On the heels of a critical win over Aston Villa at Kingsmeadow, the Blues encountered the hottest team in the Women’s Super League this season. Denise Reddy and the Chelsea Women traveled north to Leigh Sports Village where they continued their success against Manchester United, outlasting the Red Devils 3-1. Marc Skinner’s team has not let in a single goal in the WSL until their meeting with the Blues. These two teams have met seven times including Sunday, and CFCW has not lost a single fixture. The last three times that United has allowed three or more goals in the WSL were in battles with the Blues.
The combination of Sam Kerr, Pernille Harder, and Lauren James proved too much to handle as Man United could not create the quality of chances compared to the ones the Blues manufactured. The Red Devils’ mistakes in the back ended up being their kryptonite on Sunday evening, gift-wrapping the Blues their first goal that Kerr converted to put Chelsea in the position to expose the backline much more effectively for the rest of the contest.
Following the triumph, general manager Paul Green spoke on the team’s performance, stating
"“I think we found a way in the second half. For 15 or 20 minutes when we went 2-0 up, I thought some of the football we played was outstanding. I think we thoroughly deserved the win and we were congratulating the group on this period of games with Denise (Reddy) and myself in charge. All of [the games] are difficult in their own way but this game and the one against PSG away were two that came out and you thought ‘we’re going to have to be at our best and find a way to win’, and I think we did in the second half. We did enough and showed why we are champions of England.”"
Erin Cuthbert may have been the sole reason for Manchester United finding its way back into the game with an Alessia Russo goal to cut the lead in half, but the Scotland international made up for it with her persistence in creating the deflection for the game-sealing goal in stoppage time. The consistent Millie Bright in the back made a few errors in the back, but the Blues never seemed to pay for them.
United continued an effort to attack Bright on the right side of the back three, but the Blues adjusted quickly to compensate for the speed disadvantage. This could have been an area that the Red Devils could have exploited with Russo, and now Nikita Parris, but Kadeisha Buchanan continues to prove why she was one of the most important acquisitions in the WSL this past summer. In a contest following the debacle that is the Chelsea men’s team, the women continue to be that perfect outlet of positivity and success for Blues fans everywhere.
Teams can’t give away opportunities to a team this talented
Some could say that Chelsea possesses the best front-three in the WSL, and with all their talent, it is not the best idea to present them with chances the team did not manufacture themselves. United defender Millie Turner aimlessly passed the ball right to Sophie Ingle who played it to the all-dangerous Kerr to put the ball in the Red Devils’ net for the first time in the league all season.
Turner got away with nearly the same type of clearance in the first half, but doing it a second time against a team as talented up top as the Blues is not going to end in your favor. Just a few minutes later, United seemed to have not learned its lesson with Maria Thorisdottir giving away the ball to James who set Kerr ahead of the pack. Although Kerr was unable to create a goal-scoring chance out of it, it is just another example of making the job even easier for a team that doesn’t need it.
From the free header that Kerr somehow missed in the second half to a clearance that found Cuthbert’s feet just before her goal, the Red Devils’ collapsed under the pressure of a match against the three-time defending English champions. Reddy and Emma Hayes watching from afar know the scoreline could have been far greater than it ended up being at the end of regulation. Despite the amount of possession United did have, it is what you do with the ball that matters. The lack of decisiveness in the attacking third cost Skinner’s side who fell flat on their face on their home turf.
Lauren James is Manchester United’s worst nightmare
Just over a year ago in July, James put pen to paper on a contract that signed her up for four years back at Chelsea. Although the fee was worth about £200,000 including bonuses, which was a WSL record at the time, it is difficult to see how the club profited from a deal after seeing their former player slide in the corner, and show her love for the Blues. James led Manchester United to promotion, netting 14 goals in 18 appearances in the Championship, and scored the first goal in the WSL for the Red Devils at just 19 years old.
A whole lot of the decision had to have been on James’ end to move back to her home club, but after former United manager, Casey Stoney called the London-born player “one of the most technically brilliant” players in the women’s game, brings into question why the Red Devils did not attempt to secure a generation talent like James down on a long-term contract. That second goal in Manchester on Sunday evening was a dagger in United fans’ hearts, as they realized they could have been their player the entire time. Even though the first season with the Blues was not one to remember, CFC stayed patient, and at the end of the day is making their league rivals look levels below them with the world-class quality James is displaying on the right flank for Chelsea this season.
Chelsea is still far ahead despite opponents’ continued progress
By far the largest takeaway from the match between these powerhouses in the WSL was how much work needs to be done on the United side to get to CFCW’s level. Stoney nor Skinner have found a way to crack the Blues’ formula and despite the talented additions over the summer, the gap between these two clubs is far greater than many realize. The Red Devils are supposed to beat teams like Everton and Brighton but to tell the WSL that this could be the season where it ends up in a Champions League position, getting a result against the Blues is the first step in doing that.
Finishing fourth is not progress for United, who have larger aspirations than competing in the Conti Cup group stage and the WSL each season. Adriana Leon, Maya Le Tissier, and Rachel Williams are all solid transfer acquisitions, but none of them jump off the page to say this team has a chance to even salvage a draw against a side that added the likes of Buchanan and Harder just a few years ago.
United is trying to catch up to a team that is running laps around them at the same time. Anyone can point to the final game of the season at Kingsmeadow to demonstrate how far Skinner and the Red Devils have come, but just like this past Sunday, they folded when the pressure of the badge on the opposition’s kit began to sink in. Eventually, United will get a crack at UCL football, but putting together a result filled with mistakes against a team that puts away errors shows the amount of distance Skinner still has to find a way to make up.