It was a closely-matched affair, but goals from Aggie Beever-Jones and Maika Hamano were enough to secure all three points and extend our unbeaten domestic run into the current campaign.

With that victory, Sonia Bompastor became the fastest manager to reach 20 wins in the WSL, with a record of 23 played, 20 won, and three drawn since she joined the club last summer.

Here's a look at how that win was achieved...

Hampton crucial saves

Hannah Hampton started in goal on Friday night, picking up where she left off after her superb performances at Women’s Euro 2025. England’s number one was immediately called into action, pulling off a crucial save from a powerful Khadija Shaw shot after just three minutes. The goalkeeper made a total of five saves on the night, proving vital in keeping the visitors at bay.

Bompastor fielded a back three of Nathalie Bjorn, Millie Bright and Niamh Charles against Andrée Jeglertz’s side, and with the trio focusing on defensive duties, wing-backs Ellie Carpenter and Sandy Baltimore could push up high, as shown in the average position graphic below.

Keira Walsh and Erin Cuthbert were compact in the middle to combat the threat of Yui Hasegawa and striker Vivianne Miedema dropping deep to pick up the ball. Netherlands international Wieke Kaptein was deployed further forward alongside Maika Hamano to support lone striker Aggie Beever-Jones.

Clinical performance

With a finish from Carpenter’s cross, Beever-Jones began the new season in the same manner as she finished the last one – with a goal. Having netted a hat-trick against AC Milan during our final pre-season friendly just a week earlier, it’s clear that the homegrown striker means business.

Chelsea only just had the edge over Man City in terms of possession with a 51.7 per cent share of the ball. Beever-Jones’ clinical finishing proved to be crucial in a tight game between two high-quality sides, and after the match, Bompastor confirmed that the striker has been working on her all-round game.

‘The goal was a great goal, a great finish,’ the boss said afterwards. ‘But we also spoke a lot about her being able to hold the ball up when she has a lot of pressure in behind. Not only with the ball at her feet, but she's also able to make the runs in behind the back line.

‘That’s something good for us and for her because she's more unpredictable when she's able to do both. Today just showed that quality. She made some good runs in behind, but she was also able to keep the ball under pressure.

‘I think for us, that's a nice combination. She's a complete player with and without the ball. She works hard. She was dictating our press tonight, and she did that well.’

Beever-Jones has now scored in 14 of her 19 WSL starts, or 74 per cent of the time. That figure is the best in the league of any player with more than two starts in the competition.

Wing-backs crucial to the win

Playing three in the backline on Friday evening allowed Carpenter and Baltimore to terrorise the Man City defence down the flanks. The wing-backs put in a hard-working display in both attack and defence, as the heat map below shows.

Voted player of the match, Carpenter provided the assist for Beever-Jones that saw us take the lead in the first half. The Australia international found a teammate with 88.9 per cent of her nine passes in the final third on the night, winning ten of her 11 duels and winning back possession on seven occasions.

Meanwhile, on the left-hand side, Baltimore was unlucky not to score when she made an exquisite turn inside the box and fired a shot towards goal, but goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita was able to make the save.

The France star completed all seven of her passes inside the final third, won back possession three times, and made one tackle, one interception and one clearance while defending. The graphic below shows clearances, recoveries and interceptions made by Carpenter (2) and Baltimore (17) during the match.

Whether Bompastor continues with that tactical set-up or fields something different in the forthcoming matches is another matter, as the coach explained after the victory.

‘It’s about being unpredictable and being able to play with different systems,’ she said. ‘I think it’s good for us to be able to play a back three or a back four because when we face opponents, sometimes they will have doubts over what we will use going into the game.

‘We want to be as strong as possible in different systems. It's good to have options. I felt it was the right choice to play with the back three for many reasons. Having wing-backs high and wide, with the quality we have with Sandy and Ellie.

‘In some of the games, maybe I will make a different choice because with the squad I have, I can use different options. But this system brings good control in possession of the ball, and with a back three, it’s more difficult for the other teams to have a high press when you play like this.’