Chelsea Women are top of the Women’s Super League after beating Manchester City Women 1-0 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday 14 November 2026. Sandy Baltimore’s strike in first-half stoppage time settled it and ended City’s nine-match unbeaten start to their WSL title defence.
The game kicked off at 9.30pm Singapore time with City two points clear at the top. Chelsea now lead by one, on 26 points to City’s 25, with 10 games played each. Chelsea are still unbeaten in the league, with eight wins and two draws.
A goal on the stroke of half-time
Chelsea had the better of the first half but kept missing. Alyssa Thompson fired over early, Ellie Carpenter dragged a shot wide, and City captain Rebecca Knaak cleared a Carpenter effort from inside her own six-yard box. At the other end, Khadija Shaw set up Aoba Fujino in the opening minutes, but the Japanese forward sent her shot wide.
The breakthrough came in the fourth minute of added time. Chelsea pressed City as they tried to play out from the back, won the ball back, and Carpenter found Baltimore inside the area. The France international turned and hit it into the top corner past Ayaka Yamashita. It was her last act of the afternoon: Maika Hamano replaced her at half-time.
Chelsea also lost two players to injury before the break. Kadeisha Buchanan went off early for Veerle Buurman, and Melvine Malard made way for Aggie Beever-Jones. Head coach Sonia Bompastor said Buchanan “took a knock in training yesterday on her head, and I just felt from the beginning of the game she was not herself”, and that Malard felt her hamstring and would be assessed.
City push, then a red card
City were the stronger side after the break. Their best chance came when Shaw lifted the ball over Hannah Hampton and Lauren Hemp could not make contact at the far post. Vivianne Miedema came off the bench for her first WSL minutes since March, according to City, and Hemp’s 139th WSL appearance for City took her past Steph Houghton’s 138, a club record in the league.
On 75 minutes Yamashita rushed out of her area to meet a ball over the top, Thompson got there first, and the goalkeeper brought her down. The referee showed her a straight red card, and BBC Sport reported she will miss City’s next game. Eartha Cumings went in goal, Beever-Jones hit the woodwork from the free-kick, and Iman Beney fired over for City late on.
What the managers said
“Especially not to concede a goal against this side, Manchester City, so I think it was a strong defensive performance,” Bompastor said.
City head coach Andrée Jeglertz said the missing piece was finishing. “We had some great opportunities in the game that we could have done better,” he said, adding that “it’s also difficult when you get one player sent off”.
Elsewhere, and what comes next
Manchester United Women beat Crystal Palace Women 2-0 with goals from Maya Le Tissier and Elisabeth Terland and sit fourth on 18 points, one behind London City Lionesses. London City, third on 19, have a game in hand but cannot catch Chelsea this weekend. Liverpool Women won 3-0 at Brighton, with Beata Olsson scoring twice and Cornelia Kapocs adding the other.
Chelsea and City both return to the Women’s Champions League on Wednesday 18 November. Chelsea host Paris Saint-Germain at 8pm UK time, which is 4am on Thursday 19 November in Singapore, while City visit BK Hacken in Sweden for a 5.45pm UK kick-off, or 1.45am on Thursday in Singapore.
