(Football news) With only two games remaining, the win puts Emma Hayes’ team two points ahead of Manchester United and five points ahead of Arsenal. If Chelsea win against Arsenal on Sunday, they will eliminate the Gunners from the race for the title, with the Blues completing their season at Reading on May 27.

At the Dagenham and Redbridge Stadium, the Blues were in complete control throughout and took the lead through Charles after just 13 minutes. West Ham was quite fortunate to trail by only one goal at the break following a number of dangerous challenges by Hawa Cissoko in the penalty area.

However, just after the break, Chelsea’s lead was increased by Harder, and the victory was sealed by Ingle’s close-range header and Cuthbert’s powerful drive. As a result, West Ham dropped to eighth place and is still without a league victory in 2023.

Three teams will still be in title contention going into the penultimate round of games thanks to Arsenal’s victory at Everton earlier on Wednesday, which increased the stakes for Chelsea before their game against West Ham got underway. However, following their fifth straight victory, Chelsea are confident that they will hold the league title, and their victory over the Hammers effectively eliminated Manchester City from title contention.

West Ham made it apparent that they intended to frustrate Chelsea with their five-player defence, but after just 13 minutes, Charles swept in the rebound when Sam Kerr’s attempt was stopped, shattering the West Ham strategy. Later, the West Ham defender avoided punishment for a careless tackle on Johanna Rytting Kaneryd and only received a free kick for pushing Kerr on the outskirts of the box. Earlier, Cissoko may have given up a penalty when she moved her arm in the path of a shot.

Mackenzie Before the half ended, Arnold made a good save from Harder, but she was unable to stop her shot in the 48th minute when the Danish international blasted the ball into the far corner after being set up by Ingle. After Arnold deflected Magdalena Eriksson’s header over the bar, the midfielder added another goal to her tally when the ball fell to Ingle a few yards from the goal.

As West Ham looked for a consolation goal, Amalie Thestrup saw a shot blocked by Jessica Carter, and Kate Longhurst fired a half-volley just wide. However, in stoppage time, Cuthbert came off the bench to score Chelsea’s fourth. Chelsea has won nine of their past ten WSL matches against West Ham, and they have only lost one of their last 25 competitive London derbies.

Chelsea manager Emma Hayes has changed her starting lineup 75 times in the WSL this season, which is a lot more than any other manager has done. After making seven changes for the trip to West Ham, Hayes explained how she maintains consistency in her team’s performances despite all of the changes.

In the remaining games Chelsea will play Arsenal on 21st May which can be a decisive game for 3 teams including Manchester United who are in the hunt for the league title. In the last game Chelsea will play Reading on 27th May. West Ham United will play Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspurs in their remaining games respectively. 

For the teams in the hunt for the title like Manchester United and Arsenal, Manchester United have 2 difficult fixtures in front of them as Manchester City and Liverpool, if they want to be in the contention for the title they should win both the matches. Arsenal will play Chelsea and Aston Villa in their remaining games. Manchester United are 2 points behind Chelsea and Arsenal are 5 points behind Chelsea.

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