Chelsea secure three points in Kingsmeadow opener: lessons learned

Physicality is key for success going forward

Right out of the gate, Manchester City took the game to Chelsea, and if it wasn’t for some fine saves by Berger, the Blues could have found themselves in a deep hole early on. Chelsea was forced to defend nine corners in total, and while none of them found the back of the net, most of them threatened enough to cause some sort of concern. Shaw’s strength and persistence on the ball allowed City to extend the play that more often than not led to a half chance. Mille Bright and Kadeisha Buchanan had their hands full in the opening 20 minutes. Gareth Taylor’s side collected more shots on target than the Blues with five, and whether it was Laura Coombs’ chance at the end of the first half or Lauren Hemps’ near post run, Manchester City took advantage of a Chelsea side that did not look ready for the punch in the mouth that it should have expected from a top-level side.

It was the timely stops by Maren Mjede and the assistance of the midfield that saved the Blues from being torn apart in the first 45 minutes. While Chelsea did get pushed around quite a bit in the attack and in the backline, having not registered a shot on target until Kirby opened up the scoring, the attitude of the team as a whole completely shifted once the second-half whistle blew. The Blues were winning 50-50 balls in the air, and coming up with decisive tackles in a potential build-up by Manchester City, allowing for Chelsea to give itself a runway to build off of going back to Kingsmeadow on Wednesday night.