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Manchester City 0 Chelsea 4: Ruthless Blues close gap on Arsenal as defeat of City puts pressure on Taylor


GARETH TAYLOR is adamant he is STILL the right man to lead Manchester City forward after another WSL trouncing.

Chelsea scored the fastest league goal of the season after Jessie Fleming netted inside two minutes during the 4-0 defeat following a defensive mistake.

Jessie Fleming opened the scoring for Chelsea in a 4-0 win over Man CityCredit: Getty
Sam Kerr netted her sixth WSL goal of the season to double Chelsea’s leadCredit: Rex

Further goals from Sam Kerr, Fran Kirby and Magda Eriksson inflicted a third home loss for City, who are now ninth, ten points behind leaders Arsenal.

The result piled the pressure on City boss Taylor and when asked if he is considering his position, the Welshman said: “There’s nothing for me to consider.

“Until I’m told anything different, I carry on and I work as hard as I’ve ever done.

“I’m working so hard in this period, with a lot of constraints with the injuries that we have, but the players today showed me that we are capable of playing the way we want to play. 

“We just need that little bit of good fortune, to be more ruthless in attack when it matters and cut out errors at the back. 

“We know Chelsea are a very good team. Our attitude still is to qualify for Europe.”

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The Blues may not have expected the gift of a goal on their rivals’ home turf just 66 seconds after the first whistle.

This came courtesy of a dodgy pass from Karima Taieb, which was intercepted by Fleming.

And the Canada star made no mistake coolly slotting home with the City stopper having kept just one clean sheet in seven games this term.

The hosts, eager to make amends, went on the attack and came close levelling through Caroline Weir in the eighth minute.

Lauren Hemp and Caroline Weir were City’s biggest threats going forwardCredit: Getty

A well-timed through ball from Keira Walsh saw the Scotland ace put through on goal with Ann-Katrin Berger pulling off a fine save.

And they had a half-decent scoring chance from a corner with Alex Greenwood’s header which was caught by the keeper.

A rare Blues lapse at the back saw Lauren Hemp clean through before a collision with Berger led to both needing treatment.

There were questions over whether there should have been a pen with televised replays showing Berger making contact with the forward.

On the incident, Taylor said: “From where I was I could see Lauren got to the ball first and when that happens and there’s contact, it’s a penalty.”

We were prepared for a technical onslaught from Man City, but we adapted so well to it.

Emma Hayes

Despite having 60 per cent of possession, the hosts conceded on the stroke of half-time through Kerr moments after Georgia Stanway was dispossessed.

The second half saw Chelsea turn the screw with two quickfire goals.

First through Kirby curling in a stunning top corner strike in the 53rd minute and Eriksson leaping high to head past an outstretched Taieb following a corner.

The hosts had a strong chance of nabbing a consolation goal through Hemp.

But Berger snuffed out the danger before being replaced by Zecira Musovic near the 80th minute

And the title holders saw out the win with a Champions League game against Servette up next.

It was the WSL champs’ first top-flight win at the Academy Stadium with the result cutting Arsenal’s lead to just a point.

Emma Hayes said her team played like championsCredit: Rex

On her team’s performance, Emma Hayes said: We knew this was going to be a very difficult game.

“We were prepared for a technical onslaught from Man City, but we adapted so well to it. We played like champions.

“They may have had more passes of the ball but I think Ann only had one save to make.”

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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk


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