Chelsea beat Man City 2-0 to win the Women's Community Shield

Mille Bright’s wonderstrike helped Chelsea win the first edition of the Women’s Community Shield since 2008 as they beat Manchester City 2-0 at Wembley.

The Blues had controversially been awarded the WSL title ahead of City on points-per-game after the season was cut short by the coronavirus pandemic and, as the women’s game returned to competitive action for the first time since lockdown, stole the spoils again, with Erin Cuthbert sealing the win in stoppage time after City had had Jill Scott sent off.

unich, while Fran Kirby was back in the line-up for the first time since recovering from the illness that had kept her sidelined since last November.

New City boss Gareth Taylor, meanwhile, gave the exciting Chloe Kelly her debut, with US star Sam Mewis on the bench, though her fellow World Cup winner Rose Lavelle is still in quarantine and was missing from the squad.

Chelsea should have been ahead inside the opening five minutes, when Sam Kerr raced clear onto a wonderful pass from Ji So-Yun but the Australian superstar could only poke into the side netting, setting the tone for what would be a frustrating afternoon.

At the other end, Kelly was the main threat, first unselfishly teeing-up substitute Janine Beckie for a tap-in after a sensational solo run, only to see the flag raised against the Canadian, and then rattling the woodwork on the rebound after Georgia Stanway’s effort had been beaten clear.

Chelsea came fighting back but Kerr wasted two more glorious chances, first nodding wide after Ji’s free-kick deflected invitingly into her path, and then skewing wide of the far corner after beating Steph Houghton for pace and strength.

Kerr’s horror show continued after the restart with her worst miss of the lot, somehow nudging feebly wide from eight yards after Kirby had set up the simplest of chances, before she opted against repaying the favour and once again slotted wide of the far post.

Next came a bizarre incident as Scott was shown a second yellow card after catching Ji with her follow through, but her dismissal appeared to go unnoticed by both sets of players until she had disappeared down the Wembley tunnel.

Down to ten, City could hold out just four minutes before Bright’s stunner opened the scoring, a rocket with dip and swerve that left Ellie Roebuck beaten all ends up.

Taylor responded by sending on Mewis and England striker Ellen White, but it was Chelsea who added to the score late on as substitute Cuthbert swept into the top corner.