Chelsea Beat Liverpool To Cut Gap At Top

Chelsea remain hot on the heels of Women’s Super League leaders Manchester City after a hard-fought victory over Liverpool.

Sonia Bompastor became the first manager to win their opening four away games in the WSL in the process, on an enjoyable afternoon in St Helens.

Mayra Ramirez opened the scoring, thumping the ball past goalkeeper Rachael Laws after Johanna Rytting Kaneryd struck the crossbar.

Chelsea quickly doubled their tally as Guro Reiten took advantage of an error by Laws, and substitute Aggie Beever-Jones added a third late on.

Liverpool, who beat Chelsea 4-3 at home in a dramatic match in May, could not draw similar inspiration and their wait for a first victory at St Helens continues.

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Matt Beard’s side had started well, causing problems with their high press and getting pacy forward Olivia Smith and Leanne Kiernan in behind Chelsea’s defence.

Captain Taylor Hinds, who scored both goals in their win over Aston Villa last weekend, had a shot deflected inches wide within the opening two minutes.

But, despite some strong individual performances in Liverpool’s backline, it was still not enough to keep out Chelsea’s attacking threat.

The Blues sit a point behind leaders City with a game in hand as they continue their impressive, unbeaten start to the campaign under Bompastor.

Chelsea extend unbeaten run
Chelsea have not enjoyed their trips to Merseyside in recent seasons but the past seven days have certainly given fans something to celebrate.

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A 5-0 victory at Everton last weekend set the tone for their trip to St Helens, and a clean sheet against a strong Liverpool side has only cemented Chelsea’s progress under Bompastor.

They were made to work for it as Liverpool’s Hinds demonstrated their threat early on, while Smith enjoyed her one-on-one battles with Millie Bright.

Both sides were causing problems in each box in the opening half but Chelsea were more ruthless in front of goal and that ultimately proved to be the difference.

Ramirez reacted quickest to Kaneryd’s effort that hit the crossbar for her sharp finish from close range, while Reiten showed her quality when she curled around Laws, who was sprinting back into position after giving the ball away needlessly.

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Chelsea played the second half without England defender Lucy Bronze after she appeared to take a knock minutes before the break and later sat in the stands wearing an ice pack.

But it was otherwise the perfect afternoon for Chelsea, who showed their resilience to battle it out against Liverpool’s well-organised defence and made their chances count in front of goal.

The Reds were without key centre-forward Sophie Roman Haug, and her presence was missed, but this was a better performance from Beard’s side, despite the scoreline suggesting otherwise.

Beard said this week that Liverpool were “a bit behind, points-wise” and they will be keen to get back to winning ways when they play bottom side Everton at Goodison Park next Sunday.

Chelsea, meanwhile, have a top-of-the-table clash with rivals Manchester City at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, which will be their biggest game yet.