The Player of the Match is the United captain Katie Zelem
“I’m over the moon. We put everything we had into the game and it’s a great result for us. We’ve just competed with the champions and showed to everyone else that we’re here to compete - we’re not just settling for being in the league. We want to build on last season; we know we’ve got more to give and I think we showed that today.”
Today’s WSL results
- Arsenal 6-1 Reading
- Brighton 2-0 Birmingham
- Bristol City 0-4 Everton
- Tottenham 1-1 West Ham
- Man Utd 1-1 Chelsea
That was an excellent game. Chelsea had the clearer chances, and deserved to lead at half-time through Sam Kerr’s goal, but United were terrific in the second half and Leah Galton scored a fine equaliser.
Full time: Man Utd 1-1 Chelsea
Peep peep!
90+4 min Kirby misses a chance right at the death, mistiming a volley from Harder’s cross.
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90+3 min Cuthbert almost wins it for Chelsea! Harder, Kirby and England moved the ball smartly from right to left to find Cuthbert just inside the area. Her shot hit McManus and deflected behind for a corner.
90+1 min Four minutes of added time.
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90 min Mjelde’s corner from the right pinballs around the United area. Eventually Cuthbert’s shot is blocked and the rebound dribbles wide.
86 min The United captain Katie Zelem was booked a couple of minutes ago for trying to stop Telford from starting a Chelsea counter-attack.
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85 min Cuthbert hits a thumping half-volley from 20 yards that is blocked by McManus, and Leupolz volleys the rebound into orbit.
84 min The United corner bounces around the area before Carter puts it behind for another, this time on the right. Galton swings it under the crossbar and Telford claims confidently.
83 min James’ dangerous cross is chested behind for a corner by Mjelde. This has turned into a cracking game.
80 min Chelsea respond by bringing on Jess Carter and Pernille Harder for Andersson and Reiten.
The tireless Leah Galton has equalised for United! Toone played a lovely first-time pass down the right to Groenen, who surged into the area, looked up and slid a precise low pass towards Galton at the far post. She got in front of Mjelde and tapped the ball into the open net.
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GOAL! Man Utd 1-1 Chelsea (Galton 79)
It should have been 2-0, and now it’s 1-1!
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78 min Kirby puts Cuthbert clear on the right side of the box. She surprisingly declines the shot and instead tries to return the ball to Kirby, but it’s a poor pass and United clear.
77 min Another chance for Cuthbert! England lofts a deflected cross to the far post, where Cuthbert arrives late to slam a half-volley towards goal from five yards. It’s straight at Earps, who does well to hold on.
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76 min: Good save from Earps! Kirby played a crisp pass infield to Cuthbert, who knocked it past Smith on the run and hit a low shot that was well blocked by the outrushing Earps.
75 min Lauren James hasn’t seen much of the ball since coming on. If United are to get anything out of this game, that probably needs to change.
73 min There’s a break in play while the United keeper Mary Earps receives treatment. She’s okay to continue.
70 min Cuthbert’s low cross from the left almost falls for Kirby at the far post, but Ladd (I think) gets in front of her to clear.
66 min Beth England, who wasn’t fit enough to start the game, replaces the goalscorer Sam Kerr.
65 min Chelsea are starting to calm the game down after a slightly torrid start to the second half.
62 min Chelsea were pretty comfortable in the first half; they’ve been anything but since half-time. You probably haven’t heard this phrase before, but the next goal is absolutely vital.
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60 min Casey Stoney decides it’s time to introduce the brilliant Lauren James, who wasn’t fit to start the match. She replaces Jane Ross.
59 min Groenen’s cross goes behind off Andersson. The corner is headed away by Eriksson, but the ball keeps coming back at Chelsea.
58 min And now a change for Chelsea, with Ji replaced by Erin Cuthbert.
55 min Bright blocks shots from Galton and then Zelem. Chelsea are hanging on at the moment, with United winning the ball back much more aggressively.
