Chelsea vs Man City live: Visitors rue late injuries as Blues grit out win in WSL opener
Sonia Bompastor led Chelsea to an invincible season in her debut WSL season last term
Manchester City were left to rue missed chances and late injuries as defending champions Chelsea kicked off the new WSL season in winning style.
The Blues took the lead in the first-half through Aggie Beever-Jones, converting from a flat cross by new signing Ellie Carpenter, who is already proving a shrewd investment after a standout display.
Momentum looked to be turning in City's favour after Alex Greenwood rattled the bar with a free-kick, but it would be the hosts who would get the game's crucial second goal courtesy of Maika Hasano.
City were handed a lifeline when Niamh Charles headed into her own net to reduce the deficit, but Sonia Bompastor's side were able to grit out the win, with new City manager Andree Jeglertz's woes compounded by two late injury blows to Greenwood and Lily Murphy.
Follow all the action from Stamford Bridge below:
Report: Chelsea grit out victory over Man City in injury-marred WSL opener
Champions Chelsea overcame a nervy final 20 minutes to get their WSL campaign underway with victory over Manchester City at Stamford Bridge.
Read the full report below:
Chelsea grit out victory over Man City in injury-marred WSL opener
Sonia Bompastor reaching new heights
Sonia Bompastor has become the fastest manager to ever reach 20 wins in the WSL.
And we thought Chelsea might struggle without Emma Hayes...
Aggie Beever-Jones hails 'outstanding' Ellie Carpenter
"Ellie put it on a plate for me,” Beever-Jones told Sky Sports. “It was incredible. I thought Ellie was outstanding today. I'm delighted to come away with a win and start the season strong.
"I think for me, Ellie is a world-class player and genuinely one of the quickest players ever, so I knew she was going to get there. For me, it was about keeping my head and putting it in the back of the net.
"Watching it again, Ellie's put it on a plate, so I've got to say many thanks to her but it's about doing a good pre-season and we're ready to start a good campaign. We're feeling good with ourselves and we're happy.
Worrying scenes in the final moments
Hoping Lily Murphy’s injury isn’t nearly as serious as it looks.
Ellie Carpenter on 'jelling' with her new team
"We're playing with a five back, so it allows me to get up more in attack,” the player of the match said. “We've been working a lot in training and pre-season for six weeks.
"Obviously, the early cross in behind and Aggie [Beever-Jones] tapped it in, so made me look good. Very happy with the win. We wanted to start strong and get the three points and we did that."
"Pre-season was hard. It was actually my first pre-season I've ever done with a team. It was really nice to create those relationships with the team, being new. I think we worked on those foundations and really jelling as a team."
Man City left to rue missed chances
Chelsea grit out victory in WSL opener
FULL-TIME! Chelsea 2-1 Man City
There goes the whistle and Chelsea begin their sixth successive title defence in winning style.
Concern for Andree Jeglertz after two late injuries, with the latter to Lily Murphy looking particularly serious.
Chelsea 2-1 Man City
90+13 mins: City have used up all their subs so are down to 10. Let’s see how long we have left to play.
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