Both teams entered the first heavyweight bout between them looking to lay down an early marker for the title – and the Londoners emerged from the fiercely contested battle with a narrow 2-0 win.
As the clock ticked past the 75th minute a goalless stalemate looked likely before quickfire goals from Mayra Ramirez and Guro Reiten secured the points for the hosts.
The early exchanges at Stamford Bridge were even with Ayaka Yamashita tested by Millie Bright’s header before Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw relentless pressing almost paying dividends moments later.
Maika Hamano then squandered a great chance when she couldn’t keep her effort down from just inside the area and Kerstin Casparij almost caught Hannah Hampton out as the first half ended goalless.
However, Chelsea restarted brightly and forced City to defend heroically as Alex Greenwood and Alanna Kennedy looked to keep Mayra Ramirez quiet.
But just as a stalemate looked likely, the Colombian striker broke the deadlock when unleashing a venomous effort from the edge of the box into the bottom corner.
That gave the hosts a shot in the arm and they then doubled their advantage soon after when Guro Reiten collected the ball and curled past Yamashita to all-but seal the points.
The defeat represented our first of the term and ended our 12-game unbeaten start to the season.
Watch the extended highlights in the video player above!
