:00:40. > :00:48.Good evening. It has been a hugely significant night in the title race.
:00:49. > :00:51.The top and went head-to-head, both sides aiming to preserve perfect
:00:52. > :01:06.start to the season. -- the top two. Standards are higher. Lovely goal.
:01:07. > :01:08.We want to retain the title. Chelsea have not been beaten in a top-flight
:01:09. > :01:19.games since July the 6th. We pride ourselves on being hard to
:01:20. > :01:25.beat at the moment. Great move by Man City. We have creative,
:01:26. > :01:35.attacking players. We want to win this league. Both of these sides
:01:36. > :01:39.would have the percentage reduced, they are giving 100% in the studio,
:01:40. > :01:44.Mark Sampson and Rachel Brown-Finnis. Only one place to
:01:45. > :01:47.begin, Chelsea hosting Manchester City. Under the watchful eye of
:01:48. > :01:57.Nigel Adderley. Chelsea's rain was ended by Arsenal
:01:58. > :02:03.at Wembley but they have had little time to feel sorry for themselves.
:02:04. > :02:07.The champions have had to refocus for the WSL much of the season so
:02:08. > :02:17.far against a Manchester City team who also have 100% record. Emma
:02:18. > :02:22.Hayes has made changes, Fahey and Flaherty return to the back four.
:02:23. > :02:29.Aluko on attack, which was snuffed out in the Cup Final. Davison,
:02:30. > :02:33.Carney make way. The same Man City team which brought six past
:02:34. > :02:39.Doncaster and should have had ten of them. The back five or yet to
:02:40. > :02:44.concede any league goal. The goals are being shared around.
:02:45. > :02:51.Christiansen on the bench following her ankle injury. Both teams have
:02:52. > :02:57.been caught up in a frenzied start to the game as it is given away
:02:58. > :03:02.cheaply. Ross with the shot. Not far-away! And the error from
:03:03. > :03:08.Blundell almost punished by Jane Ross.
:03:09. > :03:17.There is some distance on that. Spence. Spence with the shot, the
:03:18. > :03:24.best moment for Chelsea by fire by some distance. Chelsea's turn to be
:03:25. > :03:36.direct, City never getting to grips with that long throw. Stokes.
:03:37. > :03:42.Duggan. Stokes in support and the work the opening. And what is saved
:03:43. > :03:48.by Lindahl! Toni Duggan has been razor-sharp since returning to the
:03:49. > :04:00.side. Lindahl had to be at her very best to deny her that goal. Up,
:04:01. > :04:07.rather than away, and as a result, Kirby and Spence driving through but
:04:08. > :04:11.it was too close to Bardsley. Spence working this opening superbly,
:04:12. > :04:20.driving from midfield and the only thing lacking was the finish.
:04:21. > :04:37.Well played by Stokes. And down she goes. But there is no penalty. He
:04:38. > :04:46.was well placed. Asllani did seem to initially wriggle away from Fahey.
:04:47. > :04:55.Strong play from Chapman by the brakes and here is Stokes! And Man
:04:56. > :04:59.City have a priceless lead! Stokes with her first of the season and it
:05:00. > :05:02.could not come at a better time and on the stroke of half-time,
:05:03. > :05:16.Manchester City hit the front yet again. Beattie. Terrific footwork
:05:17. > :05:29.and an even better pass. Does Parris needs support? Superb covering
:05:30. > :05:33.challenge from Rafferty. Asllani, the corner and the header goes in!
:05:34. > :05:39.And that is the second goal for Manchester City. Jennifer Beattie
:05:40. > :05:56.celebrating and Chelsea are in trouble. They'd simply did not react
:05:57. > :05:59.celebrating and Chelsea are in ball from McManus. Jiat. Kirby. The
:06:00. > :06:07.first touch for Davison, delivering the cross and she is there! Did that
:06:08. > :06:18.cross the line? The answer is no! Blundell, gathered by Bardsley. So
:06:19. > :06:20.young, so unlucky, clattering of the woodwork and Bardsley was in the
:06:21. > :06:31.position to make that save from Blundell. Fahey. Lindahl putting
:06:32. > :06:44.Flaherty under pressure and that was a good save.
:06:45. > :06:56.Flaherty under pressure and that was that earlier mistake. There is no
:06:57. > :07:04.flag against Kirby. Jiat. Finding Carney! And she was inches away from
:07:05. > :07:13.giving Chelsea some hope. It has never quite happened here for
:07:14. > :07:18.Chelsea this evening. Now, Carney. Digging out that cross, Chapman
:07:19. > :07:24.rising and what a good save from Bardsley. She is desperately keen to
:07:25. > :07:29.keep that run of clean sheets going and that is indicated by saying that
:07:30. > :07:33.that. It was good to be at the top of the lake before the game and it
:07:34. > :07:35.means nothing, it is very early, we play on Wednesday and
:07:36. > :07:40.means nothing, it is very early, we break and a lot of games after that.
