Thank you for joining me.
Here is Suzanne Wrack’s report.
BBC did not speak to Gareth Taylor but we should just assume he is very happy. Instead we can now watch Escape to the Country. All seems a bit unnecessary. They should just have cut out one of the houses and interviewed Taylor.
A thrashing by Chelsea’s standards.
-2 - Chelsea have lost a @BarclaysWSL match by a 2+ goal margin for the first time in 89 games, with the previous occasion being a 0-5 defeat against Arsenal in October 2018. The Blues have also failed to score for the first time in 24 league games. Downbeat. pic.twitter.com/zZuK1Q4zG1
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 26, 2023
Emma Hayes: “We lost. I was proud of the second half performance. It’s a tough loss. I have told the players to focus on Thursday [v Lyon]. Well done to Manchester City.
“I am not going to sit here and say a negative word about our players. They pushed in the second half. I think it was one game too far for us this week.”
Emma Hayes is doing a de-brief on the pitch. I suspect most of it will not be favourable. Probably more of a ‘forget about it and move on’ vibe.
The second half was a bit of a non-event but I have a suspicion that City will not care one little bit.
Full time: Manchester City 2-0 Chelsea
It was all over in the first half thanks to an appalling opening 45 minutes from Chelsea and they could not get back into the game. City were efficient in the final third and move up to second in the table to keep their title challenge alive.
90+2 mins: Houghton is up and about, much to the crowd’s pleasure.
90 mins: Houghton takes a shot to the back of the head and immediately goes down.
Four minutes added on (plus a bit more due to this Houghton injury, I assume).
89 mins: Chelsea have been better after the break (they could not have been much worse) but they have rarely threatened Roebuck’s goal and City have been happy to slow things down.
87 mins: Hasegawa is awarded the player of the match award and rightly so.
City almost add a third but Shaw heads Kelly’s cross just over.
85 mins: Kelly prevents a quick free kick and gets booked. Buchanan does not, despite pushing the City player.
Kerr gets down the left and lifts a cross towards the back post but it goes out for a goal-kick.
83 mins: Fleming goes for a toe poke from the edge of the box but Greenwood is in the away to flick it over her own bar.
81 mins: The injury to Cuthbert has taken all momentum out of the game.
79 mins: Blakstad is on for Hemp, who looks a bit tired.
Cuthbert has not suffered a head injury but looks in distress and is limping off very slowly. Looks like she jarred her knee. Hopefully it’s not too bad. Fleming is on.
Updated
77 mins: Cuthbert goes down holding her head but the referee allows play to go on for a good while until Chelsea put the ball out of play.
75 mins: Hemp gets back to help out the defence, winning the ball back in her own area before dribbling it clear, only for her run to be ended by a Reiten foul.
73 mins: Hemp goes into the book for pulling down Cankovic in a cynical fashion to end the Chelsea attack.
The free-kick is pumped into the box and reaches Kerr almost at the byline from where she volleys at goal, forcing Roebuck to palm behind.
71 mins: City are slowing this match right down to prevent Chelsea getting back into it.
69 mins: City get into the Chelsea box again. Kelly’s original shot ricochets out to Angeldahl but she fires wide from 16 yards.
67 mins: As the commentators point out, Hasegawa has been superb in the City midfield. She looks so comfortable on the ball and has great distribution. The next time she walks past my house in the morning, I will congratulate her.
Cankovic on for Mjelde.
65 mins: A few needly challenges have gone in from City in recent moments to stop Chelsea attacks.
Charles shoots from 20 yards but there is no pace on it and Roebuck falls on it.
Cankovic is ready to come on for Chelsea.
63 mins: City break on Chelsea and get to the edge of the box, where Hemp takes a shot but it is blocked. A third would end this as a contest.
61 mins: Chelsea are putting City under pressure, who have to make a couple of last-ditch challenges to keep the visitors at bay.
59 mins: Buchanan receives a pass from Berger while facing her own goal but does well to turn her away out of danger with Hemp at her back.
57 mins: Reiten looks like she us about to go through on goal but the pass hits her heels and City recover.
There are 5,222 in attendance at the Academy Stadium, which is a very respectable total for this game.
