Manchester City dismantled Chelsea 5-1 at the Etihad Stadium, opening up an 11-point lead at the top of the Women's Super League. The result effectively ends Chelsea's six-year reign as English women's football's dominant force, with City now coasting towards their first title since 2016.
Brazilian forward Kerolin scored a hat-trick, opening the scoring with a deflected strike after Chelsea failed to clear a set piece. Khadija Shaw made it 2-0 before half-time, outmuscling Naomi Girma to finish Vivianne Miedema's through ball. Kerolin added two more after the break, chipping Hannah Hampton and slotting in from Lauren Hemp's pass, before being withdrawn to a standing ovation.
Chelsea pulled one back through Alyssa Thompson's classy finish, but Miedema headed in from a corner to restore the four-goal cushion. City's fans taunted Chelsea with chants of 'easy' before the end, as the visitors' defensive collapse continued. The defeat was Chelsea's third in their past five WSL matches, and they have now lost back-to-back league games for the first time since July 2015.
City head coach Andrée Jeglertz said he was lost for words after the performance, praising his team for handling the pressure 'marvellously'. Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor, asked if she was confident of keeping her job, replied: 'Really confident. I will never give up. But the institution at Chelsea is a lot more important than myself.' She added that the squad lacks the depth of previous seasons.
City now have a 12-point advantage over Chelsea, who slipped to third, and an 11-point lead over second-placed Manchester United with eight games remaining. Chelsea travel to Tottenham next Sunday, needing a win to avoid slipping out of the Champions League places.
