Chelsea 6-2 Tottenham Hotspur
Chelsea’s ruthlessness came out as they scored six against their London rivals Tottenham Hotspur in a high-scoring game at Stamford Bridge, giving them their fifth win of the campaign in the process, all of which have come consecutively.
Sonia Bompastor took charge of her 50th Barclays WSL game for Chelsea and means she has amassed a total of 125 points won in the Barclays WSL – the most of any manager in the league’s history across their first 50 games.
In this game itself, it took Chelsea until the 25th minute to take the lead with the first of Lauren James’ goals in this one. She dispossessed Tōko Koga outside of the Spurs penalty area and then drove towards the goal at a tight angle before scoring past Lize Kop.
Spurs responded near the end of the first half following Julie Blakstad’s cross to Matilda Vinberg at the back post, with the Swedish midfielder heading into the net to make a sustained spell of pressure by Spurs count for something as they went in level at half-time.
Martin Ho’s side did start the next half well, but then went behind in the 58th minute after Alyssa Thompson worked it forward for Chelsea, and then hit a low cross in for Ellie Carpenter to get on the end of and restore her team’s lead. From that point on, Chelsea surged to victory with Lauren James getting her second goal a few minutes later, followed by second half substitute Sjoeke Nüsken making it 4-1 not long after she entered the pitch.
The home side found their fifth goal closer to the later stages of the game, and it was the pick of the goals that had been scored as Maika Hamano found the net from around 30-yards out with a great strike. The goal is the second in as many games for Hamano, with this one coming against the team she had spent the second half of last season on loan at.
Signe Gaupset found a consolation goal in the immediate aftermath of Hamano’s goal to make it 5-2, however, Ellie Carpenter’s second goal of the afternoon made it 6-2, which is the second game in a row where Spurs have conceded that number of goals in a Barclays WSL fixture.