Head Coach Sonia Bompastor continues her unbeaten streak in the Women’s Super League; Chelsea defeated Manchester City 2-1 in their season opener at Stamford Bridge. The Blues may have scored all of the goals, but the numbers would suggest that things were closer than they felt.
Chelsea | Manchester City | |
|---|---|---|
Score | 2 | 1 |
xG | 1.3 | 1.4 |
Shots | 8 | 17 |
Shots on Target | 3 | 5 |
Box Shots | 6 | 12 |
Possession | 52% | 48% |
Passes Completed | 396 (83%) | 362 (82%) |
Duels Won | 44 | 51 |
Chelsea didn’t create too many high quality chances. However, the two they did generate, they put away. Both were pretty gorgeous goals. New signing Ellie Carpenter put in a shift at the Bridge bombing up and down the flank and putting City’s left side through Hell. Around the 31st minute Carpenter dragged her defender nearly all the way to the end line before popping off a cross directly to the feet of striker Aggie Beever-Jones who found herself in the middle of the box with defenders on her back.
Carpenter contributed to the build up for the second goal as well, initiating a passing sequence with herself, Catarina Macario, and Wieke Kaptein. While City defenders were distracted by Macario centrally, Maika Hamano was able to find the pocket to receive Kaptein’s cross in front of goal. Her celebration was pure joy.
Of course it wasn’t all good. Unfortunately, defender Niamh Charles headed a ball into the back of Chelsea’s own net on a set piece after an odd pre-whistle scuffle with Bunny Shaw. Both Shaw and midfielder Yui Hasegawa each had dangerous opportunities that were kept out, and City had periods of time where they kept the pressure on.
Unfortunately, City felt like they were a step off each other throughout the game, and they weren’t able to capitalize on the good spaces they were getting into in and around the box. It was really nice to see Shaw back in action considering her last appearance was in March of last year. Unfortunately, the match ended with two of City’s players, Alex Greenwood and Lily Murphy, exiting the pitch due to injury. It’s definitely scary to see for a squad that started so strong last season only to completely lose momentum due to players going down. They have an exciting roster, so I hope that they do not suffer a similar fate in their 2025/2026 campaign.
The WSL is back! Fans got to celebrate a fun win and relish in the unveiling of former Angel City forward Alyssa Thompson before the match. Solid night at the Bridge indeed.
**Images from Chelsea FC W