Match in Focus: Chelsea dominate to hit Manchester United for six
Chelsea beat Manchester United 6-0 to send Emma Hayes off to the USA with a seventh Women's Super League title in style at Old Trafford...
Perhaps we should have known.
For all the talk of the potential twists and turns and banana skins which could potentially befall title rivals Chelsea and Manchester City, the now seven-time Women’s Super League champions sent Emma Hayes out of English football in a style befitting of the occasion.
From the second minute when Mayra Ramirez headed the champions in front, it was never in doubt, and one of the most one-sided games you could imagine between two teams who went into the final day 12 months ago vying for the title.
Ramirez was superb, despite being a shock addition to the teamsheet pre-match, but this was Chelsea as a team blowing Manchester United out of the water, with Marc Skinner’s side showing nothing of the fight and determination which saw them knock Chelsea out of the FA Cup a month ago.
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This was the relentless calm of a team who knew exactly what they had to do and didn’t look even remotely affected by the nerves.
Nor the 30,000 inside Old Trafford or the expectation on them to send their manager out with one final title to her name.
This was a cold, ruthless demolition, of which Ramirez was the leader of, and you’ll be hard pushed to find many spells of 45 minutes more dominant by one individual in the history of the league.
For United and Skinner, there will be many questions going into the summer and perhaps this was just a hangover after the high of last weekend, but they did not do themselves any justice in front of their loyal Old Trafford fans, and won’t make those fans feel any better about the new contract announced for Skinner the day before the game.
For Chelsea, it’s the end of an era, but given what they’ve missed this season and still come out on top, it’s one of Hayes’ best achievements.
So simple it was the second half was more pantomine than football match, with away fans chanting “Emma, what’s the score?” and Hayes obliging with the full five fingers on her left hand.
Here’s five key takeaways from the match in WFC’s view…
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Chelsea flew out of the box with no nerves
It’s hard to compute for the most part whether this was Chelsea at their very best or United at their very best, perhaps it was a combination of the two.
But United just weren’t at it, and from the moment Maya Le Tissier was caught behind her defensive line playing Guro Reiten onside, the Norwegian had the chance to pick out Ramirez who set the tone for her one-sided battle with the United defence with a clinical header from close range.
You’d have been forgiven for thinking Chelsea might be nervous, especially given it was the last game for Hayes, but this was a side who just knew what to do, because they have done it so many times before.
Seven titles in all, an incredible five in a row, sending Hayes off to the USA still unmovable from the top of the English game.
Every goal got worse for the hosts as the defence continued to part, whether it was leaving substitute Sjoeke Nusken with the penalty box to herself for the third or their inability to lay a boot on Ramirez for the fourth, it peaked with the fifth after half-time which only lacked some comical music over the top as Mary Earps saved, a clearance rebounded onto the post and yet still Melanie Leupolz was unmarked in the box to turn home.
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