Episode 13 The Women's Football Show

Good evening. History beckoned for Manchester City when they faced

Chelsea this afternoon. City were unbeaten in the last four league

meetings with Emma Hayes side and if they made it five they would secure

the WSL 1 title for the first and dethrone the reigning champions.

Could they continue to give Chelsea the Blues?

It is a three horse race for the title but a win for Chelsea at

Manchester City and they will be league champions. Scott! The leaders

are behind. And it is two. It is heartache for the Blues, it was in

their own hands but defeat to Manchester City has allowed

Liverpool to snatch the title. This fixture does bring back bad memories

for Chelsea Ladies. Aluko! Fantastic finish. Duggan. Chelsea punished,

Manchester City level. Toni Duggan! She cannot stop scoring against the

Blues. Manchester City are becoming a real nemesis for Chelsea in the

WSL. The WSL match of the season so far. Stokes! Manchester City have a

priceless lead. Manchester City in control of this game and the title

race. Manchester City denied Chelsea the

title in 2014 but can the Blues spoiled the party for City this time

round? Chelsea were aiming to end that run

today and prolong the title race in the process. City were keen to seal

it on the own patch. Later we will have highlight from Doncaster's

relegation battle with Reading and with exceptional quality and insight

from Sue Smith and Rachel Brown-Finnis. Only one place to

begin and that is at the Academy Stadium where it was a simple

equation for City, avoid defeat against Chelsea and they would

secure their first league title. It promised to be an exhausting

encounter, watched by a record of over 4000 bands along with Lucy Ward

and Steve Bower. -- fans. COMMENTATOR: The top two in the

women's game going head-to-head and the equation is simple. Chelsea must

win or Manchester City Women will be the new name on the WSL title. Same

again for Mantis to city, understandably after their 1-0 win

at Arsenal -- for Manchester City. Jane Ross has 13 gold in her last 18

games in all competitions. Chelsea are forced into a change, Claire

Rafferty is ruled out and Jade Bailey, who has been a substitute in

two of her last three games, comes in, otherwise the attacking Rowett

is there for all to see with Davison, Ji, Aluko and Carney all

starting. Before the games we will have a minute's silence to remember

Sylvia Gore, a real pioneer of women's football, who recently

passed away, a club ambassador and an MBE.

A bit of space for Ji, trying to get away from Lucy Bronze, in towards

Carney who went down. Carney and Aluko appealing to Sarah Garratt,

the referee, for a penalty but the official was not interested. Ji get

in behind Lucy Bronze and put in a testing ball and she could've got in

front. Demi Stokes was just strong. Christiansen. Out to Duggan. Up

against blunder and floated towards Ross -- Hannah Blundell. She could

not get the power or direction on the header. Interesting spec

including the Manchester City captain, Vincent Kompany, here to

support the Manchester City Women. Parris. The former Everton player.

Couldn't get round Millie Bright but Manchester City have a corner.

Another set piece, I am sure they have worked on these and in such a

tight game with their title rivals, sometimes you need something to set

you apart. More direct that time from Duggan and it found the head of

Jill Scott. She did not get the last touch. She causes problems at set

pieces. Strong and athletic. She was appealing for a handball. That is

terrific! She got that one! And Manchester City have the lead.

Duggan's Cross, Scott's header, and the leaders, who only need a point,

are in front. It is a great header, I think in the end it got a knock

off Katie Chapman. Away by Ji. A nice ball from

Houghton, Parris. Tried to go alone. Good ball in, just that first touch

set her up. She was in a good position.

Here goes Bronze and that was rash. And that is a penalty. Gilly

Flaherty knows it. When you dive in like that, you have to get the ball

and she didn't. Lucy Bronze got a touch to it and got taken out and

that is the easiest division the referee will make today. What a

moment, it is Toni Duggan, eight in eight in the WSL against Chelsea.

She makes it 2-0! And brings that WSL title within touching best and

is -- touching distance for Manchester City Women. Rebecca

Spencer went the wrong way but she was pretty cool about it, a pressure

penalty. It is a pretty big ask to score three against Man City.

