Tag: Women’s Sport

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WSL

Blues stun in London Derby as Chelsea beat West Ham 5-0

lexi potter & chloe sarwie via @chelseafcw on instagram
lexi potter & chloe sarwie via @chelseafcw on instagram

Chelsea FC:

Starting XI – Hampton (GK), Carpenter, Bright ©, Buurman, Nusken, Cuthbert, James, Thompson, Girma, Baltimore, Rytting-Kaneryd

Subs- Kaptein (46’), Reiten (61), Kerr (61’), Potter (61’), Sarwie (80’),

West Ham United:

Starting XI- Szemik (GK), Endo, Siren, Belloumou, Ueki, Nystrom, Martinez, Asseyi, Gorry ©, Morgan, Hanshaw

Subs- Csiki (46’), Wandeler (76’), Piubel (83’), Brasero (87’),

Via @chelseafcw on Instagram

Chelsea FC looked to close the gap on Manchester City in the league this weekend in a London derby against West Ham United. The Hammers went into matchday 12 with just five points in the league, claiming one win from 11, whilst Chelsea sat in second place, claiming 24 points from a possible 33.

The Blues kicked off in Kingston with a goal within the first 50 seconds, via an own goal from Endo, the centre back failing to clear Ellie Carpenter’s cross.

The opening stages of the game continued with Chelsea dominant in possession and West Ham failing to make it out of their own half in the first few minutes.

The 11th minute saw the first pause in play, with Rika Ueki receiving treatment for a badly timed tackle by Erin Cuthbert.

Another close call from the Blues saw the Hammer’s defence struggle to clear yet again,

Erin Cuthbert’s corner proved threatening for West Ham.

West Ham’s first real chance on goal came in the 22nd minute however Chelsea proved why they’re the league’s reigning champions, and had no struggle slowing down play.

The 29th minute saw Szemik fail to clear the ball and Lauren James’ antics rebound into the net seeing the Blue’s double their lead.

Just minutes later, Chelsea came close to a third with Johanna Rytting – Kaneryd hitting the cross bar with a shot from range.

In the 41st minute, Ellie Carpenter and Johanna Rytting-Kaneryd’s link up found the boots of Alyssa Thompson who brought the blues to three.

The closing stages of the first half saw Sandy Baltimore make it four with a beautiful shot gliding past the hammers keeper and into the back of the net.

West Ham’s first shot of the game came in injury time, with Shakiera Martinez breaking through Chelsea’s defence with 

At half time the score was 4-0 to Chelsea, a dominant display for the blues return home despite their injury woes.

The second half kicked off amid confusion about Estelle Cascarino’s debut with substitutions from both sides including Erin Cuthbert making way for Wieke Kaptein and Katrina Gorry being replaced by Anna Csiki.

A relatively even opening to the second half saw an action packed fifteen minutes with Hannah Hampton being forced into her first real save of the game 

Sam Kerr, Lexi Potter and Guro Reiten were soon replaced by Lauren James, Alyssa Thompson and Sjoeke Nusken in a bid for Chelsea to score once more.

A controversial handball in the 69th saw Chelsea awarded a penalty in which Sandy Baltimore converted with ease. This meant the blues were 5-0 to the good.

Ten minutes later, goal scorer Sandy Baltimore was replaced by Chloe Sarwie, the 17-year-old making her league debut after making her way through the Chelsea academy.

Before long, West Ham made their third substitution of the game with Viviane Asseyi making way for Seraina Piubel and a final substitution meant Sarah Brasero replaced Rika Ueki.

With four minutes of stoppage time announced, West Ham’s back line proved problemed once again, with Hanshaw’s back pass finding Sam Kerr in worrying territory.

With the full time whistle pending, and Sandy Baltimore’s goal being the only one half, the full time score was 5-0 to Chelsea. The blue’s had certainly proved themselves as a title contender once more whilst Rita Guarino’s English managerial debut proved disappointing to Hammer’s fans.

Image via @chelseafcw on Instagram

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WSL

Ashleigh Neville Still Scoring for Spurs

Screenshot

Photo: Leicester City Women

Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Leicester City

12:00 KO

11th January 2026

Tottenham Hotspur

Starting XI: Kop (GK), Nildén, Gaupset, England (C), Holdt, Rybrink, Vinberg, Hunt, Spence, Summanen, Koga

Goal scorers: Neville 40’ (OG)

Subs used: Hamano 64’, Thomas 72’

Leicester City

Starting XI: Clark (GK), Kees, Tierney (C), van Egmond, Ale, Mayling, Cain, McLoughlin, O’Brien, Neville, Swaby

Subs used: Mouchon 68’, Goodwin 74’, Jansson 74’, Ayane 90+1’

Tottenham Hotspur kicked off 2026 by hosting Leicester City at home for their first WSL fixture of the year. Both sides have made some interesting signings so far this January window. Tottenham started Norwegian international Signe Gaupset, but kept the rest on the bench, including Chelsea’s Hamano who is currently with Spurs on loan. Leicester, on the other hand, made quite the statement by starting Ashleigh Neville this afternoon. Neville left Spurs to sign for Leicester just three days ago, after over a decade at the club, and she is already back on what was her home turf, just in a different shirt. 

