By Matt Wright
Leah Galton's equaliser earned the home side a point as reigning champions Chelsea began their Barclays FA Women's Super League champions campaign with a 1-1 draw at Manchester United.
The Blues led for the majority of the contest as Sam Kerr put her Community Shield frustrations behind her with her second goal for the club, but United responded strongly in the second half to claim a share of the spoils.
Galton came close to opening the scoring for United with just five minutes gone when her effort from outside the box drifted just wide of the post.
Chelsea were having the majority of the possession and forced an opening when, after Kerr controlled a long pass, her shot was deflected wide.
The visitors made their dominance count by opening the scoring after 25 minutes when Maren Mjelde put Fran Kirby in behind down the right and her dangerous low cross was turned in by Kerr from close range.
The Australian then missed a great chance to double her tally after the ball was presented to her in the penalty area before Chelsea 'keeper Carly Telford clawed Galton's looping header on to the bar right on half-time.
The visitors almost had a second just after the restart when Mjelde's cross was lifted over by Kerr before Telford was forced to push over Ella Toone's rising strike from 25 yards out.
United's second-half improvement was finally rewarded with 11 minutes left however when Jackie Groenen timed her cross to give Galton a tap-in at the far post and earn a point for the hosts.
Chelsea manager Emma Hayes said: “I think we started the game strongly, got 1-0 in front, then I thought we got a bit complacent. It's probably been the poorest performance from our team in the pre-season.
“Real credit to Casey and her team - they made it difficult, they stayed in the game and by staying in the game they're going to get a chance.
“Some days you can close it out 1-0 and on other days you have situations like that, but I think it's clear that, without playing well, we're creating chances we couldn't finish.
“I'm pleased that Sam [Kerr] has got off to a scoring start in the league and I think for her now she has to build on that.
“With the qualities of Beth [England] we've got in the team, hopefully she's pushing towards full fitness - she's not quite there yet, but we're going to have the options through the course of the season.”
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