BETHANY ENGLAND hit a wonder goal in front of a bumper crowd at Stamford Bridge – and watching England boss Phil Neville. Chelsea’s midfielder fired a bullet into the top corner from 30-yards to secure victory over Women’s Super League debutants Tottenham in front of 24,564 fans. England, who made her debut for Neville’s team […]
BETHANY ENGLAND hit a wonder goal in front of a bumper crowd at Stamford Bridge – and watching England boss Phil Neville.
Chelsea’s midfielder fired a bullet into the top corner from 30-yards to secure victory over Women’s Super League debutants Tottenham in front of 24,564 fans.
England, who made her debut for Neville’s team against Belgium 12 days ago, said:“It’s not bad to score a goal like that in front of the boss but this wasn’t about England, it was about Chelsea and getting them three points.
“But the fact that I got my first few caps last week was an unbelievable feeling and I can thank Phil enough for trusting me. I hope there are many more call-ups to come.
“I’m just really proud of the team to get the three points more than anything. There are some world-class players in this team and I believe in every single one of them.
“Spurs caused us some problems at times. There are not just team we could roll over. They fought to the end and did cause us problems, but we managed to battle.
ARSENAL survived an opening day scare to beat WEST HAM 2-1 in the Women’s Super League.
The reigning champions were without last season’s top scorer Vivianne Miedema, but claimed the three points thanks to strikes from Beth Mead and debutant Jill Roord.
Martha Thomas’ header got the Hammers back in the game and Kenza Dali twice hit the woodwork.
Coach Joe Montemurro’s Gunners now face Fiorentina in the Champions League on Thursday.
EVERTON got their 2019-20 campaign off to a great start with a 1-0 win at BIRMINGHAM.
The Toffees won just three WSL games last season, finishing one spot off the bottom. But they are now looking up after Birmingham skipper Kerys Harrop’s own goal in the 46th minute.
England’s record cap Fara Williams haunted her old side LIVERPOOL to help READING secure a 1-0 win on Merseyside.
Williams was a lynchpin of the Reds side who won back-to-back titles in 2013 and 2014. But there was little room for sentiment with her superb 25-yard free-kick for the Royals late in the first half.
“I think we could have probably scored a few more, but at the end of the day they defended well. Credit to them it was a good game for a London derby.”
The 1-0 scoreline does not quite reflect how dominant Chelsea were in possession and in attack for much of the first half.
The winning goal came in the fourth minute when England unleashed a left-footed shot past Tottenham goalkeeper Rebecca Spencer.
While Chelsea, through Ji So-Yun, Guri Reiten and captain Magdalena Eriksson, dominated play with their quick midfield passes, there were a few moments when Spurs threatened.
Their clearest chance came in the 50th minute when midfielder Rachel Furness sprinted down the left and struck a low shot at Ann-Katrin Berger who was able to palm it away for Eriksson to clear.
Although Spurs came away without a point, Furness believes the team can take some positives out of their WSL bow.
Furness said: “Hopefully we surprised a lot of people watching today. We want to finish as high as we can. We don’t want to be fighting relegation.
Bristol City 0 Brighton 0
Man City 1 Man Utd 0
Arsenal 2 West Ham 1
Birmingham 0 Everton 1
Chelsea 1 Tottenham 0
Liverpool 0 Reading 0
“You hear all the talk before the game and people saying, ‘how many are Chelsea going to put past Spurs’ – but I think we have proved a few people wrong today.
“It’s a massive confidence boost to take a side like Chelsea all the way. If we can do this week in, week out why can’t we finish high up the table?
“We weren’t defending for 90 minutes and we will take those positives into next week and hopefully put some points on the board.”
