Saturday 12 May will go down in the history books as the day Chelsea Ladies took a giant step towards winning the Women’s Super League One title and adding it to the FA Cup they won last weekend.
With news filtering through, ahead of the kick-off, that their main rivals for the title, Manchester City Ladies, had been beaten by Arsenal, Emma Hayes side knew that a win, against Sunderland, would take them to within a point of securing the title with two games still left to play.
In what can only be described as inclement weather, the Chelsea Ladies did exactly what was needed to achieve that previously mentioned goal.
In the 42nd minute, Chelsea’s first-half display got the reward it deserved when a shot from Fran Kirby took a deflection to beat the Sunderland goalkeeper, Rachael Laws.
With the nerves eased, Chelsea doubled their lead in the 56th minute when Enu Aluko made no mistake from close-range.
Two goals to the good Chelsea knew the points were in the bag, however, they had to survive a nervous last few minutes when in the 86th minute Keira Ramshaw reduced the arrears with a shot that went in off the inside of the post.
The title can be wrapped up on Tuesday evening when Chelsea travel down the M4 to take on Bristol City, a side they beat 6-0 on the opening day of the season in the reciprocating fixture.
A special mention goes to Katie Chapman who, before the game, was presented with a shirt bearing the number 100, celebrating her 100th appearance for the club, Katie is retiring at the end of the season and this fixture was the last time the home fans were able to witness her in action.
Katie almost celebrated the occasion with a rasping long-range shot that crashed against the post.
All in all, a decent evening of entertainment and we hope the girls get the reward they deserve down in Bristol, on Tuesday night.