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The gap between Manchester United and Chelsea is closing, but the WSL champions emphasised their continued superiority over United with a close 3-1 defeat of their title challengers.
It was fitting, somewhat, that it would be former United starlet Lauren James’s goal that would be the difference between the sides in front of a record home crowd of 6,186.
James was the talisman of a United team looking to power to the top after being re-formed in 2018, but she spent much of last season on the bench for Chelsea, with manager Emma Hayes saying she was far from ready for a place in the first team.
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James’s goal came four minutes after Sam Kerr had put the first goal past Mary Earps in the league this season. Alessia Russo’s strike helped spark United back to life but they could not find the leveller and Erin Cuthbert’s deflected strike in added time killed things.
United manager Marc Skinner had warned that his side knew “this is one of the toughest games” saying that they had prepared for it to be just that. “The great thing about tonight is that we can cause them as many problems as they cause us,” he added.
That may have sounded fanciful given United are yet to beat Chelsea, home or away, since they won promotion to the WSL in 2019. Instead, United have lost four and drawn once, with this fixture last season ending in a bruising 6-1 defeat, but the Red Devils’ are a far grittier beast this season.
Skinner’s side have not just been ruthless and rampant up front, they’ve also been resolute at the back, not conceding a single goal in their unbeaten start to the season.
It is a charge that is being fuelled by the pain of close calls, with the five-point gap between them and the resurgent Manchester City in third, and thus a spot in the Champions League for the first time, very much of their own making. In the 10 games in which United dropped points last term, (four losses and six draws) the team gave up a lead or conceded late in seven of them.
At a bitterly cold and rain-swept Leigh Sports Village, where cars queued, barely moving, right up to kick off to try and squeeze into the car parks that surround the isolated stadium, Skinner had made one change to the side that delivered a 3-0 defeat of Everton last weekend. Injured Lucia Garcia was out of the squad entirely and Alessia Russo returned to the starting line-up for the first time since her “small injury”.
For Chelsea, Ève Pérriset was dropped to the bench with Niamh Charles playing as a right wing-back when the Blues were in possession but falling back into a back four when United edged forward.
The first half was tightly fought, with United edging possession (53%) but just one shot on target apiece. In the eighth minute Russo latched onto Maya Le Tissier’s ball over the top before laying back to Ella Toone. Her compatriot forced goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger to make a save at the near post but she fumbled it and Nikita Parris’s follow up from close range was wide. England forward Parris was left on the ground after clashing with Chelsea centre-back Magda Eriksson in what would be the beginning of a feisty battle between the pair.
The visiting team could feel aggrieved to not have been awarded a penalty, with Le Tissier crashing into Guro Reiten’s knee in the box, narrowly missing the ball, but the Norwegian’s efforts to stay on her feet made it look like she then slipped rather than failed to regain her balance from the knock.
On the hour mark came the first shot on target of the second half, and it resulted in Chelsea taking the lead. The usually solid Millie Turner gifted possession to Sophie Ingle and the midfielder found Kerr, who tucked into the bottom corner.
It was the first goal conceded by United all season and it was quickly followed by the second. Kerr, this time the provider, collected a ball over the top and raced clear on the left before cutting back for James to power in, the 21-year-old then sliding to her knees in celebration in front of the United Barmy Army that so worshiped her when she wore Red for three years.
United were rocked and the visiting side upped the ante, with Reiten crashing an effort off the post.
The reply came very much against the run of play, but it made the temporarily muted home crowd roar to life.
This time it was a Chelsea error. Erin Cuthbert conceded the ball to Toone and the United forward released Russo who finished coolly past Berger.
Lifted by the goal United regained their composure and were threatening up top, but they could not breach the Chelsea back line again and Cuthbert instead atoned for her error sending a deflected effort past Earps.
United drop to third, three points behind Chelsea who have played a game more, while Arsenal has moved top after a 4-0 defeat of Leicester City.
Source:Suzanne Wrack at Leigh Sports Village