Episode 5 The Women's Football Show

Good evening. It has been a hugely significant night in the title race.

The top and went head-to-head, both sides aiming to preserve perfect

start to the season. -- the top two. Standards are higher. Lovely goal.

We want to retain the title. Chelsea have not been beaten in a top-flight

games since July the 6th. We pride ourselves on being hard to

beat at the moment. Great move by Man City. We have creative,

attacking players. We want to win this league. Both of these sides

would have the percentage reduced, they are giving 100% in the studio,

Mark Sampson and Rachel Brown-Finnis. Only one place to

begin, Chelsea hosting Manchester City. Under the watchful eye of

Nigel Adderley. Chelsea's rain was ended by Arsenal

at Wembley but they have had little time to feel sorry for themselves.

The champions have had to refocus for the WSL much of the season so

far against a Manchester City team who also have 100% record. Emma

Hayes has made changes, Fahey and Flaherty return to the back four.

Aluko on attack, which was snuffed out in the Cup Final. Davison,

Carney make way. The same Man City team which brought six past

Doncaster and should have had ten of them. The back five or yet to

concede any league goal. The goals are being shared around.

Christiansen on the bench following her ankle injury. Both teams have

been caught up in a frenzied start to the game as it is given away

cheaply. Ross with the shot. Not far-away! And the error from

Blundell almost punished by Jane Ross.

There is some distance on that. Spence. Spence with the shot, the

best moment for Chelsea by fire by some distance. Chelsea's turn to be

direct, City never getting to grips with that long throw. Stokes.

Duggan. Stokes in support and the work the opening. And what is saved

by Lindahl! Toni Duggan has been razor-sharp since returning to the

side. Lindahl had to be at her very best to deny her that goal. Up,

rather than away, and as a result, Kirby and Spence driving through but

it was too close to Bardsley. Spence working this opening superbly,

driving from midfield and the only thing lacking was the finish.

Well played by Stokes. And down she goes. But there is no penalty. He

was well placed. Asllani did seem to initially wriggle away from Fahey.

Strong play from Chapman by the brakes and here is Stokes! And Man

City have a priceless lead! Stokes with her first of the season and it

could not come at a better time and on the stroke of half-time,

Manchester City hit the front yet again. Beattie. Terrific footwork

and an even better pass. Does Parris needs support? Superb covering

challenge from Rafferty. Asllani, the corner and the header goes in!

And that is the second goal for Manchester City. Jennifer Beattie

celebrating and Chelsea are in trouble. They'd simply did not react

celebrating and Chelsea are in ball from McManus. Jiat. Kirby. The

first touch for Davison, delivering the cross and she is there! Did that

cross the line? The answer is no! Blundell, gathered by Bardsley. So

young, so unlucky, clattering of the woodwork and Bardsley was in the

position to make that save from Blundell. Fahey. Lindahl putting

Flaherty under pressure and that was a good save.

Flaherty under pressure and that was that earlier mistake. There is no

flag against Kirby. Jiat. Finding Carney! And she was inches away from

giving Chelsea some hope. It has never quite happened here for

Chelsea this evening. Now, Carney. Digging out that cross, Chapman

rising and what a good save from Bardsley. She is desperately keen to

keep that run of clean sheets going and that is indicated by saying that

that. It was good to be at the top of the lake before the game and it

means nothing, it is very early, we play on Wednesday and

means nothing, it is very early, we break and a lot of games after that.

I keep saying it, it is not playing it down, the target is to keep

winning and see where we finish. We have had two or three fantastic

chances to go ahead and we do Naughton at 2-0, the underside of

the bar from Jiat and I am told it crossed the line. You have to take

that. The players are disappointed but there is still a long way to go.