:07:41. > :07:44.I keep saying it, it is not playing it down, the target is to keep
:07:45. > :07:48.winning and see where we finish. We have had two or three fantastic
:07:49. > :07:54.chances to go ahead and we do Naughton at 2-0, the underside of
:07:55. > :07:59.the bar from Jiat and I am told it crossed the line. You have to take
:08:00. > :08:01.that. The players are disappointed but there is still a long way to go.
:08:02. > :08:11.We will get ready for Sunderland. Mark, we wondered what reaction we
:08:12. > :08:13.would see from Chelsea after that big disappointment from the
:08:14. > :08:19.performance on Saturday. What did you think? Straightaway they made
:08:20. > :08:25.changes to the team, more solid, four changes, defensive minded
:08:26. > :08:35.players coming in, strong players in terms of England and experience with
:08:36. > :08:38.Rafferty and Bright. It was a more solid looking team from Chelsea and
:08:39. > :08:43.the focus was to try to upset the rhythm of Man City and get some
:08:44. > :08:46.foothold in the game. We are used to that dynamic front four from
:08:47. > :08:51.Chelsea, we did not to give really see that at Wembley at the weekend
:08:52. > :08:56.or as much as we expected tonight? Yes, to be fair. Chelsea were
:08:57. > :08:58.playing in front of Man City, similar to Saturday, getting into
:08:59. > :09:02.good similar to Saturday, getting into
:09:03. > :09:08.these areas, you want to get to try to get behind the back of your
:09:09. > :09:11.opponent. A lot of passes were sideways and lots of dribbling to
:09:12. > :09:18.get behind was from the deep areas rather than up against McManus, who
:09:19. > :09:22.was causing problems and it meant Man City were comfortable, they
:09:23. > :09:26.could get the back four comfortable and the midfield players happy on
:09:27. > :09:29.the back line and it difficult to penetrate it on the other hand, Man
:09:30. > :09:35.City were good with opportunities to move the ball behind Chelsea. Always
:09:36. > :09:38.a runner and normally an accurate pass and these are the type of
:09:39. > :09:43.moments that make a very big difference. What did you make of it,
:09:44. > :09:48.Rachel? It seems like Man City wanted it more. They were determined
:09:49. > :09:54.to get players in advance of the backline, the timing of those runs,
:09:55. > :09:58.but only the timing, but when they made those runs, they were dynamic
:09:59. > :10:01.and purposeful. We did wonder at Wembley at the weekend whether Man
:10:02. > :10:05.City would be watching the performance of Arsenal and seeing
:10:06. > :10:08.how much on the front foot they were straightaway and whether that is
:10:09. > :10:11.something they could replicate and it does look like they did that and
:10:12. > :10:15.they got that reward before half-time? The first ten minutes
:10:16. > :10:21.were exactly like the FA Cup Final in how Arsenal put Chelsea on the
:10:22. > :10:26.back foot. Man City were very positive away from home, Stokes
:10:27. > :10:31.should have been in that area, left back, she is on the 18 yard box and
:10:32. > :10:36.from the Man City position on the throw-in, Chelsea gave away
:10:37. > :10:40.possession, Spence took the gamble and went in front, leaving the gap
:10:41. > :10:47.at the back, all players out of position and as the ball plays
:10:48. > :10:55.across, Blundell is out of position, she steps forward, takes the gamble
:10:56. > :10:59.and Man City really take their chance with Stokes. New managers
:11:00. > :11:06.love it when you score before half-time. And just after! That is
:11:07. > :11:10.right, those moments of transition are important, you must make the
:11:11. > :11:16.most of it and it is a set piece, simple routine. Two big teams on the
:11:17. > :11:21.park but it was clever from Beattie, leaning on Bright, that free header
:11:22. > :11:28.and after that, it is messy. It was soft. The goalkeeping should have
:11:29. > :11:35.been better, there. Come and get it. She is indecisive. You either come
:11:36. > :11:38.for it 100% and punch it, it is congested, or deal with a shot on
:11:39. > :11:44.the line and she would have saved that on the line. Six wins out of 64
:11:45. > :11:48.Man City without conceding, Chelsea, four out of five, conceding seven,
:11:49. > :11:54.how do you assess this title race? Between these two? Tonight makes it
:11:55. > :12:01.interesting. But there is a long way to go and Man City is a far more
:12:02. > :12:05.solid team. -- solid. They were thinking about our fence and defence
:12:06. > :12:08.and getting numbers on the right areas when they need to, whether
:12:09. > :12:18.they go forward or play defensively and I thought McManus was solid,
:12:19. > :12:21.really good performance. Man City perhaps don't have the strength in
:12:22. > :12:26.depth in the squad, could that we perhaps there actually say if they
:12:27. > :12:30.were to get more injuries? Potentially, there are key areas
:12:31. > :12:33.where they have not change the back five. Any sort of injury in the back
:12:34. > :12:40.five, that could be their undoing. From the top two business at the
:12:41. > :12:44.bottom. Reading faced Birmingham with the aim of securing their first
:12:45. > :12:50.win of the season. Lucy Ward and Adam Somerton on commentary...
