Here’s Suzanne Wrack’s match report:
Summing up
Who needs Sam Kerr? Well, Chelsea do and will, overall, but in their injured striker’s absence, Lauren James provided yet more evidence of her star quality with another Stamford Bridge hat-trick for a Chelsea side who looked as if they would tear Manchester United to pieces in the first half-hour before their opponents remembered that they’ve some class in their ranks too and probed at some flaws in Chelsea’s armoury. But they weren’t ultimately coherent or ruthless enough, and defeat will only add to the pressure on their manager, Marc Skinner, with a top-three place looking a tall order now.
It was a decent, feisty game overall, but one that reminded us that Chelsea are still the standard-setters. Our match report will be up on the site soon but that’s us done for this game. Thanks for reading and emailing. Bye.
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Some scores from elsewhere: In the WSL, Liverpool are winning at Man City through Taylor Hinds, Brighton have an early 1-0 lead against Bristol City and Championship leaders Charlton beat Blackburn 3-2. Leeds beat Preston 2-1 in the men’s Championship to boost their promotion hopes.
Emma Hayes adds to the James love. “She’s shown she can do it as a 10, a 9, her holdup play is unbelievable. We were superb as a team, in the first half in particular. I made brave decisions today, particuarly at the back, and I can’t help it, it’s what I’ll do – I’ll make brave decisions.”
As for that search for her successor … “Paul Green [the club’s general manager] is leading the search but it’s important they make that decision, not me, I don’t want someone ringing me up in two years asking about it.” As for the SAm Kerr-shaped hole, “of course [we need a No 9] but everyone’s got to take their turns, Lauren today, Mia Fishel last week.” They certainly didn’t miss her greatly today.
Lauren James speaks: “It’s alway tough against Man United but with fans behind us it helped – we love playing here, you could tell everyone was up for it.” As for the grief she got from some United, she’s asked whether that adds to the joy: “For sure but for me it’s just focusing on what I can do and silence anyone who’s hating.” It’s a second hat-trick at the Bridge for her.
The football never stops: Man City v Liverpool is go! Join Sarah Rendell for all that:
Marc Skinner, feeling the pressure perhaps, is having stern words with the officials, but today’s defeat wasn’t down to them. They played some nice stuff late in the first half and for much of the second, but Chelsea were the more accomplished side.
Full-time: Chelsea 3-1 Manchester United
And that’s that. The champions and leaders march on, deserved winners overall despite their mid-match wobble.
90+6 mins: Hampton goes down again under pressure from Parris, collecting a high cross. But is OK. Then Geyse escapes down the left, gets to the byline and skims a low ball straight across the face of the goal. No one’s on the end of it.
90+5 mins: United sub: Evans for Blundell, perhaps the visitors’ best player today.
90+4 mins: Kirby and Nuusken combine inside the area, the former delaying her shot and laying off to the latter instead, but she belts it high and wide.
90+3 mins: Decent United chance, as Naalsund’s 20-yard strike forces HAmpton to backpedal and catch. Good buildup play from Williams and Galton too.
90+2 mins: Parris wins United a corner on the right. It’s a good ball in for Zelem, the combative Williams meets it with a header but it’s blocked two yards out and Chelsea scramble clear.
90 mins: We’ll have seven more minutes of this
89 mins: Chelsea sub – James goes off to a standing ovation, to be replaced by another club legend, Fran Kirby.
88 mins: Chelsea had begun to look the likelier side again in fairness, but United will be ruing those spurned chances earlier in the half.
Goal! Chelsea 3-1 Man Utd (James 85, hat-trick)
That should settle it. James, quiet this half, gets on the end of a headed flick-on from Nusken, powers past Le Tissier and – one v one with Earps – doesn’t miss.
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83 mins: Williams and Parris rough up Cuthbert, conceding a free-kick. Reiten’s delivery is headed clear by Parris but only to Leopolz, whose shot is deflected for a corner. United clear it.
81 mins: United sub – the dangerous Rachel Williams on for Toone, this could get interesting.
80 mins: Kaneryd gets clear down the right but her ball in is too close for Earps, who gathers.
78 mins: Kaneryd catches the lively Blundell on the shin, Marc Skinner screams for a card, but doesn’t get one. It’s a free-kick though … that Chelsea clear.
