Chelsea Women beat Manchester City 2-0 in the Women’s Community Shield.
The Women’s Super League champions put two goals past FA Cup holders Manchester City at Wembley Stadium.
The teams lined up in an empty Wembley Stadium for the National Anthem. Both teams had played on the pitch but hadn’t faced each other in a final prior to today.
Chelsea Defeat Manchester City in Women’s Community Shield
The Rivalry
Chelsea were awarded the 2019/20 title ahead of Manchester City on a points-per-game basis when the season was cut short by the Coronavirus pandemic.
City were one point clear at the top of the table, with Chelsea in second place with a game in hand.
A rivalry has developed between the teams in recent years, with 10 meetings having taken place since January 2018.
Line-Ups
Despite the teams meeting for a 3-3 draw in February, this game was far from similar from the off. Neither team had played since March, were lacking game time, and had made a host of transfers.
Nine of Chelsea’s starting 11 featured in their last game before lockdown, with debutant Melanie Leupolz starting joining and Fran Kirby returning from injury. New signings Niamh Charles and Canadian international Jessie Fleming started on the bench.
City signed World Cup winners Samantha Mewis and Rose Lavelle from the United States. Mewis sat by as a substitute, while Lavelle is still in quarantine after moving to Manchester during the summer transfer window.
The First Half
The teams got back in the swing of things quickly, playing end-to-end football. City managed to take the lead, but Chloe Kelly’s through ball to Janine Beckie was ruled offside.
The same soon happened at the other end of the pitch. Millie Bright caught Sam Kerr offside as she moved through on goal. Kerr didn’t fulfil her usual potential in her Wembley debut.
The sides were very evenly matched from the whistle.
Whilst City had two shots on target, it was goalless at half-time.
The Breakthrough
A second yellow card for Jill Scott after a reckless challenge on Ji made all the difference to the game. City struggled to get out of their own half, lacking that experience from Scott in midfield.
Unexpectedly, the first goal of the game came from centre-back, Bright. Her thunderbolt of a shot went straight over Ellie Roebuck’s head from 25 yards out. It would have taken a miracle to stop it hitting the back of the net.
Winning at the end of normal time, Chelsea doubled their lead in injury time
Baptism of Fire
The Women’s Community Shield was the first competitive fixture for Manchester City boss Gareth Taylor, who took over from Nick Cushing in May.
Taylor, who played for City between 1998 and 2001 and has managed the men’s academy team, faces arguably his toughest test in his opening match at Wembley.
Meanwhile, Chelsea boss Emma Hayes was recently named the WSL Manager of the Season. She was chasing a seventh trophy in her eighth year with the club.
She oversaw an undefeated season for Chelsea in 2019/20, so will not want to lose the opening match of this campaign against their fiercest domestic rivals.
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