Chelsea Ladies beaten by leaders Man City

Chelsea Ladies’ title hopes were dented as a difficult week continued with a 2-0 home defeat against Women’s Super League leaders Manchester City Ladies.

The Blues, who were beaten 1-0 by Arsenal Ladies in the Women’s FA Cup final at Wembley on Saturday, conceded goals just before and after the break and the visitors held on to earn a sixth league win in six matches.

Chelsea had the better of a tight first period, with Fran Kirby, Millie Bright and Drew Spence all going close.

However, Demi Stokes’ cool one-on-one finish put City ahead a minute before the interval and Jennifer Beattie’s header from a corner three minutes after the resumption doubled the advantage.

Ji So-Yun, Gemma Davison and Karen Carney all came on as Chelsea chased the game.

But although Ji did hit the bar with a close-range strike, City held on without much alarm to inflict a first league defeat on Emma Hayes’ side after four consecutive wins.