Sonia Bompastor criticised Mary Earps for a lack of respect for comments made about her player Hannah Hampton and the England manager, Sarina Wiegman, after the Chelsea manager watched her goalkeeper keep a clean sheet in a 2-0 victory over London City Lionesses.
The buildup to Chelsea’s industrious Women’s Super League victory had been overshadowed by the revelations made by the former England No 1 in extracts of the book published in the Guardian on Friday night. Earps, who retired from international football before the summer’s European Championship, described a breakdown in the relationship between the two goalkeepers and with the Lionesses’ manager, which led to her telling Wiegman that she was rewarding “bad behaviour” by recalling Hampton.
“I think Hannah is fine,” Bompastor said. “It’s tough because Hannah is an athlete but also a person and it is never nice to hear these comments. The only thing I want to say about Hannah is that, since I joined Chelsea, she has grown so much. She’s such a professional athlete and also a good person. We have a really good relationship together and I want to show her my support in this situation.”
The Chelsea manager continued: “I just feel like with what I read in terms of comments coming from Mary Earps, it is not acceptable not to show respect to your teammate or your manager. We are talking about Hannah but I am also raising my voice for Sarina. I just think when you use some words saying something about someone who won the European Championship three times in a row, you should probably think about it before you speak. Hannah has been fine with us and all the club, myself, the staff and the players are all behind her.
“If you look at what Hannah said in the previous comments about Mary Earps then what Mary is saying about her now, one of them is class and Hannah is the class one.”
Despite the furore, the Chelsea goalkeeper was predictably named in the lineup, as she has been for every league game this season. Bompastor made just two changes for their last match against Paris FC, with Lucy Bronze and Ellie Carpenter both coming back into the fold.
They were coming up against a confident but not complacent London City Lionesses who are enjoying an impressive start to their first WSL season. This was not the first time Jocelyn Prêcheur has faced Bompastor on the sidelines and he will have been well aware of the challenge that faced his team. Finding stability and consistency has been key for Prêcheur and with the owner, Michele Kang, watching, it was the perfect opportunity to see how they can perform against the country’s top side.
London City made a slow start and fell behind inside six minutes. Chelsea issued an early warning when Erin Cuthbert pounced on a lax pass from Wassa Sangaré. The defender recovered brilliantly to block the shot but it was a sign of what was to come.
Manchester City extended their winning run to six matches with a 1-0 victory over West Ham to keep the pressure on Chelsea at the top of the Women's Super League. Aoba Fujino opened the scoring in the first half before Gracie Prior struck the crossbar in the second period.
West Ham stay rooted to the foot of the table having lost all seven of their matches, and have now failed to score in four straight games.
City dominated throughout at the Joie Stadium and took a deserved lead with 26 minutes gone. Shelina Zadorsky lost the ball to Vivianne Miedema who drove towards the visitors' area before playing in Fujino who struck first time.
Rehanne Skinner's struggling side came close to drawing level just 10 minutes later when Viviane Asseyi's shot clipped the top of the bar.
Prior nearly doubled City's advantage in the 70th minute when she rose highest to meet Yui Hasegawa's free-kick only for her header to hit the bar before Miedema inadvertently blocked Fujino's follow-up.
Laura Blindkilde Brown wasted another good opportunity for the hosts with 10 minutes remaining before Khadija Shaw snatched at a chance in the closing stages. PA Media
There was a rare start for Guro Reiten and the 31-year-old was integral to the opening goal when Sandy Baltimore ran on to her sweeping pass out to the left. The France international produced a dangerous low cross that eluded the outstretched Elene Lete and sat up on a plate for Carpenter to turn home.
If there had been any concern about Hampton’s mindset coming into the game, it was quickly put to bed as she put in an assured performance. Isobel Goodwin was proving to be London City’s most dangerous outlet and was denied by the alert goalkeeper, who rushed out of her area to block the shot.
The visitors enjoyed 44% possession in the first half and Prêcheur’s side continued to push for an equaliser leading into the break as Goodwin fired over from close range before the referee waved away a penalty shout after Sangaré went down.
The game played out in much the same vein after the break with half chances at both ends. Freya Godfrey registered the visitors’ first shot on target early on and Goodwin had yet more opportunities while Aggie Beever-Jones and Nathalie Björn came close.
Chelsea consolidated their victory in the closing stages as Sam Kerr marked her league return to Stamford Bridge in style. Her delicately struck finish floated over Lete deep into added time to ensure Chelsea maintained their one-point lead over Manchester City at the top of the table.
