Chelsea Women see off Leicester with Cuthbert wonder strike

Chelsea Women 3-1 Leicester City Women

Brighton Women 2-2 Chelsea Women

A magnificent strike by Erin Cuthbert – back to playing strength after a rib injury – capped off a doughty, determined display by the Blues under the Kingsmeadow floodlights on Wednesday night when they fought off a Leicester City side battling for WSL survival.

She came off the bench, to a roof-raising roar from the faithful, in the 71st minute, with the match far from clinched at 2-1, and within moments fired a trademark long-distance howitzer towards the Leicester goal which looped up and over keeper Janina Leitzig but ricocheted away off the crossbar.

That proved to be the sighter. Five minutes later, from fully 30 yards, she blasted a low, curling shot bang on target to elude Leitzig's fingertips and nestle in the net.

At 3-1 the job was done and Chelsea Women's players could collectively chill and shepherd the match to the final whistle; a game overshadowed by the sad sight of Ruby Mace, an England hopeful and bright spark for the Foxes, being stretchered off to generous applause from all round the ground after seriously injuring her right knee. Scans are awaited.

Naomi Girma makes her debut

The match followed a blip in Chelsea's relentless pursuit of a sixth successive league title at Brighton last weekend, when million-dollar defender Naomi Girma made her debut alongside captain Millie Bright.

The Blues had been confident of maintaining their unbeaten league record, and when Sandy Baltimore's left-foot shot gave the visitors the lead in dazzling sunshine at the Broadfield stadium, all looked well.

But Marisa Olislagers had other ideas and beat Hannah Hampton to restore parity, before skipper Vicky Losada gave the Seagulls the lead. This hadn't been in the script.

After Girma was subbed in the second half with a calf strain, Chelsea – playing in black – were soon back on level terms when Lauren James stroked the ball home after an initial Mayra Ramirez strike had been saved.

And it stayed 2-2, despite a dozen minutes of stoppage time; an end-to-end thriller which has given some hope to Man Utd, second in the WSL table, eight points behind, but with a game in hand.

Maybe it was former Blues Fran Kirby and Maria Thorisdottir's inside knowledge that gave the Seagulls confidence, but Chelsea gaffer Sonia Bompastor (named manager of the year at last week's London football awards) admitted she was "disappointed and frustrated" with the result.

"We love to win, and hate to drop points, but we are five points clear, and that's the main thing. We need to realise that no game is going to be easy until the end of the season."

Both the Brighton and Leicester games saw veteran goalie Becky Spencer back on the bench for Chelsea; drafted in on loan from the Spurs under emergency league rules after new signing Femke Liefting arrived and promptly injured her foot.

Spencer played between the sticks for Chelsea from 2016 to 2018. Hampton's only other obvious deputy, Zecira Musovic, has announced she's pregnant, and will play no further part in this season.

The games come thick and fast as Chelsea Women entertain Crystal Palace in the FA Cup on Sunday, with Bompastor taking nothing for granted despite it being a top-plays-bottom match.

Reduced tickets for local residents

But the big, big build-up is towards Chelsea's clash with Manchester City Women in the quarter-final of the Champions League at Stamford Bridge at 8pm on Thursday 27 March with an exclusive 20% discount on tickets for Hammersmith & Fulham residents.

Meanwhile, Chelsea's men were in Copenhagen this week for the first leg of their European double-header, culminating in a clash under the floodlights at the Bridge on 13 March. While the women are playing Palace on Sunday afternoon, the men host Leicester at the Bridge.