Manchester City have boosted their hopes of winning this season’s Barclays Women’s Super League title with a 1-0 victory over Chelsea at Kingsmeadow this evening.
Khadija Shaw netted the only goal of the game early in the first half as The Cityzens injected further life into their title bid.
After a very competitive start to the match, Manchester City broke the deadlock with the first real chance of the game. Jess Park robbed Erin Cuthbert of possession before playing in Shaw who beat Hannah Hampton with a tidy finish. The Jamaican international went close to scoring a second goal six minutes later but her powerful shot was kept out of the net by Hampton.
Chelsea grew into the half and Fran Kirby found herself with space on the right side of the box but she couldn’t beat visiting keeper Khiara Keating with her shot. Cuthbert then went close to making amends for her earlier error but she fired an effort narrowly over the bar from 20 yards as the first half ended 1-0 in Manchester City’s favour.
The hosts came out for the second half with an attacking mindset but they struggled to carve out quality goalscoring chances. It was Manchester City that looked the more dangerous with Laura Coombs shooting at Hampton from distance and Laia Aleixandri and Kerstin Casparij firing wide. Chloe Kelly then struck a fierce effort on goal but Hampton was equal to it.
As the clock ticked on, Manchester City fell deeper and deeper into their own half, allowing Chelsea the opportunity to mount attack after attack. Cuthbert thought that she had levelled matters with a curling effort from 20 yards but the ball flew agonisingly wide of the far post.
Keating had to make a world-class double stop in injury time to deny both Jelena Čanković and Sjoeke Nüsken. That could turn out to be a season-defining moment for Manchester City as they left Kingsmeadow with all three points.
Manchester City remain in second place in the Barclays Women’s Super League table, however, they have moved level on points with Chelsea at the summit.