In our third of four successive encounters with Chelsea, our latest saw us go toe-to-toe with Sonia Bompastor’s side in the Barclays Women’s Super League.
City looked bright from the start, enjoying more of the ball and challenging Chelsea’s defensive line consistently.
But Nick Cushing’s side knew they had to be patient against the league leaders and it wouldn’t be until the 32nd minute where City broke the deadlock.
MATCH REPORT | CITY 1-2 CHELSEA
Kerolin Nicoli looked like she was being kept out by centre-back Millie Bright but the Brazil international took her time and found a slither of space to unleash a composed finish into the bottom left corner.
City should have been two goals to the good before the break courtesy of a fantastic Jess Park strike on the brink of half-time but referee Kirsty Dowle had already blown her whistle for a City free-kick after a late Bright tackle on Kerolin.
In the second half, Chelsea looked to make amends for a slow opening 45 minutes. And it took Aggie Beever-Jones just four minutes to draw her team level with a low close-range effort.
Chelsea continued to pile on the pressure as the clock ticked on and with Cushing also looking to manage match minutes ahead of Thursday’s Champions League second-leg trip to Stamford Bridge, our opponents took control of the game.
Khiara Keating pulled off a handful of fantastic saves to keep Chelsea at bay but in the 91st minute substitute Erin Cuthbert finally made the City net bulge. She nodded home an Ashley Lawrence cross at the back post to see the visitors steal all three points.
Watch the brief highlights from our latest WSL outing via the video above...