Leicester kicked off the first half but struggled to hold on to that possession throughout the opening minutes of the match. 

An early throw in from the Foxes’ Skipper Tierney saw an opportunity for the visitors but it was seemingly wasted as Spurs dominated their box. It wasn’t long before another lapse in judgement, when Leicester again lost possession in a dangerous area of the pitch, mere yards from goal, but the hosts couldn’t turn it into a shot. After facing significant pressure in their own half, the Foxes reversed and made a run for goal. A ball from new signing Mayling was well delivered to Van Egmond, but Kop deflected it. 

“There’s only one Ashleigh Neville” was heard from the stands, as she took a shot against her former club that ended up off target. It was a seemingly warm reception for the ex-Spurs fan favourite. 

Cain then took a shot against Kop. Whilst it appeared already off target, Kop pushed it further out past the post just to be sure. “Lize Kop Kop Kop”, the home fans sang in response. 

As the first half wound down, there was more excitement for the home fans. A ball driven by skipper England left Holdt 1v1 with Clark, but the ball hit the woodwork. 

The excitement continued with a corner from Summanen that ended in commotion in the box. An own goal from the Foxes was the verdict, off the head of none other than Neville. Not the impression she wanted to make against her former club surely. Spurs went into the break 1-0 up after one minute of added time. 

Tottenham opened the second half with dominance and confidence. England drove the ball to the visitors’ end, passed to Vinberg to take the shot that was then blocked by the Foxes. England and Vinberg continued to link up to press forward and had the possibility to look threatening, especially when they included Spurs newcomer Gaupset to heighten the press. Foxes forward Swaby denied them of any further chances.

There was a short stoppage in play as O’Brien received attention from medics, but she returned to the pitch a few minutes later.

As the second half ploughed on, it was time for another Spurs debut. Hamano entered the pitch in the 64thminute in place of fellow January signing Gaupset. Hamano has seen much success in her time at Chelsea; she looked a good fit with Martin Ho’s strengthening side. Leicester then also switched things around by bringing on Mouchon to replace Cain.

Leicester tried to be threatening in the box, the rebound driven by Neville who must have been on a quest for redemption, but it amounted to nothing, and the hosts regained possession pretty swiftly. 

They made another change then, bringing on Thomas to replace Vinberg. More substitutions then for Leicester as new signing Jansson came on to replace McLoughlin and Goodwin took the place of van Egmond.

In the 82nd minute, Tierney was shown the yellow card after committing a foul. The subsequent free kick was taken by Summamen and the chances that followed seemed promising. England delivered the ball to Hunt who was not only offside but hit the post anyway. There were many loud sighs from the home fans. You could definitely see an improvement in Spurs, under the leadership of Ho. They were able to create more chances in front of goal but still struggled to make anything meaningful out of them. There was another chance again in the 90th minute, it looked super exciting for the home fans. Thomas drove the ball, passed to an open England who, under pressure, passed to Koga and then the chance was gone. 

7 minutes were added. As the additional time began, Ayane came on for the Foxes to replace O’Brien. 7 minutes could be ample time to find an equaliser for some sides, but this Leicester squad were just putting out fires where they could. Neville was then shown the yellow card for a bad foul. 

Tottenham took the 3 points, interestingly, with thanks to that own goal from Neville. An own goal against your former club that bumps them up to 4th in the table. Who would have thought?

Photo from GETTY IMAGES
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WSL

WSL- RETURNING WEEKEND PREVIEW AND HOW TO WATCH

Photo: Chelsea FC Women

The Barclays Women’s Super League is back! The last round of fixtures before the winter break took place on the weekend of the 13th and 14th of December and saw Manchester City go into the break six points clear of Chelsea at the top of the table.

Here is your rundown of fixtures to come this weekend and how to watch them.

In a blockbuster fixture at the Emirates. It’s Arsenal who take on Manchester United on Saturday, January 10th, with kick-off in this one at 12:30PM. Arsenal will be hoping to continue their run of good form and currently sit in third place on twenty-two points, whilst the Red Devils are hot on their tails in fourth, sitting on twenty-one. They’ll be hoping to improve on their dramatic three-all draw against Tottenham Hotspur just before the winter break. The game is available to watch on all Sky Sports football channels.

On the blue side of London, they’ll be hoping to cut the gap at the top of the table, as they host fellow London rivals West Ham United on January 11th at Kingsmeadow. West Ham, on the other hand, will be looking for a bright start under new manager Rita Guarino following the sacking of Rehanne Skinner. This one kicks off at 12:00 and is available to stream on Sky Sports + or Sky Sports Mix.

Carrying on in London, a high-flying Spurs side take on an improving Leicester City side down at the Betwright Stadium. With plenty of new signings more than likely to feature in this one, it makes an interesting one to call, as Tottenham will want to continue their push for the European places, only sitting two points behind Arsenal in 3rd and one point behind Manchester United in fourth. Again, this one kicks off at 12:00 PM on Sunday, January 11th, and is available to watch on the Sky Sports + app.