:12:51. > :13:00.Chloe Peplow is there at the expense of Christiansen, the only change to
:13:01. > :13:06.the side that started their winning routine at Notts County. Two changes
:13:07. > :13:12.to the Reading side that drew with Sunderland, Helen Ward and order in
:13:13. > :13:17.Britain cropping to the bench, Melissa Fletcher and Laura-May
:13:18. > :13:21.Walkley make their first starts off the season. Molly Bartrip has played
:13:22. > :13:40.every minute of the 2016 campaign. Birmingham. Freda Ayisi with some
:13:41. > :13:43.space to work with. Potter. Charlie Wellings, back towards Josanne
:13:44. > :13:51.Potter, could be a chance, goes down. The referee says no penalty.
:13:52. > :13:55.You could see what Josanne Potter had in mind, that was a good run
:13:56. > :14:12.from midfield, she left leg and the referee was not having any of it.
:14:13. > :14:28.effort. She popped up in really good positions, running the ball on.
:14:29. > :14:53.Right at the end of the first half. The goalkeeper has come out,
:14:54. > :15:00.react, what a The goalkeeper has come out,
:15:01. > :15:11.Potentially Gold saving as well. The goalkeeper has come out,
:15:12. > :15:21.good ball in. Just about kept out again by Birmingham City. Reading
:15:22. > :15:27.are threatening. Just would not come down quick enough of the goalkeeper.
:15:28. > :16:04.That is a really nice turn. She could just see the run. Just
:16:05. > :16:22.over 20 minutes to go in Solihull. Letting it bounce. Having a go. She
:16:23. > :16:39.looks in the mood. No one is really closing her down.
:16:40. > :16:51.Golden opportunity for Birmingham City. A really good ball in. I knew
:16:52. > :16:55.it would be a tough game, Birmingham are a tough side. We could have
:16:56. > :16:58.easily crumbled in the first 15 when Birmingham piled on the pressure.
:16:59. > :17:05.The girls show the resilience tonight. You have to wipe the floor
:17:06. > :17:08.with that. We could not get into our rhythm. We were not able to play
:17:09. > :17:12.with that. We could not get into our forward like we wanted to. I said
:17:13. > :17:18.Reading will stay up no problem. They are organised off the ball.
:17:19. > :17:22.There are new players to be introduced to be utilised. People
:17:23. > :17:26.who have played at this level before, they will be at solidifying.
:17:27. > :17:34.They will be happy taking a point away from home. Reading will be fine
:17:35. > :17:37.and happy with the points. They were missing their striker Helen Ward
:17:38. > :17:44.tonight juju illness, but they were pretty positive. They will be happy
:17:45. > :17:47.with the points, it is a difficult place to keep a clean sheet. They
:17:48. > :18:00.were clever, Birmingham with their back three. Reading kept the whips
:18:01. > :18:05.on the game. -- width. The sweeper position. You can see this space
:18:06. > :18:10.that has started to open up. The problem Reading had when they got in
:18:11. > :18:15.these areas, they lacked that bit of quality to deliver the effective
:18:16. > :18:20.cross or get the right pass. A great position to be in front of the
:18:21. > :18:24.defensive line. Some good runners in front, it is just about the quality,
:18:25. > :18:29.disguising the past. The ball runs away and the chances gone. There
:18:30. > :18:36.will be some work in progress. We got in behind the Birmingham back
:18:37. > :18:44.line. We created some good moments, but we did not get the end product
:18:45. > :18:48.right. It is all about strikes on target, Birmingham did not have a
:18:49. > :18:53.shot on target tonight. They failed to score in four of their six games.
