Chelsea extended their unbeaten streak in the Women’s Super League to 28 matches as they saw off Leicester City 1-0.
However, Liverpool’s planned match against Aston Villa did not go ahead following the death of former Reds manager Matt Beard.
Liverpool confirmed on Saturday that Beard, who guided the club to two WSL titles in his first stint in charge, had passed away at the age of 47.
Beard returned for a second spell in charge of Liverpool in 2021, with his tenure coming to an end in February. He took over at Burnley in June, but then resigned from his post two months later.
There were six goals across the two matches that were played on Sunday, though only one of those came at Kingsmeadow, where Aggie Beever-Jones scored in the seventh minute.
Chelsea had chances to extend their lead, with Sonia Bompastor’s team having eight shots on target, but they failed to capitalise and instead were left to rely on Hannah Hampton late on, as the England goalkeeper made a fantastic stop to push Rosella Ayane’s lob onto the crossbar in second-half stoppage time.
The Blues moved, at least temporarily, top of the standings ahead of Manchester United’s clash with Arsenal later on.
Brighton, meanwhile, thrashed West Ham 4-1 at Broadfield Stadium to claim their first win of the season in style.
Caitlin Hayes opened the scoring in the 23rd minute, with Kiko Seike swiftly making it 2-0.
Viviane Asseyi pulled one back from the penalty spot for the Hammers, but Brighton regained control through Rosa Kafaji’s effort, with Marisa Olislagers adding further gloss in the 86th minute.
Three wins from three to start the season! #CFCW pic.twitter.com/2AO5wjBSEl
— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) September 21, 2025
Data Debrief: Blues edge closer to history
After a sensational first season under Bompastor, Chelsea are targeting more success on all fronts this term, and have begun by taking maximum points from their opening three matches.
Chelsea have not lost in the WSL since going down to Liverpool in May 2024. If they go another six games without defeat, they will set a WSL record for an unbeaten streak. The Blues themselves hold the current record of 33, set between February 2019 and January 2021.
Leicester, meanwhile, are winless in each of their nine WSL games against Chelsea, who have scored 39 goals across those fixtures.
And Beever-Jones has now scored in five of her last six home matches in the WSL (four goals), a spell which includes the winning strike in this exact fixture last term (March 2025).