"Khadija Shaw lashed a rising drive narrowly over the crossbar with 11 minutes to go, but that was as close as it got to an equaliser for the team who finished fourth in the division last term. They had more bad news when Alex Greenwood and Lily Murphy sustained injuries in stoppage time. There were some positives for Manchester City, not least an encouraging debut from Sydney Lohmann in midfield following her switch from Bayern Munich."
"Chelsea, meanwhile, had hoped to welcome back striker Sam Kerr to competitive action for the first time in 20 months but, while she made the substitutes' bench, she was not brought on. Just under six weeks since the Euro 2025 final in Basel concluded a tournament which delivered packed stadiums and raucous crowds, it might have been a bit of a comedown for the players to walk out at Stamford Bridge and see the top tier of the stands essentially empty."
Chelsea secured a narrow 2-1 victory over Manchester City to open the WSL season, extending an unbeaten league run to 26 matches since May 2024. Sonia Bompastor remains without a league defeat in English football while Andree Jeglertz suffered his first loss as Manchester City manager. Chelsea showed ruthlessness in the final third that helped decide the outcome. Manchester City had chances, including Khadija Shaw's late rising drive, and saw encouraging debuts from Sydney Lohmann and Iman Beney, but suffered stoppage-time injuries to Alex Greenwood and Lily Murphy. Sam Kerr returned to the bench but was unused. Stamford Bridge attendance was noticeably reduced after Euro 2025.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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