:18:54. > :18:58.They have picked up a bit of form which will be in courage in for
:18:59. > :19:03.Birmingham players and Birmingham fans. They started off not really
:19:04. > :19:08.scoring many goals at all and certainly myself openly said that we
:19:09. > :19:12.were worried for them this season. The second half, Birmingham
:19:13. > :19:17.certainly improved and they did have a number of chances. The second half
:19:18. > :19:22.they brought on Jade Moore at half-time and the energy that that
:19:23. > :19:26.brought to them. Players who know what it means to be a Birmingham
:19:27. > :19:30.player, brought a lot of energy and brought the much higher up the
:19:31. > :19:37.pitch. It took the game to Reading. That made a big difference, they are
:19:38. > :19:43.used to working together all of the time. A good ball into the box. The
:19:44. > :19:48.end product on that occasion was not very good. They do get the chances
:19:49. > :19:55.though Birmingham. We see here pressing the ball, working as a
:19:56. > :19:59.team, working that two, three midfield. Over the last season,
:20:00. > :20:05.Birmingham meritorious Lee have had their problems and have not been
:20:06. > :20:15.freely scoring at all. -- Birmingham no Tory sleigh -- Birmingham are
:20:16. > :20:20.notorious for having their problems and have not been freely scoring at
:20:21. > :20:26.all. They still need to be scoring more goals. Successive clean sheets
:20:27. > :20:37.are positive, should Birmingham have had a penalty? LAUGHTER
:20:38. > :20:43.It is great play from Joe. It looks very clear to me, Joe gets the first
:20:44. > :20:49.touch and then it is a matter of is she an experienced pro leader. I am
:20:50. > :20:53.a goalkeeper and I would say that is a penalty. Normally I would stick up
:20:54. > :20:58.for the goalkeeper, but Mary went with her legs instead of her arms
:20:59. > :21:04.which was odd. She left herself in a position where the referee had no
:21:05. > :21:09.option. I thought it was a penalty. We got there in the end. Sunderland
:21:10. > :21:14.made a blistering start to their maiden campaign last year, but have
:21:15. > :21:24.struggled to replicate that form in 2016. Could they kick-start their
:21:25. > :21:28.season with victory over Liverpool? After being put to the sword by
:21:29. > :21:32.Chelsea in their last outing, Liverpool were desperate to get
:21:33. > :21:35.their struggling campaign back on track and on Wednesday night they
:21:36. > :21:43.looked to be hitting their stride. A moment of magic from Rosie White
:21:44. > :21:49.left them helpless in goal. It did not take long for them to double
:21:50. > :21:56.their advantage. This clumsy challenge had the referee pointing
:21:57. > :22:00.to the spot. Alex Greenwood converted from 12 yards to make it
:22:01. > :22:07.2-0 leaving Liverpool in charge at the break. After the interval,
:22:08. > :22:13.Sunderland looked to be getting back into the game. This ball into the
:22:14. > :22:20.box was delightful. Only a brilliant save denied Stephanie Roche what
:22:21. > :22:26.looks to be a certain goal. Yet to register a win this season, the Lady
:22:27. > :22:33.Black Cats could be forgiven for thinking like was against them. The
:22:34. > :22:43.captain compounded their miserable afternoon putting the ball into the
:22:44. > :22:46.back of the net. At the desk, the Reds rounded off an impressive
:22:47. > :22:54.return to form with a fourth goal. In stoppage time this sealed the win
:22:55. > :23:03.and Sunderland were left wondering what went wrong. We were not quick
:23:04. > :23:08.enough in both halves. You do not want to dip away silly goals.
:23:09. > :23:13.Frustrating from that point of view. When you concede six away at
:23:14. > :23:21.Chelsea, we were looking for a better performance defensively and
:23:22. > :23:26.the girls were fantastic. Scott Rogers was absolutely delighted with
:23:27. > :23:30.that. As you can see, Sunderland are now second from bottom in the table.
:23:31. > :23:36.One of three teams who have yet to pick up a league win so far this
:23:37. > :23:39.season, but a really good win. All. Yes, he would be pleased with a
:23:40. > :23:49.clean sheet, that is something that has been hard, by four Liverpool.
:23:50. > :23:52.Liverpool brought in a lot of new players in the off-season who may be
:23:53. > :23:56.gelling together from a defensive perspective, that is a positive
:23:57. > :24:05.result for them. Sunderland struggling a bit in their second
:24:06. > :24:08.season? Certainly they don't have the element of surprise they had
:24:09. > :24:16.last season. The goals have dried up in time. This season it just has not
:24:17. > :24:21.happened. Everything is filtered towards best read and I think the
:24:22. > :24:28.teams have worked that out, stopped the supply and stopped the goals. We
:24:29. > :24:34.cannot not ask about Bethany, how far away issue from your plans?