55 mins: Sarina Wiegman is in the stands. She will have been impressed by anyone Englishwomen in the City team. Less so those in dark blue.
Morgan gets lucky; she runs into a sea of dark blue and gives away the ball, only for the referee to give a foul.
53 mins: City have played a number of short corners that Chelsea have not read today, allowing the hosts to create better angles. The Chelsea defence has been sleepwalking all afternoon.
51 mins: Mjelde is the latest Chelsea defender to play an utterly awful pass under no pressure. It is meant for Buchanan but goes straight to Shaw who sends it to Hemp to have a run at Chelsea and she wins a corner.
49 mins: Chelsea are looking more composed in the early stages here but City have got their foot on the ball in full knowledge the visitors will need to do something special to get back into the match.
Updated
47 mins: A positive start for Chelsea by getting the ball into the box. Kerr reaches a through ball but Morgan does well to turn it behind for a corner. The resulting set-piece bounces around in the box before being lumped clear.
Second half
Here we go again! Can Chelsea respond?
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Half-time reading.
Half time: Manchester City 2-0 Chelsea
City have been impressive in the final third against a dreadfully pedestrian Chelsea who have not turned up.
45 mins: One minute added on.
44 mins: City seem to be winning all the 50:50 challenges at the moment because Chelsea are so far off it.
Updated
42 mins: In the latest of Chelsea errors, Eriksson kicks the ball straight at Shaw, who chests it down but allows the defender the chance to make amends and it turn it behind for a corner.
40 mins: Chelsea are trying to get players closer to Kerr, who has been isolated thus far.
38 mins: Charles’ first involvement is to foul Hasegawa in the middle of the park with a late challenge. She needs to get up to speed with the match quickly.
36 mins: Hemp weaves through a few Chelsea players with ease. It’s one of those days. They do manage to hold her up in the end.
Ingle and James are off Kaneryd and Charles on. James barely had a kick.
Updated
34 mins: Hayes is not even waiting until the break. Charles and AN Other are being readied to come on. This has been a poor Chelsea display, to be fair.
32 mins: Do Chelsea have a response? I suspect they will be making changes at the break.
Kelly and Angeldahl combine superbly on the right; the former gets in a cross to Coombs, the ball drops and she plays it back to Hemp to whack first time into the top corner with her left foot.
GOAL! Manchester City 2-0 Chelsea (Hemp, 30)
As I said … City are dangerous in the box. Hemp fines the other top corner.
Updated
29 mins: There is no flow to the Chelsea play. City are looking lively in the final third but I would not say either side is close to controlling this match.
27 mins: City are happy to let the Chelsea back five have the ball because they are pretty confident they can’t do anything with it. Ingle has dropped deeper to collect the ball when needed because she has more of an eye for pass.
25 mins: Chelsea have been reliant on Kerr to create chances in the opening quarter of the game. James has been pretty much anonymous so far.
Buchanan is the latest to give away possession but City fail to make the most of it. The defender follows it up by kicking her next pass straight out of play.
Usain Bolt is in attendance.
23 mins: Chelsea need a bit more zip in their passing out from the. They were very slow in possession, which was not helped by a lack of movement, leading to Berger’s poor pass that led to the goal.
Berger sends the ball straight to Angeldahl on the right, she plays it out to Kelly and gets it back. No one from Chelsea closes her down, allowing her to fire a shot across Berger and into the top corner. Chelsea set their own downfall there.
GOAL! Manchester City 1-0 Chelsea (Angeldahl, 21)
WHAT A STRIKE! The midfielder scores her first WSL goal.
Updated
20 mins: James catches Morgan late and City get a free-kick around 30 yards from goal. Houghton lines it up but whacks it straight into the wall. It comes to Greenwood on the edge of the box but her shot is deflected wide.
City put in a dangerous corner that Berger punches more up than out and there is another chance but Chelsea smuggle it behind. Berger does better from the next corner, catching the cross to calm things down. To be fair to the goalkeepers, it is windy.
18 mins: The drums are banging inside the Academy Stadium.
Shaw collects a pass in the box and tries to find half a yard of space but Eriksson tracks her and blocks her eventual shot.