Confidence is there for all to see for Manchester City now. Parris

almost squeezed it home. That was close. I think a lot of the stadium

thought that was in. Carney. Trying to find England, can

she get ahead of Steph Houghton? She can, but she can only find the arms

of Karen Bardsley. The first time, on 72 minutes, that Chelsea have got

between the centre halves with an opportunity to score.

Scott striding down the right-hand side. A good full-back and a chance

for the third. Asllani knows she should have made it three. You would

have put money on her hitting the back of the net. It was a good

touch, just needed to curl it with the left but not enough on it.

Carney. And a wild effort from Jade Bailey,

she was under pressure. Mission accomplished! History is

made in Manchester. There is a new name on the WSL trophy and it is

that of Manchester City Women. A journey that began only three years

ago ends with the ultimate target. Unbeaten and champions. Chelsea were

under pressure to get the win but we played really well, especially

second half and it is an unbelievable feeling, everyone of us

deserves it. It is all about the squad, about the staff that have

worked very hard to get that in the best shape. Physically and

technically and tactically we have been the best. Congratulations to

Manchester City, they have deserved it, they have been conceded and Best

consistent and conceded the fewest goals. We have scored more goals

than a year ago but also conceded more. I think the pain of not

finishing it in other years has been the difference this season. Young,

hungry, passionate players who love their football and is all we want,

as squad of players put football first and that is what everybody at

this club does. The men's team is successful, we have seen the

Melbourne city women's going unbeaten last year and we are now

unbeaten and the hard work starts. We won't get carried away but

winning one title is one thing, that is not my priority, it is to grow

the fans and play good football and to be successful over a consistent

period. Congratulations to Manchester City,

pretty much summed up by the interviews, Emma Hayes saying they

had been the best side, conceded the fewest goals. Did you expect them to

win it in just their third season? It is quite some doing. When Nick

Cushing and his staff set out a plan, they would have wanted to win

something. Year by year they have progressed and been strong in

defence, letting in a few goals. They have also scored more than ever

before. They have been so hard to break down and that is the

consistent think that City have done so well. What about their style?

Nick Cushing said before that he wanted this record crowd, there were

over 4000. He wants them to come back next season and bring a friend

to keep growing the crowd. Do you think they will do with the way they

play? Without a doubt, I have been so impressed with their style of

defensively solid, only conceding three goals. Yet implement this

style and philosophy and the players are buying into it. And every time

they step onto the pitch they know exactly what they are going to do

other teams think they know how to play against them but they can't.

They are so efficient. They are good to watch and play one and two touch

passing and it is good when they go forward, they score goals and have

creative players. I would pay to watch them. They will charge you

next time, never mind your freebie! But today they did not have to be at

their best and they won it from an own goal and a penalty. It was not a

vintage football. They just had to get the point and that is what they

did. It was a good ball from Toni Duggan, she whips in the corner and

it is Jill Scott she is aiming for. She is the playmaker in there who

can write about everybody. You think what a fantastic header it is but

when you look from this angle you can see that it is an own goal from

Katie Chapman and unfortunate for her. She is just running back in and

her momentum takes her through. This is Man City, what we see every week,

Lucy Bronze making those attacking runs, whether and under lap or

overlap. Millie Bright misses it and this is a definite penalty. You

can't argue with that. Toni Duggan steps up and this is it

pressure situation am a cool and calm and collected finish. It is not

in the corner but she said the keeper the wrong way and you can see

how much it means to the players. I love that celebration, we all

thought she had scored it! She would have got away with it if it wasn't

for all the cameras. Defensively, three goals conceded in 15 games,

Chelsea have conceded 14 so far. 12 clean sheet out of those 15 for

City, it says it all. They have only conceded one at home,

City, all season. What they do so well is that the team defend. The

defenders win it but it's the midfield who pick up the second

ball. The second ball is basically what clears it. What City do very

well offensively are piling players forward, they do exceptionally well

defensively. They get bodies behind the ball and become very compact.

