Manchester United Women have lost 3-1 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge as they fall ten points behind the league leaders in the WSL.
An early corner for Chelsea saw Lauren James come within touching distance of the away fans who made clear their feelings. A wry smile crept across her face as the boos rang out.
Five minutes in and it was James who opened the scoring for the home side. Chelsea were patient in the box, United couldn’t clear their lines, and James tapped it past Mary Earps.
She went running over to celebrate in front of the United fans.
United took a few minutes to wake up and respond but Toone and Galton showed good control on the edge of the box, the former played it into the path of Captain Katie Zelem, whose shot was too high.
23 minutes in and James doubled the score. This time she found her own fans to celebrate with.
United couldn’t get a foothold in this game at all.
Geyse had given the ball away a few times but she found space down the right and got a shot away, forcing Hannah Hampton into a good save.
United were growing into the game 35 minutes in and when Chelsea lost possession cheaply, Garcia managed to shoot but it was a comfortable catch for Hampton.
Their belief paid off. Geyse played it through the legs of a Chelsea defender into the box and cut it back for Garcia, whose shot was blocked. Hayley Ladd was first to the ball though and made no mistake as she smashed it into the back of the net.
United came out in the second half with a lot more energy. A chance for Toone was blocked by Chelsea as she dithered in the box.
The ball came back in to Garcia at the far post, who headed just wide.
United came again but with a number of Red shirts in the box they got in each others way, Toone left it for Ladd, Ladd left it for Toone and Chelsea took Toone out of the equation. Ladd got her shot away but it was well saved by Hampton.
The game was beginning to open up and Earps was forced into a save pushing the ball onto the post.
Toone was getting frustrated after a foul on her went unpunished and then she was flagged as being offside when she appeared to be a mile on. You could almost see the Chelsea shirts poking out from under the officials’ tops!
Though the second half had been dominated by United, one sniff of goal cambe for Lauren James and she found the net again.
Team: Earps, Turner, Blundell (Evans), Riviere, Le Tissier, Zelem, Toone (Williams), Galton, Garcia (Parris), Ladd (Naalsund), Geyse
