WSL: Chelsea defends Women’s Super League title with a win over Reading

Chelsea beat Reading 2-0 to ward off challenger Manchester United and successfully defend the Women’s Super League title on Saturday.

Published : May 27, 2023 20:53 IST , Berkshire, England - 2 MINS READ

Chelsea’s Sam Kerr celebrates scoring their first goal against Reading in the Women’s Super League.
Chelsea’s Sam Kerr celebrates scoring their first goal against Reading in the Women’s Super League. | Photo Credit: Reuters
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Chelsea’s Sam Kerr celebrates scoring their first goal against Reading in the Women’s Super League. | Photo Credit: Reuters

Sam Kerr scored twice as Chelsea cruised to a 3-0 victory over Reading on Saturday to win its fourth consecutive FA Women’s Super League title, completing a league and FA Cup double on the last day of the season and condemning its host to relegation.

The Blues finished on 58 points from 22 games, two ahead of runners-up Manchester United, which beat Liverpool 1-0 and 11 ahead of Arsenal, which finish third in the final Champions League spot.

Reading finished bottom of the 12-team league and is relegated to the second-tier Championship.

Chelsea opened the scoring in the 18th minute when Guro Reiten crossed for Australia international Kerr to steal a march on her defender and head home, and Reiten netted the second in the 42nd minute.

Kerr netted again in the 88th minute to complete the rout and add the WSL to the FA Cup they won on penalties against Manchester United on May 14.

Needing a win to have any hope of winning its first WSL title, Manchester United travelled to Prenton Park to face Liverpool hoping for a favour from Reading, but as news of Chelsea’s first-half goals filtered through, the travelling support fell silent.

Substitute Lucia Garcia scored the only goal of the game in the 72nd minute for United. However, despite a fantastic season in which it was top of the table for more than 100 days, it came up short in the end and will have to console itself with a first qualification for Europe.

Aston Villa’s Rachel Daly finished the season as top scorer on 22 goals, netting the opener against Arsenal as Villa closed out the season with a 2-0 win.

After spending most of the season struggling, Leicester City completed a strong finish by beating Brighton & Hove Albion 1-0 to finish in 10th spot, ahead of the Seagulls on goal difference.

Manchester City had a disappointing season as it missed out on Europe but finished with a 3-2 win over Everton, while Bethany England scored again as Tottenham Hotspur drew 2-2 away at West Ham United.

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