With the Nikita Parris becoming very narrow and there's no room. Chelsea

cannot dribble through. They can't play through them with a pass. Keira

Walsh been outstanding, a young good potential player for England, I'm

sure, as an anchor, just in front of the back four. She's very, very

composed. She picks up the second ball. They worked very well together

in that triangle. Keira Walsh just in front. It's the first tackle,

it's Isobel Christiansen picking up the tackle, Jill Scott picking up

the second ball as well and this is what they restricted Chelsea to

today, a long-range effort from 35 yards which Ellie Aluko won't be too

happy seeing it controlled with the feed but that's the reason

ultimately why Manchester City have been dominant and have gone on to

win the title this season. The discipline, have they recruited the

characters they got in that squad on purpose? How do they compared to the

type of characters say in the Chelsea squad? You look at the

players Nick Cushing brought in the Chelsea squad? You look at the

players Nick Cushing Broughton initially, Steph Houghton, it's part

of the reason they are strong defensively. The players he has

added to the Manchester City setup are students of the game. You look

at people like Daphne Corboz, Jane Ross, every single player comes in

and buys straight into the philosophy that Nick Cushing wants

everyone to employ. Nobody questions what they are expected to do. Their

work ethic and work for their team-mates on the pitch is

unbelievable. No one player has won the league this season, no player

has been outstanding, it's been a real team effort. What about the

legacy? They have won it, the name is on the trophy for the first time,

but what are we expecting going forward? Will they dominate and have

a period of Arsenal style dominance, or will it between them, Chelsea,

Arsenal? I think they will dominate. They have added a few players but

they've kept a real strong core and they do things right, both on and

off the field and everybody needs to look at their structure, every team,

and try and do similar things to what Manchester City do. Because

they are very, very strong team defensively and going forward. City

have raised the bar on and off the pitch and what other teams need to

do is follow suit, from the resources that the training ground,

have everything on a plate for them so they can be fully professional

footballers. If other teams don't do that, they will not get near City.

Still no word on the Nick Cushing baby yet, five days overdue. From

matters at the top of the table to the bottom now. Relegation

threatened to Doncaster are still searching for their first point of

the season and they welcome the struggling Reading side, in search

of their first win. It was a proverbial six pointer at the key

vote. Commentary from Nigel Adderley. -- at the Keepmoat

Stadium. It seems absurd and one of these

clubs will go down, but victory tonight will give either real hope

of survival. The one Doncaster change from a 4-1 defeat at

Sunderland says Marta Balowska-Mathews comment. Christie

Murray plays for the first time since Scotland's Euro 2017

qualification. Kayleigh Hines and Nia Jones returned for Reading, Emma

Follis is their top scorer with four, the same figure Doncaster have

managed in ten league games. It will be a tense night for Kelly Chambers

and Emma Coates. Here is Allen. Now Jane. A good battle between her and

Mayumi Pacheco and Reading have the first corner. They have a 6-point

buffer coming into this game. Molly Bartrip's corner. Lenard run little

with the header away. Strong play from Kayleigh Hines and the Belles

are unable to clear. Arriving is Emma Follis and it's the perfect

start for Reading. Doncaster never got to grips with the second ball. A

terrific delivery from Remi Allen and Emma Follis did the rest. The

Belles really under pressure, considering the lack of goals so far

this season. A possibility. They were gifted a real opportunity there

but it's a routine save for Mary Earps. Doncaster still have five

games to play following this one. Here is Murray. She is so unlucky.

The bottom club just need things to go for them.

Emerson -- Emily Simpkins running into trouble. Reading look to break

once again here with Lauren Bruton. A promising run which will end in

another Reading free kick. Lauren Bruton brought down by a combination

of Sophie Barker and has a look. Have they got something planned

here? The answer is yes. Here's Fletcher and the clearance, it's Nia

Jones and its 2-0 to Reading. Nia Jones justifying her recall. But I

don't think she knew too much about it. Leandro Little's clearance, and

that's an inadvertence finish. Doncaster simply have to score the

next goal in the game. Mayumi Pacheco won the free kick. Cleared

away as far as Emily Simpkins. And there's the goal. The Belles back in

the game. Right at the start of the second half. Emily Simpkins

threading have finished through the crowd. -- threading her finish

through the crowd. There is hope for Emma Coates. Here is Allen, she's

had a fine game so far. So too has Emma Follis and there's Jones, off

the woodwork and I think the final touch was off Mayumi Pacheco.

Reading so close to a third, which would have been an own goal.