77 mins: Chelsea sub: Carter for Buchanan
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76 mins: As I was typing about that penalty shout, United’s Nikkita Parris was shown a yellow card. It’s getting spicy our there.
75 mins: Big United penalty shout, Galron muscles past Lawrence and two defenders to get inside the box, she tumbles under Lawrence’s recovery challenge but probably not enough in it to be a foul. But we’ve all seen them given …
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74 mins: Chelsea are beginning to play with a bit more flair again now though and Kaneryd and Reiten revive their first-half give-and-gos on the right but United clear the resultant cross.
72 mins: United’s defenders get in each other’s way inside the box, yielding possession and a chance for James on the left, which is blocked by Riviere. That would have been a goal in the first half but United are so much more competitive now
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71 mins: Geyse continues to be a muscular, skillful handful on the United left but this time her low ball in for Toone isn’t strong enough and Chelsea clear.
69 mins: United subs: Parris for Garcia, a like for like swap; and Naalsund is on for the goalscorer, Ladd
66 mins: Hampton goes down and requests treatment, prompting chants of “same old Chelsea, always cheating” from the away end, somewhat harshly. I think she hurt herself blocking from Ladd in that double chance. She’s good to stay on though.
64 mins: Post! Kaneryd wins a corner on the right; from it, James sends a probing deep cross from the right that Bjorn heads against the post.
63 mins: This is a properly exciting full-blooded match now, as Lawrence dispossesses Galton, who chases back to win it back near the right by-line, but Chelsea regain the ball and Leopolz crosses for Reiten who heads over.
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59 mins: James goes straight down the other end, twists and turns in the box, but her shot is deflected into the side netting. The corner comes to nothing.
58 mins: How did United not score? Garcia got clear inside the box on the right but delaued a fraction, saw her shot blocked, then Ladd did likewise on the edge of the six-yard box. Good defending from Hampton but United should be level.
56 mins: Blundell and Riviere getting forward from full-back more is making a big difference for United now, as the visitors continue to enjoy more of the play, and in more dangerous areas.
54 mins: Chelsea substitution – Nusken is on now, replacing a tiring Fishel, meaning James will move forward into the No 9 role
53 mins: The pattern of the closing minutes of the first half is being replicated here.
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52 mins: United chances! Some lovely linkup play between Blundell and Geyse feeds Toone whose shot is blocked at the last, but the Reds come again and Garcia gets some space on the right but fires wide.
50 mins: Man Utd booking: Ladd rakes her studs into the back of, I think, Cuthbert’s ankle and is booked
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49 mins: Garcia seizes possession in midfield, powers forward and feeds Geyse to her left but her danger is snuffed out with a decent tackle this time.
49 mins: Toone looks OK to continue, as United control possession for the moment.
47 mins: Blundell forges down the left, winning a throw by the corner, but Ella Toone looks to have twisted something in the challenge with Leupolz that fed Blundell. Toone needs treatment.
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Peep! United get us back under way. There was some sub confusion, with Nusken getting stripped and ready to come on as sub for Chelsea but then told to sit down again.
Some scores on the doors elsewhere: in the women’s Championship, Charlton lead Blackburn 2-0, Lewes lead Durham 1-0 and in the men’s Championship Leeds and Preston are still drawing 1-1.
And in the men’s Prem, Rob Smyth is talking you through this:
In the away end, a United fan is holding up a “Skinner out” placard. Dissent and Manchester United are rarely strangers these days.
Half-time: Chelsea 2-1 Manchester United
Well, we’ve got ourselves a game. Chelsea looked embarrassingly dominant for half an hour but gradually the visitors began to grow in confidence and pressure, got a goal, and suddenly the game is in the balance. I’m off for a poached egg on toast – see you in a bit.
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45+3 mins: …It’s wasted. Reiten’s delivery is tricky, and headed clear but Kaneryd squanders the chance, half-volleying wide and high
45+2 mins: United are suddenly competing everywhere, Riviere getting stuck in with a decent challenge on the right, but they then concede a needless corner …
45 mins: Chelsea suddenly don’t look so imperious, as Galton raids into the area again but this time Chelsea clear. United come again through Geyse, who suddenly looks the most dangerous player on the pitch. Her cross from the right for Galton is eventually well claimed by Hampton though.
