Manchester City fail to rattle in-control Chelsea
The Manchester City manager, Gareth Taylor, said his team deserved a point from Sunday’s 1-0 defeat to Chelsea. Perhaps they did and had Chelsea conceded there would have been few complaints with the final outcome. However, while City upped the ante in the later stages the home team did not at any point look rattled. This was a controlled Chelsea performance. One which denied potent wingers Lauren Hemp and Jess Park room and stopped the final pass reaching Khadija Shaw and, later, her replacement Ellen White. “I think we were diligent out of possession. Our defensive strategy was brilliant,” said Emma Hayes. “Our ability in the first half to take Man City to the spaces we wanted them to be in worked really, really well. Second half I made a change in terms of where I wanted them to go. I didn’t want [Alex] Greenwood on the ball as much.” Yes, City had spells of control, but these were managed spells, with Chelsea almost urging the visitors to come at them. SW
