meanwhile, are being held 0-0 by Lewes in the FA Cup.
Teams!
Manchester City: Roebuck, Stokes, Bonner, Houghton (C), Scott, Stanway, Beckie, Hemp, White, Weir, Walsh. Subs: Benameur, Coombs, Bremer, Toland, Park, Wullaert, Fidalgo.
Chelsea: Berger, Bright, Ingle, England, Ji, Reiten, Eriksson, Mjelde, Kerr, Cuthbert, Andersson. Subs: Telford, Thorisdottir, Carter, Blundell, Engman, Spence, Bachmann.
Preamble
This is a colossal, monumental, gargantuan piece of fixture. As things stand, City sit top of the table and have won their last six league games; but that run started after defeat as Chelsea, who are a point behind them with a game in hand, having won their last nine matches in all competitions. And that’s not all, because just two points behind them are Arsenal, last season’s champions and Chelsea’s opponents in next weekend’s WSL Cup final.
Which is to say that the standard at the top of the WSL is extremely ridiculous, which is to say that it’s extremely difficult to guess – and it will be a guess – what will happen when the best teams play. Both City and Chelsea have been brilliant at the back and devastating in attack, City slightly better at the former and Chelsea significantly better at the latter. But the match-up and the match-ups tell us more about what’s likely to happen this afternoon than the comparative kickings handed out to lesser lights.
City’s defence – which has conceded just six times in 15 league games will be asked serious questions by Erin Cuthbert and Beth England, but even if Steph Houghton and pals can cope with that, Ji So-yun poses an even greater threat. And City finding and answer to all that looks a lot less likely than Chelsea curbing Ellen White and Pauline Bremer – all the more so given the recent departure of Nick Cushing, City’s manager, and the epochal brilliance of Emma Hayes, Chelsea’s long-serving incumbent. But, either way, this is a treat.
Kick-off: 2pm GMT
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