16 mins: This has been a relentless start to the match with chances at both ends.
14 mins: Greenwood swings in a corner from the right but Eriksson is there to meet it. Chelsea break after Morgan fails to win a challenge against Cuthbert despite being favourite to get the ball.
Ingle lets fly from 25 yards, the shot takes a deflection and Roebuck does well to palm it away.
12 mins: Greenwood has taken the most recent City goal-kick. Is Roebuck injured? It seems an odd tactic otherwise.
On another note … one of these City players walks past my house most days. In case you were interested.
10 mins: Kerr is looking the most dangerous player on the pitch currently. She think she has beaten the offside trap but is called back by the assistant’s flag. It is a close call.
The Australian has a chance a few moments later but drags her shot wide from 20 yards.
8 mins: Kelly swings in a corner from the left but Leupolz just about heads it away. The ball comes back and Chelsea struggle to clear but the danger ends when Shaw sends it behind for a goal-kick.
6 mins: Kerr chases a long ball over the top from Ingle; Greenwood follows her into the box and puts the striker under pressure, ensuring her shot is straight at Roebuck.
There is a lot going on in this match.
Updated
4 mins: Kelly latches onto a pass down the right flank and swings in a cross that is straight at Eriksson. The defender completely misscontrols the ball and it goes towards the net but Berger is there to prevent an own goal.
2 mins: Chelsea make the most of a poor touch in midfield from City and turn over the ball. Reiten tries to put in a cross but it hits the sidenetting.
City have a chance of their own thanks to fine work on the left from Hemp; the winger puts in a fine pass to Kelly inside the box but Carter does enough to turn it behind for a corner.
A lively start.
Kick off
Peep! Peep! Peep! Here we go!
Friends of the Guardian Robyn Cowen and Rachel Brown Finnis are on comms. And here come the teams!
The managers have spoken.
Gareth Taylor: “Our performance has got to do enough to win the game. It is as simple as that. If we were not successful in winning today, that would be it (for a title challenge). It is a must-win for us.”
Emma Hayes: “I do relish this period and the players do, too. We like games, accumulation and being in a flow. On the defensive front we are more difficult to beat.”
On Millie Bright: “She just misses out today, she will be back next week.
The game is being shown on BBC One in the UK, just in case you were wondering.
City’s Bunny Shaw has 15 goals in as many WSL matches this season. She is leading the scoring charts by league’s scoring charts by four. In addition to goals, she also has four assists to her name. She is, arguably, the most important player in the WSL currently.
Moonchester and Moonbeam are primed. Who is your favourite football mascot?
For balance … here is your friend and mine Karen Carney on Lauren James.
Get in the mood for today’s game with Suzanne Wrack’s interview with Lauren Hemp.
There is no Millie Bright for Chelsea after she suffered an injury in midweek, which is good news for City and Bunny Shaw.
Starting lineups
Man City: Roebuck; Morgan, Houghton, Greenwood, Aleixandri; Hasegawa, Angeldahl, Coombs; Kelly, Hemp, Shaw
Subs: MacIver, Casparij, Stokes, Fowler, Castellanos, Raso, Ouahabi, Kennedy, Blakstad
Chelsea: Berger; Mjedle, Eriksson, Buchanan, Carter; Leupolz, Ingle, Reiten; James, Kerr, Cuthbert
Subs: Musovic, Perisset, Fleming, Kaneryd, Charles, Abdullina, Cankovic
Hello!
I hope you are not too upset about losing an hour’s sleep. Hopefully this match will liven you all up.
After Manchester United went back to the top of the table last night, we have two teams that could replace them at the summit playing this Sunday lunch. Admittedly, for Manchester City to take first they will need to beat Chelsea 16-0 here but you never know.
A win of any sort for City would see them leapfrog Emma Hayes’ side, putting them above Chelsea for the first time this season. City are unbeaten in 13 in the league, while Chelsea have lost only once all season, so it should be an entertaining encounter.
Chelsea won their midweek Champions League quarter final first leg in Lyon this week, giving them a boost and a touch of leeway in the tie, but they might have fancied a more straightforward game in between.
Here’s to a cracker!
Kick-off: 12.40pm BST