Three additional minutes loom
Goal! Chelsea 2-1 Man Utd (Ladd 43)
41 mins: Some green shoots for United as a decent counter sees Ladd feed Toone on the left but Chelsea smother it out again but United come again, and Geyse does brilliantly on the right, gets to the byline, pulls it. back for Garcia. Buchanan blocks her shot but Ladd follows up emphatically. Game on?
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39 mins: Another United shot on target! This from Garcia in a central area but her firm effort goes straight into Hampton’s midriff.
38 mins: Leopolz and Fishel combine to tee up KAneryd on the right but United clear the danger after blocking her shot, but it’s another attack that stemmed from Red sloppiness, Le Tissier having sent an aimless pass out for a throw.
36 mins: Blundell fouls Kaneryd just inside her own half but Chelsea can’t do much with it, as United begin to enjoy some possession – and from it the hitherto uninvolved Geyse has United’s best chance, thumping a shot from the right that Hampton has to turn behind for United’s first corner. It comes to nowt.
34 mins: Kaneryd and James link beautifully again with a right-sided one-two. but Turner slides in well to clear. Turner’s doing a tough job decently.
32 mins: There’s a delay as Katie Zelem needs some treatment but the United midfielder is good to continue. But the break in play gives Skinner a chance to chat to his side about a few things …
31 mins: Charles misses a golden chance to make it 3-0, Cuthbert (I think) getting space on the right and sending a cross over for Charles at the far post but she mishits her left-foot volley wide.
28 mins: A brief glimmer for Man Utd as a nice aerial ball is hit forward to Garcia in a central area but she’s offside.
27 mins: United do find some space in attack through Toone who works it left to Blundell, but she spanners the cross straight down Hampton’s throat.
26 mins: Part of the brilliance of this Chelsea side is they look as potent knocking it long as they do weaving close passing patterns. United have absolutely no answer to this at present. Garcia is often a valuable outlet on the right but once again she is smothered and dispossessed trying to get a United attack going.
A goal of effortless simplicity. Bjorn, who’s already looking accomplished on debut, sends a long ball into the inside right channel for James, who controls, accelerates and smacks it hard under her England teammate Earps for number two against her old club.
Goal! Chelsea 2-0 Manchester United (James 23)
It’s her again!
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20 mins: James dinks a high testing ball forward for Fishel but United clear their lines well with Turner and Earps but still can’t build an attack of their own.
19 mins: Man Utd just can’t find the space when they attack that Chelsea can – Lawrence is performing well defensively as well as going forward, and again they have to work it all the way back to the keeper.
16 mins: Leupolz, Reiten and James link up to feed Charles whose left-wing cross is headed out to Charles who rashly blooters wide
“Any chance of an occasional update from the Championship lunchtime fixture, where the goals are already flying in as both teams make a fast start,” asks Jeremy Boyce. Why of course, Charlton lead Blackburn 1-0. Lewes and Durham are goalless. Not sure this constitutes “already flying in”. In the men’s Championship mind, it’s Leeds 1-1 Preston
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14 mins: Kaneryd bursts into the box in miles of space on the right bur her pull-back for Fishel is misdirected and weak. That right flank is looking a productive area for Chelsea.
12 mins: Charles feeds Fishel on the left, it’s worked out right and Leopolz. Kanmeryd and Fishel link up neatly on the edge of the box, but United keep their shape and push them back. The champions bossing the possession stats at the minute.
10 mins: Buchanan gives the ball away but such is Chelsea’s pressing that United can only go backwards until. Le Tissier gets hold of it and strikes a decent hopeful ball into the box towards Galton but Chelsea clear.
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8 mins: Chelsea knock it about in the middle with ease before Reiten breaks forward, feeds James who drives into the area on the inside left before skewing her shot wide. Earps looks justifably miffed with her teammates.
6 mins: Chelsea win yet another corner but this one is cleared more comfortably. United need to catch their breath here.
Chelsea show all their attacking options, probing deep into the United area, the ball is knocked wide in tight spaces and eventially Kaneryd plays in James, who slots into the corner.
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Goal! Chelsea 1-0 Man Utd (James 4)
A goal that already felt inevitable.
