Chelsea’s win at West Ham did exactly what a title-chasing team needs to do: take care of business and keep pace at the top.
However, the real story of the weekend came elsewhere, with Manchester City’s 4-2 win over Arsenal potentially doing more to shape the destination of this season’s WSL title than Chelsea’s own result. The defeat leaves Arsenal 10 points behind, dealing a major blow to their hopes of keeping pace with the leading sides.
For Chelsea, the job now is straightforward in theory and demanding in practice, simply, keep winning and let other results take care of themselves. Beating West Ham was never going to be the hard part of this title race, doing it consistently while City maintained this level of attacking output was going to be the most challenging. They proved it last season as they dethroned Chelsea.
Sonia Bompastor's side have shown the resilience to grind out results when performances aren't at their sharpest, and that trait will matter just as much as moments of brilliance over a long campaign.
Arsenal out?
Arsenal went into the game with genuine title ambitions but came out having conceded four goals, which tells its own story. City exposed the weaknesses in one and showed the attacking firepower that makes them a serious threat to Chelsea’s title hopes, rather than just a side benefiting from Arsenal’s defeat.
Arsenal’s place in the title race now looks increasingly uncertain. A four-goal defeat to a direct rival is a major setback, and Chelsea and City are beginning to look like the two strongest contenders, with the attacking quality and squad depth to sustain a challenge over the season.
A dark horse?
London City Lionesses, the WSL’s independent club, showed in the latest round of fixtures that they mean business. A 6-1 demolition of Tottenham, who have also impressed so far this season, moved them to within three points of the leaders.
The quality within their squad could prove crucial as the season progresses, with their former Barcelona stars bringing plenty of experience of competing for major honours. Could London City replace Arsenal in the title race and turn this into a three-horse battle?
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