Steph
Houghton's winner four minutes from time prevented Chelsea from returning to
the top of the Women's Super League One, losing 2-1 to Manchester City in
front of a record-breaking crowd at Staines.
The 1,857 fans at Staines Town's ground saw Toni Duggan fire City into the
lead before Eniola Aluko equalised early into the second half.
But England captain Houghton's deflected free-kick sealed all three points
for the visitors, who move to within four points of league leaders
Sunderland with a game in hand.
Gemma Davison had threatened the City defence early on but her tame shot on
goal was easily collected by Karen Bardsley.
City took the lead in the 12th minute when Hannah Blundell failed to clear
Daphne Corboz's diagonal pass, instead playing the ball into the path of
Duggan who applied a cool right-footed finish.
However, Chelsea side responded perfectly early in the second half when the
City defence failed to close down Aluko on the edge of the box, allowing her
to fire the ball into the bottom left corner.
Aluko had the opportunity to put her side ahead midway through the half but
she headed wide of the target.
And Aluko’s Lioness team-mate Houghton made the striker pay with minutes
remaining as her free-kick deflected off Claire Rafferty to wrong-foot
Chelsea goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl.
Speaking after the match, City striker Duggan said: "I can't tell you how
big the win was. If we had lost today, then we would have been out of it
(the title race).
"We want to be up there with the big teams and we knew it was probably out
of reach in the first season and we would have a more realistic chance this
year.
"We know it is going to be tough because there are some great teams up there
and I'm sure everyone believes they can win the league, but we have great
belief in our squad and we have just got to look after our own business and
not worry about the other teams."
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