Manchester City extend lead at the top after huge victory over Chelsea | OneFootball

Manchester City took another huge step towards winning the Barclays Women’s Super League title with a 5-1 victory over Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium this afternoon.

Kerolin bagged a hat-trick while Khadija Shaw and Vivianne Miedema were also on target as The Cityzens moved 11 points clear at the summit.

Manchester City threatened early on through both Alex Greenwood and Miedema, but the Chelsea defence did well to stand up to the challenge.

It was Kerolin who soon opened up the scoring for the hosts. Kerstin Casparij delivered the perfect corner to find the attacker at the edge of the box. She sent the ball to the back of the net.

Wieke Kaptein then found the back of the net for Chelsea, but the flag went up for offside before Keira Walsh had a terrific shot from 25 yards out, but couldn’t beat home keeper Ayaka Yamashita.

Walsh was left unmarked again soon after and she took aim from distance, but the ball went just wide of the post.

In the 36th minute, Shaw got a crucial second goal for Manchester City. Miedema overpowered Naomi Girma and passed the ball to Shaw who netted her 14th Barclays Women’s Super League goal of the season.

Kerolin made it three for The Cityzens just after the restart. She ran half the length of the pitch with the ball before dinking her shot over visiting keeper Hannah Hampton.

The Brazilian completed a hat-trick five minutes’ later. Ellie Carpenter lost the ball and was caught out of position, allowing Hemp space in front. She played the ball across to Kerolin to side-foot past Hampton.

Chelsea were having an awful time of it, but they did manage to get a goal back through Alyssa Thompson, who fired low into the bottom corner of the net.

Manchester City completed their 5-1 rout 18 minutes from time when Casparij swung in a corner and found the head of Miedema, who guided the ball home.

The result leaves Manchester City with a huge 11-point lead on Manchester United in second place while Chelsea are third.