53 min: Good save by Telford! Batlle plays a nice short pass to Toone, who gets the ball out of her feet and thrashes a rising drive from 25 yards. Telford leaps to her right to tip it over the bar.
53 min A change for United: Hanson is replaced by Jackie Groenen.
52 min It’s been a strong start to the second half from United, who are having much more of the ball than they did before half-time.
50 min Another half chance for Ladd, who chest-volleys well wide from 20 yards.
48 min At the other end, Ladd cuts inside dangerously from the left but sprays her shot out for a throw-in.
47 min: Another chance for Kerr! Mjelde charged down the right and curled a superb cross to the near post, where Kerr got in front of McManus and half-volleyed over from close range. It wasn’t the easiest ball to hit first time, especially as she was being challenged from the side by McManus, but a finisher of her class should probably have scored.
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46 min Peep peep! Chelsea begin the second half.
Half-time reading
Half time: Man Utd 0-1 Chelsea
Peep peep! Chelsea deservedly lead through a fine goal from Sam Kerr, who has been very lively and could have scored a hat-trick. United have struggled to penetrate at the other end, though Leah Galton did hit the bar in the last attack of the first half.
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45+2 min: Galton hits the bar! United almost equalise on the stroke of half-time. Hanson did well to beat Andersson on the right and cross towards the far post, where Galton got in front of Mjelde and looped a header onto the bar. Telford was backpedalling frantically but I don’t think she got a touch on the ball.
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44 min Galton is found in space on the left side of the area, but her cross flashes past everyone and out for a throw-in. In Galton’s defence, there wasn’t much support - I think she only had Ross in the area to aim for.
41 min: Fine save by Earps! Ji lofts a superb angled pass over the United defence towards Kerr, who gets away from Turner and smashes a half-volley towards goal from 12 yards. Earps not only saves the shot but holds onto it. It was another terrific run from Kerr, who has looked so dangerous since giving Chelsea the lead.
39 min “I think Ji is such a classy player,” says Redmond Grimes. “She makes Chelsea tick without really getting the accolades other star players do.”
Yes, she’s a classic players’ player.
38 min Ingle’s high, hanging cross is headed wide by Kerr. It wasn’t much of a chance.
37 min Galton has a bit of time to run at Mjelde. She beats her but takes too long in doing so and is dispossessed by the covering Kirby. Moments later, Galton has a shot blocked by Bright.
36 min United are having their best spell of possession in the match, although Chelsea look comfortable enough in defence.
34 min “Hiya Rob,” says Adam Kline-Schoder. “United are so close to breaking through on the counter; just a couple of overhit through balls (most notably and surprisingly from Zelem) away from several really good scoring opportunities.”
31 min Now Chelsea lose possession in a dangerous area. Toone picks up the loose ball on the left wing and hits a speculative cross shot that is palmed away by the diving Telford.
30 min Kerr misses an excellent chance to make it 2-0! Turner’s poor pass towards Zelem was intercepted by Kerr, who surged into the area and dragged a low shot just wide of the far post.
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29 min: Kerr has a goal disallowed for offside! It was the right decision - she was a couple of yards ahead of the defence as she ran onto Reiten’s cross.
27 min Kerr showed great desire to get in front of Smith, who was favourite to intercept Kirby’s cross. That was the hard part; the finish was simple.
That was beautifully worked, all the way from back to front. The move started when Eriksson and Ji combined to find Mjelde on the right. She played in the underlapping Kirby, whose precise low cross was finished from close range by Kerr. Lovely, simple football.
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GOAL! Man Utd 0-1 Chelsea (Kerr 25)
Chelsea take the lead with an excellent team goal.
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21 min “Hi Rob,” says Redmond Grimes. “Watching in from Toronto as a lifelong Chelsea fan. We are getting the games here on a major sports network now, how times have changed. Chelsea looks formidable this season; can anyone break the top three?”
The fact Reading were hammered 6-1 by Arsenal doesn’t bode well. Man Utd could do it in time but I can’t see it happening this season.
