Chelsea took the lead when Fran Kirby converted from the penalty spot after Gilly Flaherty collided with Guro Ryten. Sam Kerr saw an effort ruled offside as Liverpool capitalized on their second-half chances to end the Blues’ 13-match unbeaten run as they celebrated their return to the top flight in front of 3,006 fans at Prenton Park. Stengel joked that she was just trying to avoid embarrassing herself in her Women’s Super League debut. “I told myself not to lose, please don’t lose, all these people here are going to make fun of me if I lose,” the American told Sky Sports. “I was like I had to change it and I got lucky I guess.” The forward said the result was down to her team’s determination and a pep talk at half-time from head coach Matt Beard. “It just reiterated that we have to believe in ourselves,” he added. “[He said:]”We can win this game and it’s just another team out there, 11 more players, and we’ve prepared all preseason, so why not believe in ourselves?” Chelsea boss Emma Hayes was disappointed but insisted she was not worried about her side. “It’s not like in the open game they had a lot of shots, they just maximized the situations and for us going forward I don’t think we could have hit the barn door today,” he said. “I say it all the time, why worry about missing a football match. I’m not sentimental about it. I think we have to think about it, watch it and next week is a new week.” Katie Stengel equalizes from the spot, the second of three penalties in the match. Photo: Paul Greenwood/Shutterstock Former Chelsea defender Flaherty got her new side off to a poor start, missing the send-off and instead coming into contact with Ryten to concede a penalty inside the first minute. Kirby stepped up to the spot and sent Rachael Laws the wrong way inside three minutes, her 29th goal in her last 31 starts for the club. Emma Koivisto had a chance to equalize soon after when Chelsea goalkeeper Zecira Musovic failed to hold Ceri Holland’s effort and the Finnish defender pounced on the rebound but sent her effort over the bar. The defending champions dominated throughout the opening exchanges with Lauren James, who won her first England cap this month, looking particularly bright on the right wing. Subscribe to Moving the Goalposts Informative, passionate, entertaining. Subscribe now to our weekly roundup of women’s football. Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Quick guide
Summary: Spence scores at both ends in Spurs win
projection Tottenham Rookie Drew Spence scored what turned out to be the game-winner Leicester, but added an own goal in the second half to give the home side hope. Spence struck on the stroke of half-time, doubling the visitors’ lead after Ashleigh Neville opened the scoring from 35 metres. Spence, who arrived from Chelsea this summer, then turned a corner into her own net just before the hour mark but Spurs held on. Paul Konchesky made a promising start as West Ham coach as Lisa Evans’ header just before half-time clinched a home win Everton. In the Championship, Bristol City maintained their 100% start with a 1-0 home win over Sunderland while Sheffield United are second after thrashing Coventry United 8-0. Thanks for your response. They looked set to double their advantage on 20 minutes when Kirby sent a long ball over the top to Kerr, who easily shot past Laws from 18 yards, but her shot was immediately ruled offside. Beard’s side were dealt a blow when Leanne Kiernan was forced off, supported by two men, after being brought down by debutant Chelsea Kadeisha Buchanan. But Liverpool managed to get the breakthrough they were looking for when Flaherty’s drive from the throw-in caught the hand of Millie Bright and was called for handball and Stengel coolly scored her first WSL goal. Five minutes later, Stengel broke down the right and into the box, chased down by Buchanan who brought her down with a sliding tackle to set up Stengel for his second game-winning penalty.
