Squad and Goals

 

Normally a copy of the programme cover goes here. Guess who forgot to pick one up? Fortunately I've been able to source one via eBay, but not in time for this post.

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Wednesday 17 May 2023 at Victoria Road (Dagenham & Redbridge FC)
Result	West Ham United Women 0 Chelsea Women 4
Competition	Women’s Super League
Hopstats	Not a new ground for me. This is my second visit to this stadium, the first being in October 2006 for a Conference (Step 1) fixture between Dag & Red and Northwich Victoria.
Context
Chelsea, having won the Women’s FA Cup at the weekend, now have three league games, and if they win them all they will be champions irrespective of results elsewhere. West Ham are lower-mid table and although they are not mathematically safe from relegation, it would take a remarkable series of results from the lower teams to send them down. Not gonna happen, as they say.
In One Sentence
A dominant performance from Chelsea, with a side much-changed from the weekend, which demonstrated the strength in depth of their squad.
So What?
Chelsea go two points clear of Manchester United at the top and now have a superior GD by four. Chelsea could probably now draw against Arsenal and still win the title on goal difference with a win at Reading on the last day of the season. Reading, though, could still be fighting against relegation themselves. The Arsenal fixture is key because Arsenal will want to hold on to third place from Manchester City in fourth. City and United play each other next so some permutations will be eliminated this weekend. Defeat for Chelsea against Arsenal will re-open the title chance for United provided they beat both City and Liverpool. West Ham’s games to come are away at Leicester and home to Spurs. There will be a test later.
Pre-match Entertainment
A walk from train to Tube through London from Farringdon to Whitechapel via Clerkenwell and Shoreditch.
Match Report
Chelsea’s team changes didn’t extend to the forwards where both Sam Kerr and Pernille Harder started. Jess Carter started in the middle of a back three but soon switched with Kadeisha Buchanan and took the right side. They took the lead early through Niamh Charles from close range after Kerr’s shot was saved, but Harder deserves a mention too for her threaded pass during the buildup. West Ham gradually got back into the game but without any great attacking threat, whereas Chelsea could have had a second on at least two occasions. Mackenzie Arnold saved well from Harder after a move that started with a direct run by Kerr from halfway. At the other end, one timely headed clearance from Buchanan was needed. At half-time, you felt as a neutral that Chelsea might need another goal and it would be risky to sit back. The second did indeed arrive very soon after the restart. The irrepressible Harder scored it from a splendid pass by Sophie Ingle after several waves of Chelsea attacks. The result felt no longer in doubt. Chelsea eventually added a third. Ingle headed in from close range after Arnold had tipped a header onto the bar following a corner. West Ham’s best chance was cleared off the line by Carter after sub Amalie Thestrup had rounded the keeper. Lauren James and Erin Cuthbert came off the bench, and James set up Cuthbert with an outstanding bit of balance and control, and she should have scored. However, Cuthbert did get the final goal of the night, in stoppage time, with a powerful shot to round off a convincing overall performance.
A Few Pix
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats Update
Usually accompanied by a pre-match prediction on Twitter just before kickoff. Working towards being able to compute a respectable statistical significance test. I’m currently reading all about Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) tests which seem to be appropriate. The full keeper top performance table from my last 276 matches is here, on this separate page, and I’ll do the test when we reach 300 pieces of evidence. Today, Orange beats Grey and keeps a clean sheet, enough to send Orange one place higher in the colour league. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Home Win Was the prediction correct? No % of correct predictions so far 46% (60 from 131)
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter! A third-tier women’s promotion playoff between Nottingham Forest and Watford at Milton Keynes on Saturday will be followed by the double FA Finals (Vase & Trophy) day at Wembley on Sunday.