After an even opening, Chelsea were behind after 13 minutes when Kerolin fired a low shot into the back of the net from the edge of the area. From that point onwards, the Blues battled to get back on even terms, with Keira Walsh and Erin Cuthbert both forcing excellent saves from Ayaka Yamashita.

Yet we could not breach the home side's defences and went further behind when Khadija Shaw hit a shot that evaded Hannah Hampton's reach and doubled their advantage.

City dealt the hammer blow when the ball fell kindly to Kerolin minutes after the restart, and she ran with it from inside her own half. When she found herself one-on-one with Hampton, she lofted her shot over the Blues goalkeeper to put her side three goals to the good.

Alyssa Thompson gave the Blues supporters something to cheer when she hit a long-range drive beyond Yamashita, but Man City head coach Andree Jeglertz was smiling once more when Vivianne Miedema looped the ball into the far corner with a near-post header. It was a tough afternoon for Chelsea, who came up against a team in top form away from home.

Falling behind

Sonia Bompastor made three changes from the side which faced Arsenal last weekend, swapping Lucy Bronze, Guro Reiten and Sam Kerr for Veerle Buurman, Lauren James and a fit-again Walsh.

The match began much in the same way as our Women's League Cup semi-final had done - the balance of play was very even as both sides attempted to gain a foothold in the match.

After 10 minutes, the home side won a dangerous free-kick on the edge of the area when Cuthbert was adjudged to have fouled Man City forward Shaw. That chance was blocked by James in the wall, but when the ball found Kerolin just inside the box, the Brazilian struck through a crowd of players and found the back of the net.

Goal threatened

Just five minutes after City had found the opener, James put a cross into the box which Kaptein converted, but the midfielder's attempt was ruled out for offside.

And as the half-hour mark approached, Baltimore played a dangerous cross across the face of goal that went wide of the far post by a whisker, and would've only needed the slightest of touches to steer the effort over the line.

Soon afterwards, Walsh stung the gloves of Man City stopper Yamashita with a well-hit effort from range, and it seemed like the Chelsea pressure was building. And after Millie Bright had made an excellent tackle in the box to deny Kerolin, Cuthbert forced another top-quality save from City's Japanese goalkeeper when she powered a drive from the edge of the 18-yard box.

Advantage hammered home

For all of Chelsea's threat on goal, it was the home side who netted the second when Shaw bustled her way past Naomi Girma on the edge of the box and made no mistake with her finish.

The Blues were in trouble again soon afterwards when a scramble in the box allowed forward Kerolin to backheel a shot towards goal, which trickled just wide.

City then delivered another key blow, this time just four minutes after the half-time break. Their Brazilian forward ran from inside her own half before lifting her shot over Hampton for her second of the afternoon. When Lauren Hemp put in a flat cross for the Brazilian just five minutes later, Kerolin was able to complete her hat-trick.

Thompson strikes

Chelsea's American forward showed her quality with 20 minutes to play when she used a deft touch on the edge of the area to create space for a shot, and directed an excellent long-range effort beyond Yamashita.

Man City continued to push for more, though, and when Hemp fired another shot towards Hampton, the Blues goalkeeper made herself big to prevent the winger from adding to the score.

The Cityzens were undeterred, however. Kerstin Casparij whipped in a corner, it was flicked on at the near post by Vivianne Miedema, and looped in at the far post to complete a difficult day for the Blues.

What it means...

Chelsea now fall 12 points behind WSL leaders Manchester City with seven league games still to play.

What comes next...

We are in WSL action once again next weekend, with a trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to face Spurs on Sunday with kick-off at 2.25pm.

The teams

Chelsea: Hampton, Carpenter, Bright (c), Buurman (Kerr 50), Girma, Baltimore, Cuthbert (Nusken 50), Walsh (Beever-Jones 73), Kaptein, James (Rytting Kaneryd 64), Thompson
Unused subs: Spencer, Peng, Reiten, Potter, Sarwie
Scorers: Thompson 68'

Man City: Yamashita, Rose, Greenwood (c) (Ouahabi 100), Shaw (Fowler 76), Miedema (Clinton 76), Hemp, Kerolin (Fujino 63, Coombs 90), Casparij, Blinkilde Brown (Coffey 64), Hasegawa, Knaak
Unused subs: Keating, Beney, Prior
Scorers: Kerolin 13', 49', 53', Shaw 36', Miedema 72'

Referee: Melissa Burgin