We will get ready for Sunderland. Mark, we wondered what reaction we

would see from Chelsea after that big disappointment from the

performance on Saturday. What did you think? Straightaway they made

changes to the team, more solid, four changes, defensive minded

players coming in, strong players in terms of England and experience with

Rafferty and Bright. It was a more solid looking team from Chelsea and

the focus was to try to upset the rhythm of Man City and get some

foothold in the game. We are used to that dynamic front four from

Chelsea, we did not to give really see that at Wembley at the weekend

or as much as we expected tonight? Yes, to be fair. Chelsea were

playing in front of Man City, similar to Saturday, getting into

good similar to Saturday, getting into

these areas, you want to get to try to get behind the back of your

opponent. A lot of passes were sideways and lots of dribbling to

get behind was from the deep areas rather than up against McManus, who

was causing problems and it meant Man City were comfortable, they

could get the back four comfortable and the midfield players happy on

the back line and it difficult to penetrate it on the other hand, Man

City were good with opportunities to move the ball behind Chelsea. Always

a runner and normally an accurate pass and these are the type of

moments that make a very big difference. What did you make of it,

Rachel? It seems like Man City wanted it more. They were determined

to get players in advance of the backline, the timing of those runs,

but only the timing, but when they made those runs, they were dynamic

and purposeful. We did wonder at Wembley at the weekend whether Man

City would be watching the performance of Arsenal and seeing

how much on the front foot they were straightaway and whether that is

something they could replicate and it does look like they did that and

they got that reward before half-time? The first ten minutes

were exactly like the FA Cup Final in how Arsenal put Chelsea on the

back foot. Man City were very positive away from home, Stokes

should have been in that area, left back, she is on the 18 yard box and

from the Man City position on the throw-in, Chelsea gave away

possession, Spence took the gamble and went in front, leaving the gap

at the back, all players out of position and as the ball plays

across, Blundell is out of position, she steps forward, takes the gamble

and Man City really take their chance with Stokes. New managers

love it when you score before half-time. And just after! That is

right, those moments of transition are important, you must make the

most of it and it is a set piece, simple routine. Two big teams on the

park but it was clever from Beattie, leaning on Bright, that free header

and after that, it is messy. It was soft. The goalkeeping should have

been better, there. Come and get it. She is indecisive. You either come

for it 100% and punch it, it is congested, or deal with a shot on

the line and she would have saved that on the line. Six wins out of 64

Man City without conceding, Chelsea, four out of five, conceding seven,

how do you assess this title race? Between these two? Tonight makes it

interesting. But there is a long way to go and Man City is a far more

solid team. -- solid. They were thinking about our fence and defence

and getting numbers on the right areas when they need to, whether

they go forward or play defensively and I thought McManus was solid,

really good performance. Man City perhaps don't have the strength in

depth in the squad, could that we perhaps there actually say if they

were to get more injuries? Potentially, there are key areas

where they have not change the back five. Any sort of injury in the back

five, that could be their undoing. From the top two business at the

bottom. Reading faced Birmingham with the aim of securing their first

win of the season. Lucy Ward and Adam Somerton on commentary...

Chloe Peplow is there at the expense of Christiansen, the only change to

the side that started their winning routine at Notts County. Two changes

to the Reading side that drew with Sunderland, Helen Ward and order in

Britain cropping to the bench, Melissa Fletcher and Laura-May

Walkley make their first starts off the season. Molly Bartrip has played

every minute of the 2016 campaign. Birmingham. Freda Ayisi with some

space to work with. Potter. Charlie Wellings, back towards Josanne

Potter, could be a chance, goes down. The referee says no penalty.

You could see what Josanne Potter had in mind, that was a good run

from midfield, she left leg and the referee was not having any of it.

effort. She popped up in really good positions, running the ball on.

Right at the end of the first half. The goalkeeper has come out,

react, what a The goalkeeper has come out,

Potentially Gold saving as well. The goalkeeper has come out,

good ball in. Just about kept out again by Birmingham City. Reading

are threatening. Just would not come down quick enough of the goalkeeper.

That is a really nice turn. She could just see the run. Just

over 20 minutes to go in Solihull. Letting it bounce. Having a go. She

looks in the mood. No one is really closing her down.

Golden opportunity for Birmingham City. A really good ball in. I knew

it would be a tough game, Birmingham are a tough side. We could have

easily crumbled in the first 15 when Birmingham piled on the pressure.

The girls show the resilience tonight. You have to wipe the floor

with that. We could not get into our rhythm. We were not able to play

with that. We could not get into our forward like we wanted to. I said

Reading will stay up no problem. They are organised off the ball.

There are new players to be introduced to be utilised. People

who have played at this level before, they will be at solidifying.

They will be happy taking a point away from home. Reading will be fine

and happy with the points. They were missing their striker Helen Ward

tonight juju illness, but they were pretty positive. They will be happy

with the points, it is a difficult place to keep a clean sheet. They

were clever, Birmingham with their back three. Reading kept the whips

on the game. -- width. The sweeper position. You can see this space

that has started to open up. The problem Reading had when they got in

these areas, they lacked that bit of quality to deliver the effective

cross or get the right pass. A great position to be in front of the

defensive line. Some good runners in front, it is just about the quality,

disguising the past. The ball runs away and the chances gone. There

will be some work in progress. We got in behind the Birmingham back

line. We created some good moments, but we did not get the end product

right. It is all about strikes on target, Birmingham did not have a

shot on target tonight. They failed to score in four of their six games.

