WSL: Chelsea close gap on leaders Arsenal after win over City

(Football news) Reigning champions Chelsea FC came a step closer to defending their title after defeating Manchester City 1-0 at Kingsmeadow. The two sides will be facing each other once again on March 5th in the Women's League Cup title. A 14th minute goal by Guro Reiten helped Chelsea Women clinch all three points from the fixture. The 27 year old Norwegian’s glancing header from Jess Carter’s cross went past City goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck.

Manchester City did have chances to equalise as Lauren Hemp saw her curling effort go wide off the target while another attempt was blocked by Mille Bright. Chelsea could have doubled their advantage as Lauren James almost capitalised on the opportunity when Roebuck came out of her area to clear a loose ball. 

Caroline Weir also had an opportunity to shoot from a tight angle but it went over the crossbar. The win meant that Chelsea are now just two points behind league leaders Arsenal with a game in hand. The two sides will face each other in the Women’s Super League on Friday in what can potentially be a title decider.

Chelsea manager Emma Hayes told the BBC: "It feels like every win is a huge win. I do think it's the tightest league campaign, so it does feel like you can't drop points anywhere. I've said all along, league titles are decided in the second half of the season and my team is in a strong position after today's result. We're three points closer to the step we want to get to."

Man City manager Gareth Taylor: "We did everything in the second half to try and get back into that game. I'm proud of the second-half performance, I thought we really dominated… we did everything but score. We're really disappointed, we felt like we could come here today and win and I thought we probably did enough.

"It's onto the next game now but we've got to take those positives of that second half and use it as fuel (moving forward). We created some really good half chances, we had more opportunities but just made the wrong selection but I suppose part of that you have to credit Chelsea. They defended the goal really well and the goalkeeper [Berger] is calm in what she does. It's not as easy when you come up against a team as resolute as that at the back."

Also read: China beat Korea 3-2 in dramatic final, clinch AFC Women's Asian Cup title for 9th time

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