19 min Eriksson’s long ball forward ricochets into the path of Kerr, whose snapshot deflects off McManus and goes just wide of the near post. Earps had it covered. The resuling corner is only half cleared to Reiten, who drives straight at Earps from 16 yards. That was a chance.
19 min Nothing much is happening, which suits United more than Chelsea. But they know it will be very hard to keep Chelsea this quiet for the entire 90 minutes.
16 min Anyone out there?
14 min Casey Stoney will be really happy with this start. United have looked solid defensively and generally kept Chelsea at arm’s length. I can never remember where to put the apostrophe in that phrase.
11 min Lots of Chelsea possession, as you’d expect. United look quite lively on the counter-attack though; they haven’t just parked the bus.
8 min Andersson plays a give-and-go with Reiten, forcing Smith to concede another corner. Mjedle plays it short, gets it back and puts in a dangerous low cross that is well claimed by Earps.
5 min Jane Ross almost gives United the lead out of nothing. She moved away from Leupolz and lofted a spectacular shot from 25 yards that whistled just wide of the near post. Telford dived desperately to her right but I’m not sure she’d have saved it had it been on target.
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4 min Reiten’s corner is volleyed well wide by the off-balance Eriksson.
3 min Zelem concedes the first corner. It’s been a confident start from Chelsea, with all the early action taking place in the United half.
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1 min Peep peep! Katie Zelem kicks off for United, who are playing from left to right on my television screen. They are in red; Chelsea are in blue.
Arsenal 6-1 Reading is the final score at Boreham Wood. Enough of that, because it’s time for the weekend’s big game: Man Utd v Chelsea.
Danielle Carter has scored a consolation of sorts against her former club; it’s now Arsenal 6-1 Reading.
Surely @ReadingFCWomen shirt printers need a forfeit 😂 How do you spell a legend's name wrong? pic.twitter.com/bzRiQPEE6g
— Jessica Creighton (@JessCreighton1) September 6, 2020
Jeez, Arsenal are now 6-0 up against Reading. Jill Roord has scored a hat-trick, Vivianne Miedema has two.
Some pre-match reading
Arsenal are on course for victory in their first game. They lead Reading 3-0 after an hour thanks to goals from Kim Little, Jill Roord and - shock, horror - Vivianne Miedema.
Manchester City, the other main challengers to Chelsea, started with a 2-0 win at Villa yesterday.
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Team news
Chelsea are unchanged from the team that beat Manchester City in the Community Shield last weekend. That means Pernille Harder, who has only been at the club a few days, starts on the bench. Fran Kirby, who endured such a traumatic 2019-20 season, starts a WSL game for the first time in almost a year.
Man Utd (4-2-3-1) Earps; Smith, McManus, M Turner, Batlle; Zelem, Ladd; Hanson, Toone, Galton; Ross.
Substitutes: Ramsey, A Turner, Okvist, Groenen, James.
Chelsea (4-3-3) Telford; Mjelde, Eriksson, Bright, Andersson; Ji, Ingle, Leupolz; Kirby, Kerr, Reiten.
Substitutes: Orman, Blundell, Carter, England, J Fleming, Charles, Cuthbert, Harder, Spence.
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Preamble
Hello. A league season doesn’t truly start until the champions have played their first game. This afternoon, Chelsea begin their title defence with an awkward trip to Manchester United, who were the best of the rest in last season’s WSL. Chelsea were the best of the lot, finishing just ahead of Manchester City and Arsenal on points per game when the season was curtailed because of Covid-19.
Chelsea haven’t been doing any laurel-resting. Emma Hayes has signed four players, including the brilliant Pernille Harder from Wolfsburg for a world-record fee of around £300,000 and the classy Bayern Munich midfielder Melanie Leupolz. All in all, they look pretty darn formidable.
United’s transfer business was more modest, with Birmingham’s Lucy Staniforth their main signing. They had a good first season in the WSL, finishing fourth, but there was a huge gap between them and the teams above. Today’s match will give us an idea whether the WSL triopoly is in any danger.
Kick off 2.30pm.
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