Doncaster now carrying more of a fight. They've got the free kick for

the foul on Murray. Doncaster now a factor in this game. It's Emily

Simpkins. Almost another long-range goal from Emily Simpkins. This time

there's Mary Earps and Marta Balowska-Mathews is inches away from

the equaliser. There was panic stations inside the Reading penalty

area. Reading do have pace on the break. Here is Emma Follis once

again. Oh, that's brilliant. Emma Follis restores Reading's two goal

lead. She did so well to get the ball up and down from there. It may

be enough to beat the Belles. Here's Rachel Rowe, waiting to come

onto the field. Rachel Rowe has it once again, can she finished? Yes,

she can. That surely settles it. Reading have their first win in WSL

one, but Doncaster is hopes of survival begin to ebb away. I'm over

the moon for the goals. They have put a shift in the past couple of

weeks, great performances against the top teams in the league and it

was important to get three points. Our target at the start of the

season was to stay in this league and we have put ourselves in a good

position today to do that. For the next two games we will go out and

enjoy position today to do that. For the

next two games we will go out and enjoy it and make the most of it. A

huge win for Reading there but from a Doncaster perspective, I'm -- Sue,

you are Donnie player, not taking their chances in the final third and

conceding cheaply at the back. You're right, it's been the same

season. At times we've played well and probably should have got more

out of that game, especially in the first half we performed OK. But like

you have said defensively we are very naive at times. Going forward,

we're not scoring. This is the corner coming in and initially it's

a good clearance from the Andrew Little. You can see Emily Simpkins

is squeezing the ball out. That's exactly what we need to do, but it's

this second phase of play, where Doncaster have struggled all season.

They try to clear the ball, maybe a bit fortuitous here but Remi Allen

has time to look up and you can see here Mayumi Pacheco hasn't opened

her body, she's just looking at the ball, she doesn't see there is a

player behind her, so what she needs to do is open up her body more.

Here's a free kick, this is the second goal. If you are on the wind

of -- if you are on the end of the wall you have to be aware the player

might run behind you. Then you see the three players, they are all

looking at the ball. They don't know whether players are behind them.

Yes, it's a very well worked free kick from Reading but from Doncaster

perspective they have to defend better, they have to know whether

players are. Rachel, Reading in recent shows have been showing how

organised they have been, solid game plan, but today in this match we saw

them very effective going forwards on the counterattack. Yes, it's nice

to see and talk about Reading as far as they're being prolific and

certainly more dominant going forwards and what they do do very

well, they are very organised at the back. When they get the chances,

they break. They break quickly. Doncaster gave them quite a lot of

space to run with the ball and didn't really contest that but

Reading took advantage of that. Doncaster gave the ball away on this

occasion but similarly, thread the ball past and Reading move from

their defensive third to their attacking third in just two passes.

Here, a quick loose possession but this is a lovely ball here. We have

the defender kind of not on her bike and she should be, she has her arm

up for offside. No way is it offside. It's a lovely ball through

to Rachel Rowe. There's no pressure on the ball. Brilliant strike and it

gets Reading ahead. What they do again, flooding players forward,

final third, again, no pressure on the ball, and a simple finish for

Rachel Rowe to tap it into the corner. From a Doncaster of view

it's looking pretty bleak now, in 11 defeats

corner. From a Doncaster of view it's looking pretty bleak now, in 11

defeats of 11 games. So you do go down at the end of the season, what

is that going to mean for the club going forwards do you reckon? Any

ideas? I think the club will have to put in two things if we stay up.

What will happen if we go down, you would think first of all financially

it will have a massive implications, so those players that are full-time

may have to go to semiprofessional or part-time. Probably we're

training every day at the moment so that will probably change to maybe

training twice or three times a week. We are going backwards in that

respect by going down. It will be difficult for Doncaster but I'm sure

we will want to come back up this season after if that does happen. We

will have a look at your running shortly but before we do, one of

Doncaster's other relegation rivals, Notts County and Sunderland. A win

for either at Meadow Lane would all but secured their safety as Dan

Roebuck reports. Sunderland newer win would put them

12 points clear of the drop. Rachel Williams failed to deal with this

free kick, Tori Williams pounced to make it 1-0. Seven minutes into the

second half the lady pies were level. Jo Potter's corner was met by

Rachel Williams, who made amends by knocking home the equaliser. Notts

County completed the turnaround midway through the second half. A

long throw flicked on by Potter, the office of -- ever present Jess Clark

beat Rachel Laws. Sunderland not safe just yet, 2-1 at half-time.

