Five hundred and eighty five days. Thirty-four Women’s Super League games. Finally, Chelsea’s unbeaten domestic league run is at an end.
On a day when Manchester City toiled before finding a way to win, Chelsea were unable to do the same.
The upshot is that City are now six points clear at the top of the WSL, and suddenly a first league title since 2016 seems like it is theirs to lose.
Of course, it would be foolish to make any final calls now. City fans will wince remembering the end of 2023-24, when a late loss at home to Arsenal saw the title slip form their grasp into Chelsea’s hands.
That defeat came after the Blues appeared to have lost their grip on the trophy with a dramatic 4-3 defeat by Liverpool. It was the last time they had lost in the WSL, until Sunday.
That was when Everton, the other Merseyside team, completed a smash and grab at Kingsmeadow which lacked the goals of the game on May 1, 2024, but was no less lacking in drama.
Sonia Bompastor’s first WSL defeat came in a game during which Chelsea had 30 shots on goal, 18 corners and 61 touches in the Everton box.
“You could see that frustration and maybe that little bit of self-doubt and with that, they started to snatch at chances and we saw that a little bit in the second half and later in the game,” former England international Fara Williams told Sport. “You could see the confidence deteriorating with this Chelsea team in the second half.
“We created opportunities to win the game, so it’s really disappointing result,” Bompastor told the . “That happens sometimes in football, it was not a bad performance, but today we couldn’t score and win the game.
“If you look at the stats in terms of possession, chances created and other stats, we had complete control of the game. The only thing was we couldn’t score.”
It seemed in the final stages that they would play until Chelsea scored, with play continuing beyond the allotted additional time as Toffees boss Brian Sorensen waved and roared in frustration on the sidelines.
But, with the crossbar still shaking from Sandy Baltimore’s 98th-minute free-kick, referee Rebecca Welch blew her whistle and the run was over.