Khadija Shaw hits hat-trick in 5-0 rout of West Ham
Chelsea lose ground after being held 1-1 by Everton
An own goal by defender Lucy Bronze against Everton cost Chelsea top spot in the Women’s Super League as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home, allowing Manchester City to leapfrog them with a 5-0 drubbing of West Ham.
Bronze headed the ball back across the goal to tee up Sandy Baltimore to score from close range in the 28th minute, but five minutes later her attempted clearance rolled into her own net to put Everton level. The visitors held on for a draw as Chelsea dropped points for the first time since the opening day of the season.
Manchester City made the most of that slip-up as Bunny Shaw’s superb goalscoring form continued, the Jamaican striker netting a hat-trick as her side cantered to an easy win over West Ham, with Aoba Fujino and Iman Beney getting the other goals.
The WSL’s top scorer opened the scoring six minutes before the break with the only goal of the first half. City then ran riot after the interval, with four more goals as Shaw grabbed another couple for the match ball while Beney and Fujino for their first goals of the campaign.
West Ham were happy to sit in and soak up the pressure from their opponents, and Constance Picaud-Inconnu got away with one when she parried Kerstin Casparij’s effort straight back into danger but no one was on hand to tap home. The visitors had the woodwork to thank for not going a goal down when Fujino blasted off the near post.
It seemed only a matter of time before City made the breakthrough and they did just that five minutes before the break. Hemp stole possession as the Hammers tried to play out from the back and the ball was worked to Shaw, who expertly dispatched.
City doubled their advantage eight minutes after the break has Shaw directed Lauren Hemp’s cross on goal with a header that Picaud-Inconnu was unable to keep out. Fujino hit the crossbar but was not to be denied minutes later when she slotted across goal to put Manchester City three goals to the good.
Beney added a fourth for City just five minutes after stepping off the bench with a deflected strike from the edge of the box. City were scoring at will and Shaw got her hat-trick with 16 minutes to play when she latched on to a through ball from Grace Clinton before grabbing her 12th goal from nine WSL games.