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4 mins: Leupolz in midfield feeds Lawrence down the right and she forages towards the byline, winning another corner. Reiten’s delivery sparks a fearsome goalmouth scramble, United block well though and it comes out to Bjorn who volleys high and over.
2 mins: Chelsea win an early corner through Reiten’s raid down the left. It’ worked back to Lawrence as United press well and the danger’s cleared as it’s played all the way back to Hampton
Peep!
1 min: After a timely taking of the knee, Chelsea get us under way, attacking the Shed end
Out come the teams. Stamford Bridge looks more than half full, which would give us more than 20,000.
Marc Skinner’s feeling defiant. “We’re aiming to try to win this game – whatever happens after we’ll deal with but we need to try to win, Chelsea are the champions, this is their home, it’ll be hard, but I believe we can do this.”
Emma Hayes speaks about her team selection. Fishel has got the nod up front based on her ability to “hold the ball up well, her and Lauren James link up quite naturally.” As for her selection of Hannah Hampton in goal: “Her distribution from the deepest places against an aggressive pressing team will be useful.”
Marc Skinner comes into this under a bit of pressure, with some fan discontent with the United manager, a measure of the enhanced expectations at a still-young club. Underdog status this afternoon might help in that regard.
There’s a busy programme in the WSL and Championship today, with third-placed Manchester City hosting fifth-placed Liverpool and key relegation tussle between Brighton and Bristol City among the biggies. In the Championship the leaders, Charlton, have just kicked off at home to Blackburn.
Here’s a scene re-setter:
Today's teams
Just a place on the bench for Beever-Jones today, mind, with Emma Hayes going with Lauren James, Guro Reiten and Mia Fishel in attack. New signing Nathalie Bjorn makes her debut in defence.
Chelsea: Hampton; Lawrence, Buchanan, Bjorn, Charles, Leupolz, Cuthbert, Kaneryd, James, Reiten, Fishel. Subs: Musovic, Ingle, Nusken, Carter, Kirby, Perisset, Mjelde, Cankovic, Beever-Jones.
Manchester United: Earps; Riviere, Le Tissier, Turner, Blundell, Ladd, Zelem, García, Toone, Galton, Geyse. Subs: Guerrero, Evans, Naalsund, Parris, Williams, Tullis-Joyce.
Here with a job to do 👊#MUWomen || #WSL pic.twitter.com/UL5cZWFxo5
— Manchester United Women (@ManUtdWomen) January 21, 2024
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Pre-match reading: Kerr’s absence will of course require others to step up, such as Aggie Beever-Jones, Chelsea through and through, who’s had a decent season already, scoring at Stamford Bridge against Liverpool, which fulfilled something of a dream. She’s had a sit-down with Suzanne Wrack:
“I did a knee slide as well. I don’t think I even dreamt as a kid of doing a knee slide at Stamford Bridge. I’m just so happy with everything at the moment and I’ve got to keep doing what I’m doing.”
Preamble
Morning everyone, and it’s a warm welcome back to the WSL. It feels as if plenty has changed since the league signed off for its winter break before Christmas with Chelsea on a roll both domestically and in Europe, and looking set to stride clear towards another WSL title. Then calamity struck Emma Hayes’s squad with Sam Kerr’s ACL injury, which, alongside Millie Bright’s continued absence, encouraged a certain amount of talking-up of their rivals’ chances of capitalising. But any team with a frontline boasting Lauren James, Guto Reiten and Fran Kirby is not going to lack attacking menace. They remain the best team in the land but are not, as Arsenal proved thrillingly before Christmas, an infallible one. And they have the Gunners breathing down their necks once again after Jonas Eidevall’s side saw off Everton yesterday
Manchester United have never beaten Chelsea in the WSL, and have their work cut out to achieve a top-three place this term. Marc Skinner’s side also have their own injury concerns, with Hinata Miyazawa, Gabby George and Aoife Mannion among those missing today. They did, however, cruise past Newcastle in the FA Cup last weekend in a confidence-boosting manner.
And we’re at Stamford Bridge for today’s match, with more than 20,000 tickets sold, as Chelsea look to drag their best crowds closer to Arsenal’s. There’s plenty to look forward to here. Go nowhere.
Kick-off: 12.30pm GMT
