City edged out by Chelsea on WSL opening day | OneFootball

Manchester City suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat to Chelsea on the opening day of the 2025/26 Barclays Women’s Super League campaign.

In what was new Head Coach Andrée Jeglertz’s first competitive match at the helm, the Blues battled valiantly, created numerous chances and were well in the game against the reigning champions.

But goals from Aggie Beever-Jones and Maika Hamano either side of half-time gave the visitors an uphill task with 25 minutes remaining in the capital.

We did set up an exciting finish when Alex Greenwood’s free-kick found the net off Niamh Charles, but the equaliser we craved evaded us in the curtain-raiser.

WHAT HAPPENED

A new era for City began at Stamford Bridge with Jeglertz taking charge of his first competitive game as Head Coach.

The sides were also well acquainted having faced off five times last term and Chelsea would’ve taken the lead had it not been for a brilliant save by Ayaka Yamashita, who reacted brilliantly to tip Sandy Baltimore’s deflected shot from close range around the post.

The hosts’ pressure did eventually tell though when Ellie Carpenter burst down the right and squared for Beever-Jones to tap home from all of six yards.

Undeterred, City immediately went onto the offensive which saw Bunny Shaw thwarted by Hampton again before Greenwood beat her fellow Euros winner with a wonderfully whipped free-kick that unfortunately crashed into the crossbar.

We carried that momentum into the second half and, fresh from penning a new deal with the Club, Yui Hasegawa forced Hampton to pat away her stinging volley before the Japan international’s improvised flick from a Lauren Hemp pass moments later cross trickled agonisingly wide of the far post.

But we were given an uphill task with just over 25 minutes remaining when Wieke Kaptein found space on the right and slid the ball across the face of goal which allowed Hamano to tuck past Yamashita.

Similar to our response in the first half, we again pushed after conceding and pulled a goal back with 20 minutes remaining when a vicious Greenwood free-kick ricocheted into the net off Chelsea’s Charles.

That set up a grandstand finish in the capital but the equaliser we pushed for narrowly evaded us after a performance we can take plenty of positives from.

Late injuries to Greenwood and Lily Murphy, however, meant things ended on a sour note at Stamford Bridge.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Jeglertz’s imprint – It was clear to see the style of play our new Head Coach is looking to implement at City after just a few weeks at the helm. At Stamford Bridge, the team were fluid between a 3-4-2-1 and 4-2-3-1 when adapting to different Chelsea patterns of play, with pressing and quick passing key pillars of our principles. It’ll be interesting to see how this develops as we continue to grow under the Swede’s tutelage.

New signings on show – Both summer signings Jade Rose and Sydney Lohmann started at Stamford Bridge and wasted little time in settling into their surroundings. The duo adapted well to the pace of the game and gave City fans a taste of what’s in store over the coming season. Iman Beney came on in the closing stages too and looked sharp as we pushed for that elusive equaliser.

Hasegawa’s class – In the wake of her contract extension, which will keep at the Club until 2029, the Japan international was once again a standout player in London. Combative in defence and silky on the ball – it’s clear to see why we were determined to retain her services for another four years.

TEAMS

Chelsea XI: Hampton, Carpenter, Bright, Cuthbert (Jean-Francois 77'), Bjorn, Baltimore (Rytting Kaneryd 77'), Kaptein (Nusken 86'), Charles, Hamano, Walsh, Beever-Jones (Macario 62').

Unused substitutes: Peng, Buurman, Reiten, Kerr, Potter.

City XI: Yamashita, Rose, Prior, Greenwood (C) (Ouahabi 90'+4'), Casparij, Lohmann (Blindkilde Brown 78'), Hasegawa, Murphy, Hemp, Miedema (Beney 85'), Bunny.

Unused substitutes: Keating, Layzell, Coombs, Wienroither, Thomas, Lewis.

AS A RESULT

An opening day defeat for City in the Barclays WSL.

UP NEXT

Jeglertz’s side’s next assignment is a meeting with Brighton at the Joie Stadium on Friday 12 September, with kick-off scheduled for 19:30 (UK).

Tickets for the clash and all our WSL home matches can be purchased here.