Liverpool vs Chelsea
Women’s Super League
Prenton Park
Newly promoted Liverpool took on defending champions Chelsea to kick off their WSL campaigns. The visitors were favourites and secured the lead in the 3rd minute. Thanks to a penalty from Kirby.
The remainder of the first half witnessed no further goals. Just as the contest was heading in Chelsea’s favour the hosts fought back.
First it was a penalty in the 67th minute Stengel to equalise. The American stepped once again in the 87th minute to take a penalty she won. The match ended 2-1 in the Reds favour , thanks to Stengel’s brace.
Liverpool vs Chelsea: Match report
Chelsea (3-4-1-2): Musovic; Bright (Perisset 70), Buchanan, Eriksson (c); James (England 85), Cuthbert, Ingle (Cankovic 80), Charles; Kirby; Kerr, Reiten (Rytting Kaneryd 70)
Unused subs: Berger, Carter, Svitkova, Mjelde
Scorer: Kirby pen 3
Liverpool (3-4-3): Laws; Flaherty, Fahey, Matthews; Koivisto (Roberts 72), Kearns (Furness 72), Holland, Hinds; Lawley (Daniels 72), Stengel (Humphrey 90+5), Kiernan (Campbell 57)
Unused subs: Robe, Cumings, Kirby, Silcock
Scorers: Stengel pen 67, pen 87
Booked: Holland 18, Campbell 90+3
Referee: Emily Heaslip
Crowd: 3,006
Managers’ reaction
Chelsea manager Emma: “They play a 4-5-1 and they don’t come out so you’ve got to be patient to break them down. They scored from a throw-in that was a penalty and the second was a transition that was another penalty. It’s not like in open play they’ve had multiple shots – they’ve just maximised the situations.
“For us going forward, I didn’t think we could hit a barn door today.
Liverpool manager Matt Beard: “It’s just the first game. I felt over the course of the game we deserved it. Especially with the tactical changes we made at half-time, we’ve started with three points at home.
“This was a fortress for us last season, and we’ve made it uncomfortable and difficult for Chelsea today.
