Chelsea Ladies thrash Birmingham to stay in title race

Chelsea Ladies scored four goals inside the first 30 minutes as they thrashed Birmingham City Ladies 4-0 to maintain the pressure on Women’s Super Leaders Manchester City Women.

City had gone 13 points clear at the top of the table with a 2-0 home win over Reading Women earlier on Sunday.

But Chelsea were at their rampant best to close the gap back to 10 points with two games in hand and a match against City to come.

Eni Aluko’s powerful early strike and a simple close-range header by Karen Carney from a Claire Rafferty cross established a 2-0 lead within seven minutes.

Gemma Davison’s shot made it 3-0 after a fine team move and Ji So-Yun was also on target when she scored at the second attempt.

The second half saw Chelsea remain in control, with Rafferty going close and Carney hitting the bar with another fierce attempt, but they could not add to their first-half goal tally.

Chelsea Ladies are next in WSL action on Thursday when they host Notts County Ladies at Wheatsheaf Park.