Chelsea Women 1-0 Man City: Baltimore sends Blues top of the WSL

Chelsea Women are top of the Women’s Super League after beating Manchester City 1-0 at Stamford Bridge. Sandy Baltimore scored in first-half stoppage time, and City finished with ten players after goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita was sent off.

The result swaps the top two. City came into the game unbeaten and two points clear on 25 points. Chelsea now move to 26, one point ahead.

Chelsea Women vs Man City: how the game unfolded

Chelsea were forced into an early change, with Kadeisha Buchanan replaced by Veerle Buurman in the 13th minute. Lexi Potter was booked a minute later.

It was a tight, cagey first half between the league’s two best sides, but Chelsea edged it. Before the break they had 53 per cent of the ball and outshot City six to two, with the only effort on target.

That effort was the one that counted. Baltimore scored four minutes into first-half stoppage time to send Chelsea in 1-0 up.

Yamashita red card leaves City with ten

City pushed for an equaliser after the break, and Chelsea missed a big chance to make it two. Alyssa Thompson created the opening with excellent close control, but Ellie Carpenter rushed her finish.

On 76 minutes, City’s task got much harder. Yamashita came out of her area for a long ball, Thompson got there first, and the goalkeeper brought her down. Yamashita was shown a straight red card for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity.

Even with an extra player, Chelsea could not kill the game off, and the closing stages were tense. But they held on to end City’s unbeaten start and take top spot.

What the result means

This was billed as a title-race marker, and it lived up to it. City arrived in west London with eight wins and a draw from nine games, and they leave second. Chelsea remain unbeaten after ten.

For the build-up and team news, see our Chelsea Women vs Man City preview.

Starting line-ups

Chelsea: Hampton; Carpenter, Buchanan, Bronze (c), McCabe; Walsh, Kaptein, Potter; Thompson, Baltimore, Malard.

Manchester City: Yamashita; Beney, Rose, Knaak, Wamser; Coffey, Hasegawa, Fowler; Fujino, Hemp, Shaw.