Chelsea defeat Brighton as West Ham and Manchester United ends in a draw
Two games took place in the Barclays Women’s Super League yesterday as Chelsea took on Brighton and Hove Albion at Kingsmeadow, while West Ham and Manchester United faced off at the Chigwell Construction Stadium.
This is a roundup of the two matches as Chelsea claimed a vital three points to keep up a successful week for them and boost their position in the top three. Whilst the action between West Ham and Man Utd was a much quieter affair and ended in a result that would have produced very different reactions.
Chelsea 2-1 Brighton and Hove Albion
Chelsea made it three straight Women’s Super League victories following a 2-1 win yesterday over Brighton and Hove Albion, with goals from Alyssa Thompson and a first for midfielder Lexi Potter helping them to claim the three points, and also continue off a successful week for Sonia Bompastor’s side after their Subway Women’s League Cup success last Sunday.
Thompson’s opener came in the 13th minute after an initial positive start to the match from Brighton that saw Carla Camacho go close on a couple of occasions. Chelsea got forward for one of their first opportunities, and Thompson found the header from Sandy Baltimore’s cross. It was a goal that has taken Alyssa Thompson’s tally of WSL goals now up to seven for her debut campaign.
The response from Brighton was a swift one, as Carla Camacho caused problems again as she struck a shot from outside the penalty area, which had deflected off Lucy Bronze and appeared to catch out Hannah Hampton in goal as it crept in just the other side of the post. Camacho’s goal was the first one for the Spaniard in the Barclays WSL since joining Brighton.
In the 39th minute, Chelsea were back in front, and the goal came from an unexpected source with young midfielder Lexi Potter pouncing on the ball after a bit of a pinball effect in the penalty area following the cross by Sandy Baltimore into the area. Potter poked it home to make it her first ever senior goal for Chelsea.
The 19-year-old firmly put herself in the headlines with her performance and was even named Player of the Match after ending the game with a 90% pass accuracy, plus she was successful in winning eight of her ten duels in this match. An impressive display from Potter in what was her first start for this season as well in the WSL.
The rest of the second half didn’t carry the same intensity, nor were there many big chances as neither produced a shot on target in the second half. With this win, Chelsea close the gap on Manchester City to seven points with five games remaining and now have a match away against London City Lionesses up next. Meanwhile, it is a third-straight league defeat for Brighton and Hove Albion, and Dario Vidosic’s side will be hopeful of being able to bounce back from this defeat against Liverpool at the weekend.
West Ham United 0-0 Manchester United
A scoreless draw is what played out at the Chigwell Construction Stadium between West Ham United and Manchester United, and it is a result that would have garnered different responses in the aftermath from both teams, as this was a big point gained for West Ham in their aim to stay up, whereas Manchester United will see it as points dropped in what could have been seen as a late push towards challenging Manchester City for the Women’s Super League title.
It had already been a disappointing week for Marc Skinner and his team after they were beaten last Sunday against Chelsea in the Subway Women’s League Cup final. Even in this match, they were having moments where they struggled to find a rhythm and couldn’t create many clear-cut chances as a result of that.
The first half saw Man Utd end with seven shots in total and West Ham end with two. A lot of pressure came from West Ham in making things difficult for Man Utd, and it was largely frustrating for the away side as they came up against a West Ham side who looked to play on the front foot instead of sitting back deep and defending.
The second half did see a couple of notable efforts in the match, with Manchester United bringing on Melvine Malard to try and invigorate things and give them a boost. Lea Schüller had a header saved by Kinga Szemik before Viviane Asseyi and Shekiera Martinez would have chances of their own on the opposite side of things. Malard would then miss from a tight angle in the 81st minute with one of the last clear chances of the match.
A draw for Manchester United means that they have only gained a point on their rivals and have been overtaken by Chelsea in the Barclays Women’s Super League table as well. The result also happens to be the third time in succession that Man Utd have failed to beat West Ham away from home.
The point for West Ham is a massive one in context of their target of avoiding the relegation play-off at the end of the season. They will be conscious of the fact that Leicester City do still have a game in hand on them, but with yesterday’s result taking the gap to three points between them, they will be feeling a little better about their survival chances.