Sportsupdated 22m ago2 min read
Archive photo · 12 September 2018Chelsea Beat Manchester City 1-0 as Sandy Baltimore Scores Before Half-Time
“Yesterday in training she got a knock to her head in contact with a team-mate but she was fine.”
“Credit to my players, we showed a lot of character today.”
Photo: Granada, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cropped for layout
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Chelsea beat Manchester City 1-0 with Sandy Baltimore scoring just before half-time. Chelsea leapfrogged City to top the Women's Super League.
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Bompastor’s early gamble
Chelsea beat Manchester City 1-0 at Stamford Bridge to go top of the Women’s Super League, with Sandy Baltimore scoring just before half-time. Sonia Bompastor replaced struggling defender Kadeisha Buchanan 12 minutes in, and the BBC said Bompastor “took responsibility” for the decision. Bompastor later explained that Buchanan had taken “a knock to her head in contact with a team-mate” in training and that she felt Buchanan “was not herself” from the beginning of the game.
Chelsea then adjusted again when striker Melvine Malard was injured 23 minutes later, and the match swung further when Ayaka Yamashita was dismissed for a foul on Alyssa Thompson on 75 minutes. The result left City chasing in a game they could not turn, as Chelsea defended to see out the narrow win and leapfrogged City at the summit.
Confusion, red card, quotes
The fourth official’s board showing the number of the player Veerle Buurman would replace caused confusion for Chelsea players, and the BBC noted it was “clearly not planned”. Bompastor told reporters she would “explain myself to her” after Buchanan was upset as she headed down the tunnel, and she said her assistant coach Camille Abily would have done that already. Andrée Jeglertz said the substitution did not change the picture, while the New York Times quoted him saying, “It’s always affecting when you go one player down.”
Sky Sports described Yamashita’s dismissal as a straight red card for fouling Alyssa Thompson, and it framed the moment as a rush out that brought Thompson down. City’s goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita was shown the red card after 75 minutes, and the match left City with an uphill battle to climb as Chelsea held their lead.
Title race and next steps
Chelsea’s win moved them one point ahead of City at the top of the table, and Sky Sports said third-placed London City Lionesses could go four points off the summit if they beat Arsenal on Sunday. The New York Times said Chelsea entered Saturday’s clash two points behind City, with neither side having suffered defeat in the WSL campaign thus far, and it described the match as an early title decider. Bompastor’s post-match stance emphasized that Chelsea were “chasing a new one,” while she also said the team had work to do to be more consistent.
Manchester City’s post-match reaction in the “We Ain't Got No History” account said Yamashita kept them at bay for most of the first half and that City got a red card moment when Yamashita was dismissed for a DOGSO against Alyssa Thompson. City’s next fixture was set in the same account as “Next up: Liverpool away in the Women’s Super League,” as Chelsea’s top-of-table position followed Baltimore’s winner.