:24:35. > :24:41.Goals are not Fleming as well as they are. -- not flowing. This year
:24:42. > :24:46.the goals have dried up, it was all with a learning experience. Now it
:24:47. > :24:49.is about consolidating. Birth will get an opportunity with the England
:24:50. > :24:56.team and let's hope she can take it and show she is ready to step up.
:24:57. > :25:00.team and let's hope she can take it Bethany. She has opportunities. She
:25:01. > :25:03.plays the under 23 team. She will go there and do a great job for us. It
:25:04. > :25:09.is up to her there and do a great job for us. It
:25:10. > :25:16.did not do her chances any harm. Yes, he came in at a
:25:17. > :25:22.did not do her chances any harm. and we made a good start. -- so many
:25:23. > :25:27.players. Dan had a great game at cup final. It is about the consistency.
:25:28. > :25:30.We have a group of players who work extremely hard and have shown
:25:31. > :25:35.We have a group of players who work quality over many years and in
:25:36. > :25:47.recent tie this. Dan just sat keep on playing like she did before. We
:25:48. > :25:53.will find out if Daniel Carter makes the European qualifier with Serbia.
:25:54. > :25:59.This is how things stand in Group 7 at the moment. England have won the
:26:00. > :26:04.three and drawn one of their games. Is this where you expect them to be?
:26:05. > :26:08.We expect to qualify and are confident we will. We have had a
:26:09. > :26:14.strange start with the fixtures becoming spread out. It is always
:26:15. > :26:19.difficult when we play games outside of our domestic season. The players
:26:20. > :26:23.are lacking sharpness. We are confident we will qualify and we
:26:24. > :26:28.have had a great experience in America. The way the team is
:26:29. > :26:32.improving, it is an exciting time, looking forward to getting together
:26:33. > :26:36.again and a team that are fighting each other week in, week out and
:26:37. > :26:46.hopefully we can improve in the final third. You only scored six
:26:47. > :26:51.goals in your last nine games. It is always context. I think the football
:26:52. > :26:55.objective is to put the ball in the back of the net, but also to stop
:26:56. > :27:02.the ball going in the back of your net. We have had clean sheets. There
:27:03. > :27:07.was an excellent French team, very resolute against an excellent US and
:27:08. > :27:13.German team. These teams are difficult, they make it hard for
:27:14. > :27:17.you. They put a lot of players in front, defends deep. Sometimes it is
:27:18. > :27:22.about creating chance after chance, we want to be more clinical, but
:27:23. > :27:26.when the players get sharper and more confident, those goals will
:27:27. > :27:33.come. Most importantly for me, we have a great foundation to build on.
:27:34. > :27:36.Not so many goals against the top nations perhaps, Belgium you would
:27:37. > :27:44.not necessarily classify as one of those sides. You played Williams on
:27:45. > :27:51.the right, you said that is quite a defensive formation. Why did you go
:27:52. > :27:56.so defensive? It is the bigger picture in mind. We have to be
:27:57. > :28:01.realistic. We will not play the likes of Belgium and Bosnia. We have
:28:02. > :28:05.to be ready for the big teams. It is clear for us if we are going to win
:28:06. > :28:09.the European Championships, we have to beat Germany France to get there.
:28:10. > :28:13.We have to make sure we are clear on the basic principles. We have a
:28:14. > :28:17.solid foundation to work from and some tweaks in the system, the way
:28:18. > :28:22.of working, it will create more chances and we can be more clinical.
:28:23. > :28:26.You are playing against Belgium, 18 you would like to play against
:28:27. > :28:32.Germany. A practice game for playing against the top sides? It is about
:28:33. > :28:36.picking the best team and making sure we stick to our principles. The
:28:37. > :28:41.two games against Belgium and Bosnia, we did not get it right. The
:28:42. > :28:46.selection we are happy with and the way we are playing, we are happy
:28:47. > :28:50.with. Hopefully we will go to games and the players are sharper, take
:28:51. > :28:55.some confidence. We will see some sharpness in the final third. You
:28:56. > :28:57.will be able to see how Mark and the team get on in their home qualifier
:28:58. > :29:14.against Serbia. That is it from us, thank you to
:29:15. > :29:19.Mark and Rachel. Manchester City have the advantage in the title
:29:20. > :29:22.race. Six wins out of six and they are still yet to concede a goal.
:29:23. > :29:27.Goodbye for now.