They have picked up a bit of form which will be in courage in for

Birmingham players and Birmingham fans. They started off not really

scoring many goals at all and certainly myself openly said that we

were worried for them this season. The second half, Birmingham

certainly improved and they did have a number of chances. The second half

they brought on Jade Moore at half-time and the energy that that

brought to them. Players who know what it means to be a Birmingham

player, brought a lot of energy and brought the much higher up the

pitch. It took the game to Reading. That made a big difference, they are

used to working together all of the time. A good ball into the box. The

end product on that occasion was not very good. They do get the chances

though Birmingham. We see here pressing the ball, working as a

team, working that two, three midfield. Over the last season,

Birmingham meritorious Lee have had their problems and have not been

freely scoring at all. -- Birmingham no Tory sleigh -- Birmingham are

notorious for having their problems and have not been freely scoring at

all. They still need to be scoring more goals. Successive clean sheets

are positive, should Birmingham have had a penalty? LAUGHTER

It is great play from Joe. It looks very clear to me, Joe gets the first

touch and then it is a matter of is she an experienced pro leader. I am

a goalkeeper and I would say that is a penalty. Normally I would stick up

for the goalkeeper, but Mary went with her legs instead of her arms

which was odd. She left herself in a position where the referee had no

option. I thought it was a penalty. We got there in the end. Sunderland

made a blistering start to their maiden campaign last year, but have

struggled to replicate that form in 2016. Could they kick-start their

season with victory over Liverpool? After being put to the sword by

Chelsea in their last outing, Liverpool were desperate to get

their struggling campaign back on track and on Wednesday night they

looked to be hitting their stride. A moment of magic from Rosie White

left them helpless in goal. It did not take long for them to double

their advantage. This clumsy challenge had the referee pointing

to the spot. Alex Greenwood converted from 12 yards to make it

2-0 leaving Liverpool in charge at the break. After the interval,

Sunderland looked to be getting back into the game. This ball into the

box was delightful. Only a brilliant save denied Stephanie Roche what

looks to be a certain goal. Yet to register a win this season, the Lady

Black Cats could be forgiven for thinking like was against them. The

captain compounded their miserable afternoon putting the ball into the

back of the net. At the desk, the Reds rounded off an impressive

return to form with a fourth goal. In stoppage time this sealed the win

and Sunderland were left wondering what went wrong. We were not quick

enough in both halves. You do not want to dip away silly goals.

Frustrating from that point of view. When you concede six away at

Chelsea, we were looking for a better performance defensively and

the girls were fantastic. Scott Rogers was absolutely delighted with

that. As you can see, Sunderland are now second from bottom in the table.

One of three teams who have yet to pick up a league win so far this

season, but a really good win. All. Yes, he would be pleased with a

clean sheet, that is something that has been hard, by four Liverpool.

Liverpool brought in a lot of new players in the off-season who may be

gelling together from a defensive perspective, that is a positive

result for them. Sunderland struggling a bit in their second

season? Certainly they don't have the element of surprise they had

last season. The goals have dried up in time. This season it just has not

happened. Everything is filtered towards best read and I think the

teams have worked that out, stopped the supply and stopped the goals. We

cannot not ask about Bethany, how far away issue from your plans?

Goals are not Fleming as well as they are. -- not flowing. This year

the goals have dried up, it was all with a learning experience. Now it

is about consolidating. Birth will get an opportunity with the England

team and let's hope she can take it and show she is ready to step up.

team and let's hope she can take it Bethany. She has opportunities. She

plays the under 23 team. She will go there and do a great job for us. It

is up to her there and do a great job for us. It

did not do her chances any harm. Yes, he came in at a

did not do her chances any harm. and we made a good start. -- so many

players. Dan had a great game at cup final. It is about the consistency.

We have a group of players who work extremely hard and have shown

We have a group of players who work quality over many years and in

recent tie this. Dan just sat keep on playing like she did before. We

will find out if Daniel Carter makes the European qualifier with Serbia.

This is how things stand in Group 7 at the moment. England have won the

three and drawn one of their games. Is this where you expect them to be?

We expect to qualify and are confident we will. We have had a

strange start with the fixtures becoming spread out. It is always

difficult when we play games outside of our domestic season. The players

are lacking sharpness. We are confident we will qualify and we

have had a great experience in America. The way the team is

improving, it is an exciting time, looking forward to getting together

again and a team that are fighting each other week in, week out and

hopefully we can improve in the final third. You only scored six

goals in your last nine games. It is always context. I think the football

objective is to put the ball in the back of the net, but also to stop

the ball going in the back of your net. We have had clean sheets. There

was an excellent French team, very resolute against an excellent US and

German team. These teams are difficult, they make it hard for

you. They put a lot of players in front, defends deep. Sometimes it is

about creating chance after chance, we want to be more clinical, but

when the players get sharper and more confident, those goals will

come. Most importantly for me, we have a great foundation to build on.

Not so many goals against the top nations perhaps, Belgium you would

not necessarily classify as one of those sides. You played Williams on

the right, you said that is quite a defensive formation. Why did you go

so defensive? It is the bigger picture in mind. We have to be

realistic. We will not play the likes of Belgium and Bosnia. We have

to be ready for the big teams. It is clear for us if we are going to win

the European Championships, we have to beat Germany France to get there.

We have to make sure we are clear on the basic principles. We have a

solid foundation to work from and some tweaks in the system, the way

of working, it will create more chances and we can be more clinical.

You are playing against Belgium, 18 you would like to play against

Germany. A practice game for playing against the top sides? It is about

picking the best team and making sure we stick to our principles. The

two games against Belgium and Bosnia, we did not get it right. The

selection we are happy with and the way we are playing, we are happy

with. Hopefully we will go to games and the players are sharper, take

some confidence. We will see some sharpness in the final third. You

will be able to see how Mark and the team get on in their home qualifier

against Serbia. That is it from us, thank you to

Mark and Rachel. Manchester City have the advantage in the title

race. Six wins out of six and they are still yet to concede a goal.

Goodbye for now.