Moving up to the Northwest now, and Manchester City are looking to extend their gap at the top of the table ahead of Chelsea. They take on Everton at the Joie Stadium; having thumped Aston Villa prior to the winter break, they sit top of the table, SIX points clear of Chelsea. With a win over Everton, they could make it eleven WSL games unbeaten, whereas Everton will be looking for a crucial three points to take them further away from the bottom two of the league. The game to be played on January 11th again kicks off at 12:00 PM and is being streamed across all Sky Sports platforms.

Finally, Liverpool will be looking still for their first win of the season as they take on London City Lionesses. LCL will be looking to start strong under their newly appointed boss, Eder Maestre, following the sacking of Jocelyn Precheur after a run of poor results.

With the later kick-off of 14:30 PM on January 11th, you’ll be able to watch this one live from St Helens Stadium on the BBC red button, BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport online.

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WSL

Manchester City duo swoop two Barclays WSL December awards.

Photo: @ManCityWomen on X

It was a successful December both on and off the pitch for Manchester City as they extended the gap at the top of the table over Chelsea to six points. Off the pitch, striker Khadija “Bunny” Shaw and manager Andree Jeglertz secured the Barclays WSL player and manager of the month awards, respectively.

Jeglertz oversaw two league games in December, one away to Leicester City and the other against Aston Villa at the Joie Stadium.

In his first league game of the festive period, City faced an early trip to the King Power Stadium with kickoff at 12:00PM on Sunday the 8th of December. After a tense first half, City were able to break the deadlock through none other than Bunny Shaw, who capitalised on a failed Leicester clearance. She got her second not long after taking her to ninety-nine goals as a City player before Kerolin Nicoli got the third, marking her return from injury in incredible fashion. Jeglertz said he was “delighted by the belief in City’s principles”, as this kept his side on top of the table.

Moving onto the final league game of December, City were set to face Aston Villa at the Joie. Unlike the previous game, Jeglertz’s side went ahead on the thirty-seven-minute mark, and it was Bunny Shaw writing her name into the history books, scoring her 100th goal as a Manchester City player, becoming the first player in the club’s professional era to do so, and becoming the club’s all-time goal scorer. The Citizens went on to run rampage with the full-time score reading six goals to Aston Villa’s one, extending the gap at the top to an incredible six points.

For the award Andree was up against Arsenal boss Renee Slegers. However, with his side securing all six points available to them, scoring nine and only conceding one, and extending the club’s unbeaten run to ten WSL games, he scooped up his third consecutive award, following victories in October and November too.

Striker Khadija “Bunny” Shaw had a December to remember. In both games during the festive season, she played consecutive full matches.

In the opening December game – she got her ninety-eighth and ninety-ninth goals in a tough trip to the King Power against Leicester. She was instrumental and even grabbed herself an assist for Kerolin Nicoli’s goal to round off a three-nil win.

It was the Aston Villa game that really secured things for Shaw; she scored her 100th and 103rd goals in sky blue, putting four past the Villains in a six-one victory in a memorable game for the Jamaican international.

Shaw was nominated alongside teammate Vivianne Miedema, Everton’s Honoka Hayashi, Tottenham Hotspur’s Olivia Holdt, Liverpool’s Beata Olsson and Arsenal’s Olivia Smith.

Congratulations to both on their respective awards!

Categories
WSL

SIGNE GAUPSET- TOTTENHAM’S LATEST TALENT

Signe Gaupset is a name not so well known to Women’s Super League fans but will be very soon…

The twenty-year-old has already racked up fourteen appearances for her national side, Norway, and has scored seven goals from a central midfield position. Her first international call-up under current boss Gemma Grainger came in February 2024. She made her international debut against Croatia on the 27th of February. She came on in the 73rd minute, replacing former Tottenham midfielder Celin Bizet Ildhusøy.

However, it was her impressive performances at SK Brann that attracted the attention of WSL clubs, with Spurs ultimately winning the race for her signature. Gaupset joined SK Brann in 2021, having established her trade at youth level with Rival and Molde. She already wrote her name into the history books by scoring at the age of just sixteen on her Brann debut, solidifying her passage as a fan favourite early on.

Part of her SK Brann journey was overseen by current Tottenham boss Martin Ho. Her most well-known moment under his management? Picture the scene: European giants OL Lyonnes at home, 2-1 down and needing a draw to advance to the knockout stages… Who else but Gaupset to step up and score an equaliser in the fourth minute of injury time, securing Brann a point in the group stages and sending them through to the knockout rounds of the UEFA Women’s Champions League for the first time in their history.

But it was her 2025 Toppserien season that really showed how much of a young developing talent she is. During this season Gaupset played in a centre midfield position and made twenty-six appearances, playing a total of 2,093 minutes. Of these twenty-six games, she started an astonishing twenty-five.

An even more impressive record from midfield was the number of goals and assists she managed to achieve. During the course of the season, Gaupset scored an impressive fifteen goals and secured fourteen assists, just showing how much of an incredible player she is. These incredible stats from her season saw her pick up the leagues player of the season award.

Now coming into the WSL, Spurs fans will be hoping she can kick on with her incredible form!