LONDON -- Chelsea are showing no signs of slowing down in their pursuit of a sixth consecutive Women's Super League (WSL) title, with Sunday's 1-0 win over Manchester United at Kingsmeadow their eighth win from eight games in the 2024-25 campaign. And they did it without really kicking into gear.
The hosts controlled United, the only other unbeaten team in the league going into this game, as they dominated possession, shots and touches in the opposition box. Their 2-0 win over Manchester City last weekend sent a statement; now, after going five points clear at the top of the table with just over a third of games played, their win over United was a real warning sign.
Guro Reiten scored the only goal of the afternoon from the spot after visiting goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce brought down Mayra Ramírez in the box. The decisive goal extended Chelsea's flawless start to the season, now winning all eight WSL games and four Women's Champions League fixtures.
"It's a perfect start and we had again 100% record wins in block two [since the last international break]," manager Sonia Bompastor said postmatch. "So it's really good, but again, if you balance that with the fact we didn't win anything yet, it's important to stay in mind with the reality. But in terms of performance, I'm not really happy with the performance we had. I was hoping us to be able to move the ball more and be more efficient."
Last weekend, both City and United were also without loss in the WSL this season. But, having each since come up against Chelsea, the reigning champions are now the only unbeaten side left.
"The reality is Chelsea are running [away in the table] anyway, aren't they?," United manager Marc Skinner said postmatch. "Chelsea are where they are, so I think it's going to be difficult for many teams to follow that."
Ahead of the impending international break, the WSL table is split almost in half. At the bottom, the six teams are separated only by two points. Tottenham Hotspur, in seventh place, have only collected seven points, just two more than 12th-placed Crystal Palace, who are on five points, along with West Ham United and Leicester City.
At the top, Liverpool have snuck into the top six with nine points, but a five-point gap separates them from Arsenal and United, level on 15 points in fourth and fifth respectively, with the Gunners ahead on goal difference. Brighton & Hove Albion sit one point ahead with City, who were handed their first defeat of the season against Chelsea last weekend, on 19. With eight out of 22 games down, Chelsea have stormed ahead, five points clear of City and miles ahead on goal difference.
"It's always good when you have the opportunity to face different teams and teams who are performing in the league," Bompastor said. "That's really important because we are leading the league and we extended our lead by five points and I think that's really good in terms of confidence.
"The reality is even if we beat Man City and Man United, we didn't win anything yet so we just need to keep a good balance between having the confidence from getting these good results against the best teams in the league, but also making sure we just keep our mentality, work hard and make sure we can analyse in the right way."
Last season, Chelsea's fifth title win came down to goal difference, edging out City following their impressive 6-0 derby drubbing of United to end the season. In their consecutive wins, Chelsea has scored 26 goals and conceded three, leaving them with a plus-23 goal difference that is more than City and Arsenal's combined (10 each). United are the only team to have conceded fewer goals across their opening seven games -- just once each in draws against Brighton and Arsenal -- but Chelsea drew their goals-against tally level when Reiten netted from the spot in the 17th minute.
When joining the Blues, Bompastor was called a serial winner having eased through her time at Lyon, collecting three league titles and the coveted Champions League trophy. Her statistics should worry the 11 other teams in the WSL. After defeating Manchester United, the French coach has won 41 out of 43 league games across her time in Lyon (one loss, one draw) and her first eight WSL games.
Arsenal got nine consecutive wins at the start of the 2018-19 season. If Chelsea can win their next two WSL games against Brighton and Leicester, they will set a new record. Bompastor has already made history by starting her tenure with seven WSL wins.
The difference between Chelsea and the rest of the league seems to be in how she conducts the team in training. The discipline they've been building through Bompastor's high demands is providing the difference and has created their dominance on the pitch.
"She's very demanding," midfielder Erin Cuthbert told ESPN earlier in the month. "She knows what she wants, she doesn't settle, she doesn't like sloppiness in training, she doesn't let you sit back and chill for 10 minutes. There's no let up from her, and I really enjoy that she knows exactly what she wants.
"She demands a lot of technical execution from everyone, and I think she will never settle on what she wants to achieve, which, for sure, certainly demands training at a high intensity; if you can't do it in training, then you can't play it in the game."
The international break provides a chance for teams to settle and ponder their standings. There are two league fixtures following the break before the season pauses for the winter period, and these games could prove vital for the table. The likelihood is that the rest of the league will be reliant on Chelsea dropping points later in the season. City, who lost the pair's first meeting this season at Stamford Bridge 2-0, will need to win the reverse fixture at home in March and hope another team can knock points off the seven-time champions in other games.
There is a glimmer of hope, however. Chelsea's dominance and eagerness to excel in the league, FA Cup, League Cup and Champions League means that, at some point, their focus may be taken off the WSL and turned elsewhere. Over the past two seasons, the Blues have been in the League Cup final, FA Cup semifinals and Champions semifinals all within the space of a month, and still battled it out in the league. During both of these spells, Chelsea dropped points in the WSL. While they eventually won the title both times, there were moments when former manager Emma Hayes believed that the task of competing on four fronts was too much. Hayes even conceded the league following a 4-3 loss to Liverpool last season, proving that they may lose momentum as the season reaches its endpoint.
The string of results is important for Bompastor, who revealed that even though the team are unbeaten, she continues to see where they need to improve to adapt to her game model fully.
"It's really important because mentally, when the teams are coming and facing us, they know they have to have the best performance to make sure they get the good results," she said. "My main focus is not on the fact that we have been unbeaten. It's not on the fact that we are in a good run and we won every single game. It's game by game."
Bompastor is months away from worrying about a potential dip at the end of the season. While there will surely be chances for The Blues to drop points, their flawless start has ensured that they can afford a few less-than-desirable results to still remain ahead of the pack.