Force versus fifth as Birmingham Post deliverable. The Blues had the

chance to leapfrog the Reds at with victory at Damson Park and the home

side struck, some great hold-up play allowed the debutant Corina Schroder

to find space. A gold to remember for Birmingham's new defender. Just

after the hour mark Liverpool have the chance to level. Penalty given.

Midfielder Katie Zelem stepped up to take the spot kick. No mistake from

the England under 20 international and Scott Rogers' side were back on

terms at 1-1. The Blues had the last word though. Just Carter's long

throw headed home by Kerys Harrop. 2-1 the final score, the Reds' first

league defeat since May. clean sheet out of those 15 for

City, it says it all. Confirmation of how things stand,

things are looking ominous for Doncaster. A 16 game season this

year. City will not play on the final day bearing in mind is an odd

number of teams in the division so one team always had to it out.

Looking at the relegation fixtures for the teams still in the mix down

there, it is obviously not looking great for Doncaster but what is the

mindset of the players? Are they still hopeful? You have so many

games in hand, it skews it a bit. Mathematically it is possible we can

stay up but I think it is the mindset, that mentality and

confidence, when you played 11 games and lost 11, how do you keep that

team motivated to go into the next game? As a player you have to

believe you can still get out of it because they can but it is that

confidence. And you can get into a rut, a winning mentality but also

losing mentality. The girls were distraught yesterday, they had to

beat Sunderland and didn't, they had to beat Reading and that didn't

happen and so it is difficult. The three newly promoted teams are in

the bottom three. It looks heavily weighted as if they will go back

down but how do the FA or the clubs bridged the gap? There are vast

differences. WSL 2 is mainly amateur with some semiprofessional teams but

the majority of WSL 1 artfully professional with some

semiprofessional teams. The teams coming up have to make the huge

investment -- they are fully professional. We have seen the newly

promoted teams likely to go back down. It is investment in money and

resources and players. We will see, Doncaster could beat the drop but

who would replace them? The top four in WSL 2 were separated by just

three points before some intriguing matches over the weekend.

It was second against fourth on Saturday when Brittleton the hosted

Durham. The home side made a great start -- Bristol City. Olivia

Ferguson profited from a mistake, putting her team 1-0 up. It was her

third goal of the season and she was involved again as they pushed for a

second. Some neat play with Chloe Arthur released Ferguson and her

cross was met by Laurent Hemp. Smart goalkeeping but not enough to save

the team from defeat. Bristol moved temporarily three points clear until

Yeovil welcomed Everton. They needed to win to return to the top of the

table and their breakthrough came when a poem called coursed -- a

throwing caused problems and Kelly Aldridge capitalised. Jamie share

would describe their last games at three cup finals as they bid for

promotion. They almost got breathing space in the first of the three when

this effort ricocheted wide. It did not matter as it finished 1-0 add a

valuable three points in the promotion race.

That looked to be a defining weekend for Yeovil Town and Bristol City who

are in the driving seat. Two teams are promoted automatically from WSL

2, one team drops down from WSL 1. A big weekend for Manchester City,

winning the title for the first time and reflected maybe for the first

time the front page of a national newspaper showing a title winning

picture. Manchester City making the front page. Is that progress for the

women's game? It is marvellous, magnificent to see the women's game

showcased on the front pages of the national papers. Well deserved. A

bit more needed in terms of coverage? There is never enough I

think the fact that it was well deserved for Manchester City, they

have been the most consistent team this season. I think it is

fantastic. And you want all the sports editors to be commissioning:

-- columns. There is a bit of wait until they get their hands on the

trophy, we will be back with the highlight of their final game at

home to Birmingham on Sunday the 30th of October. Thank you to Rachel

and Sue, Manchester City have won the leak with a game to spare. Will

they go on to dominate the women's game or will it just be want in a

blue moon? Good night.