Chelsea suffocate Manchester United as momentum under Sonia Bompastor gathers pace

Chelsea had the spotlight all to themselves as they overcame Storm Bert and Manchester United’s miserly defence to register a 1-0 win at a sold-out Kingsmeadow and maintain their perfect record under manager Sonia Bompastor.

Despite gale-force winds reaching 60mph, Chelsea delivered a champions’ performance that ended United’s unbeaten run and emphasised their dominance of the Women’s Super League.

This was the WSL’s only match of the weekend, rescheduled from 50 days ago due to Chelsea’s European commitments, and the victory pushes them five points clear of Manchester City at the top of the table following last week’s dismantling of their closest rivals. United, meanwhile, remain fifth, nine points adrift of the leaders.

Chelsea’s perfect record under Bompastor continues. The French coach has overseen eight consecutive league wins and 12 straight victories in all competitions. The “Vive La Révolution” flag on display that bears her image never seemed more fitting as fans celebrated another milestone in south-west London.

United arrived with the league’s best defensive record, having conceded just two goals in their previous seven games. But it only took Chelsea 17 minutes to breach their back line, Guro Reiten coolly converting from the penalty spot after Mayra Ramírez was fouled in the box. It was the Norwegian’s sixth goal of the campaign.

Missing key players Ella Toone and Elisabeth Terland through injury, United managed just one shot in 90 minutes, failing to register a single effort on goal during the first half – a first in their WSL history, though manager Marc Skinner insisted he was not worried by that statistic.

“[Having no shots in the first half] is not really a concern,” he said. “We will always look to progress in the game. But we will keep looking at it, keep working on it and make sure we fix it. The reality is that Chelsea are where they are. It’s going to be difficult for many teams to follow that. All we can do is get closer and finish as high up the table as we possibly can.”

Chelsea dominated possession and created the bulk of the chances, registering 13 shots on target to United’s three. However, two late United attempts in injury time forced Chelsea to sweat over their narrow lead. The hosts, who have been free-scoring this season, were unusually blunt in attack, leaving United with slim hopes of a late equaliser.

‘We couldn’t have dreamt of anything more’

Bompastor admitted Chelsea’s performance left room for improvement but emphasised the importance of grinding out results in tight contests in their quest for a sixth consecutive league title.

She said: “Of course it feels good to have these points, but I’m someone who looks for room for improvement. The situation [of being five points clear] gives me a lot of confidence, but when you analyse a game, you look at the result and the performance. In terms of results, we couldn’t have dreamt of anything more, it’s a perfect start.

“But if you balance that with the fact that we haven’t won anything yet. And today, I’m not really happy with the performance we had – I wanted us to hold the ball more and be more efficient in front of goal. We need to improve that if we want to make sure we keep our good run and perform against the best teams.”

For United, limiting Chelsea to a single goal was a marked improvement from last season’s 6-0 thrashing and offered a glimmer of progress. Yet, their record against the champions remains a glaring frustration. Chelsea have now won nine of their 10 encounters, with United still seeking their first victory in this fixture.

As chants of “6-0 in your own backyard” echoed from the home fans, the rivalry’s one-sided nature was unmistakable. All eyes will be on their next meeting in April – can United finally break the curse, or will Chelsea still be invincible by then?