Baltimore winner sends Chelsea top as Manchester City suffer first defeat

Chelsea moved above Manchester City at the top of the Women’s Super League with a 1-0 victory at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. Sandy Baltimore scored in first-half stoppage time, and City finished with 10 players after goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita received a red card.

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According to Sky Sports’ match report, Chelsea created opportunities through Ellie Carpenter, Melvine Malard and Alyssa Thompson before Baltimore broke the deadlock. Her finish from inside the penalty area gave the hosts the lead at the interval. Yamashita had earlier saved a deflected effort from Malard.

City’s clearest chance to equalise came when Khadija Shaw lifted the ball over Hannah Hampton. Lauren Hemp could not connect in front of the open goal, and the ball went wide. The visitors subsequently lost Yamashita after she came out of her area and fouled Thompson.

Chelsea almost extended their advantage from the resulting free-kick, with substitute Aggie Beever-Jones hitting the crossbar. They also had fitness concerns during the first half: Sky reported that both Kadeisha Buchanan and Malard went off injured. The report did not establish how long either player might be unavailable.

The result reversed the positions of the leading two clubs. City had entered the weekend on 25 points from nine matches, with eight wins and a draw, while Chelsea had 23 from seven wins and two draws. Saturday’s three points took Chelsea to 26, one ahead of City, and maintained their unbeaten league record after 10 matches.

For Chelsea, the win followed two draws in different competitions. They had been held 1-1 by Everton in their previous WSL match, when Baltimore’s goal was cancelled out by a Lucy Bronze own goal. A goalless Champions League match away to BK Häcken followed before the return to Stamford Bridge for this meeting with City.

Chelsea coach Sonia Bompastor told Sky Sports the victory mattered psychologically but stressed that consistency against other opponents remained necessary. She welcomed being top and beating leading rivals, while cautioning that the season was still at an early stage and further work was required.