Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United, Women's Super League: Post-match reaction

Today at 08:58 AM

Beating the wind, with purpose and grit!

Chelsea Women and Manchester United are the two remaining unbeaten sides in England. Although the Red Devils' unbeaten record haven't been nearly as impressive as ours, they've done a great job of playing to the level of their rivals and getting good results in return, such as their 1-1 home draw against Arsenal with a late Melvine Malard goal.

Against Chelsea, they would show themselves to be very tough to beat. The Blues dominated the entire pitch in the first 15 minutes of the match and the opposition would bend, but never break despite the barrage of tentative passes made by the hosts after kick-off.

As it's often the case we needed some magic from our attacking line to make things happen. That's what Mayra Ramírez did as she broke off a set of United defenders, infiltrated the box and was fouled by the opposing goalkeeper.

Guro Reiten, who's been our leading goalscorer this season thanks to her own open-play scores and opportunities like the ones Mayra creates, took the ball to the spot and did what she does best.

Chelsea clearly wanted more and they kept moving forward, although they weren't creating as many shooting opportunities as they should to get more goals. The heavy winds at Kingsmeadow didn't help as the Blues were clearly making their best effort to avoid silly goals getting past Hannah Hampton.

In the second half, wind issues were even worse and United wanted to make the most out of it. But as the Red Devils started to tire themselves out off of all the pressing work they did upon returning from the tunnels, the Blues endured and began to see some space as they pushed their lines further up the pitch.

Chelsea could have score a second goal on a couple of occasions. But bad decisions upfront and good shot-stopping from Phallon Tullis-Joyce, as well as the Blues shutting up shop and making their best effort not to allow a late United goal, made it so the hosts had to settle for a simple win.

Carefree!

• The closest thing we can get to full strength in the starting eleven today, from Hannah Hampton starting between the posts to Mayra Ramírez leading the attacking line.
• Quite glad that Mayra got the penalty, which was clear as day for anyone to see. As the clash between Hannah and a Manchester United player that left the former gasping for air for a couple of minutes showed, refereeing in WSL matches can vary a whole lot.
• The wind was the main opposition today.
• Next up: Brighton at home in the Women's Super League, when the squad returns from the international break.
• KTBFFH!