Three Goals and Three Points

 

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Sunday 7 May at Leigh Sports Village
Result	Manchester United 3 Tottenham Hotspur 0
Competition	Women’s Super League
Hopstats	Ground 767 on the lifetime list.
Context
Manchester United women are top of the table and, were they to win all of their last few games, can only be overtaken by Chelsea who have games in hand. They will see this as a must-win fixture. Spurs women are in mid-table.
In One Sentence
Once Beth England had been thwarted early on, United settled into a good pattern and the result was never in doubt after the first goal had gone in.
So What?
The gap between United and Chelsea remains the same because the latter thumped Everton later in the day. Chelsea are four points behind with two games in hand. The fact that Manchester City lost at Liverpool now means that United are guaranteed a place in European competition next season.
Match Report
The game was preceded by an embarrassingly botched attempt at the national anthem. When the piped audio failed to work, the crowd on my side began their own almost tuneless rendition, which petered out just as a completely different part of the recording became audible, and we descended into laughter. Insert your own metaphor for the nation right here. Given that the match was televised, I’m going to be brief. Manchester United took the initiative but the first real chance came for Spurs’ Beth England. It took a great intervention by Maya Le Tissier after England had rounded keeper Mary Earps. Later on we would be wondering, “What if…?” because it wasn’t to be the visitors’ only chance to get on the scoresheet. United were two up at half time, with Spurs showing almost no more attacking impact other than a break just before the interval. The scorers were Leah Galton, seizing on a defensive error and rolling the ball into the far corner, and Alessia Russo, volleying in a loose ball from close range. Emma Toone caught the eye for her industry, always ready to receive the ball and play progressively. Nikita Parris added a third goal after the interval with a good finish after some defensive hesitation, and with the points secure, it began to resemble a training game, maybe with players thinking about next week’s Wembley visit for the Cup Final. I managed a couple of Duolingo Spanish lessons on and off during the various stoppages and substitutions. Earps was called upon to complete a fine double block to protect the clean sheet but all in all this was as close to a straightforward, routine victory that any team could wish for at this end of the season. Beth England had headed wide, and there was another set piece that went through the six-yard box untouched. Apparently, England manager Sarina Weigman was among the spectators. I’d love to know what she gleaned from the experience, if anything.
A Few Pix
Modern ground, good facilities, very professional and readable programme. I parked in Leigh town centre, about 15-20 minutes away on foot.
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 by the end of the season. The full keeper top performance table from my last 272 matches is here, on this separate page. Today, Blue beats Orange, as expected, and keeps a clean sheet. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Home Win Was the prediction correct? Yes % of correct predictions so far 45% (57 from 127) Based on conventional 3pts for a win, 1pt for a draw, but also -1pt for a goal conceded (GC) and +5pts for a clean sheet (CS).  Colours ranked on a points per game (PPG) basis. The odd decimal places were caused either by undeniable half-and-half tops or lower league sub keepers in a different colour.  The Fire Cracker colour was confirmed with the help of the social media team at Dulux UK.  All of this arises from a comment attributed to Petr Cech (and supported by anonymous scientists of some description) that orange is the best colour for a goalkeeper because it changes the behaviour of other players around the box. It is supposedly because of an innate primeval human reaction to the colour and the colour “spreads” more in the vision of a striker at the key moment of decision. Genius or garbage? The evidence is gathering here, and is leaning towards the latter.
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter! I have three more women’s fixtures lined up with Chelsea v Leicester on Wednesday, the Women’s FA Cup Final at Wembley between Chelsea and Manchester United at the weekend, and then another key WSL fixture in West Ham v Chelsea. Later in the month there will be FA Vase/FA Trophy Finals at Wembley (Newport Pagnell Town v Ascot United & Gateshead v FC Halifax Town). As I write, I am in a 40-minute online queue for the National League playoff final between Notts County and Chesterfield. I’m getting a few games in because some of my students are now in the exam season so I work fewer hours per week at this time of year. If you are in one of my classes, and reading this, cease and desist immediately and get back to revision...

 

Blue is Now The Colour at Kingsmeadow

 

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Wednesday 3 May 2023 at Kingsmeadow
Result	Chelsea 2 Liverpool 1
Competition	Women’s Super League
Hopstats	Second visit to Kingsmeadow, but the first was to see AFC Wimbledon v Chelmsford City in a Step 2 fixture in 2009.
Context
Chelsea have recently lost out to Barcelona over two legs in the Women’s Champions League Semi-Finals, but they return to league action with games in hand. Basically, the title is theirs if they can win those games, as they would overtake current leaders Manchester United. Liverpool will be looking for an improvement after a 4-0 drubbing at Leicester in their previous game. They currently sit in mid-table. I believe that this is a rearranged fixture, the original having been abandoned in freezing temperatures, and every spectator was given a free hot dog as a result of a promise made on-air at the time by Chelsea manager Emma Hayes.
In One Sentence
Chelsea eventually took the points after a patient and resilient display, but it needed a very late goal from Sam Kerr.
So What?
Chelsea are four points behind Manchester United and one point behind Manchester City with two games in hand.
Match Report
This is a catch-up post and the game has been well-documented elsewhere but here’s my brief two-pennyworth, for the record. Chelsea deserved to win the game but Liverpool were very organised and defensively solid. Their centre-back Gemma Bonner prevented two goals at least with skilful and timely interventions during the second half. Their keeper Faye Kirby was given the player-of-the-match award, and I hadn’t realised at the time that she was a debutant. Liverpool had taken a second-minute lead through Emma Koivisto and then spent most of the half soaking up pressure. Chelsea got their equaliser just before half-time with a glanced near-post header from Niamh Charles. However, they almost surrendered a lead again and it needed a good block by Eve Périsset to deny Natasha Dowie after the ball had looped up from a save by Ann-Katrin Berger.   Chelsea’s patient approach continued and they dominated second half possession in the same way. The industry of Erin Cuthbert and Melanie Leupolz in midfield had stood out. Jelena Cankovic replaced the former but the game pattern remained – Chelsea on top, Liverpool holding firm. The home side never resorted to desperate measures, but the winning goal is in the records as coming in the 86th minute. Jessie Fleming’s shot smacked the angle of post and bar and fell nicely for Sam Kerr, with enough time to take a composed touch before firing in.
A Few Pix
The Ground
The history of the ground is relatively complex and somewhat controversial. Originally the home of a Step 1 side, Kingstonian, it moved into private ownership when the club went into administration but with the club still playing there. In the early noughties, the newly formed AFC Wimbledon became tenants at around the same time as the original Wimbledon were controversially moving to Milton Keynes, but they then took over the lease whilst Kingstonian still remained in a groundshare arrangement. AFC Wimbledon then sold the ground to Chelsea for its women’s and academy sides, remaining as tenants until their new Plough Lane stadium was complete. This in turn displaced Kingstonian who have been in a succession of groundshares elsewhere, most recently with Tooting & Mitcham United. The ground is now much-improved and changed, with exclusively Chelsea colour and branding, and two mascots by the name of Stamford and Bridget.
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 by the end of the season. The full keeper top performance table from my last 271 matches is here, on this separate page. Today, Green beats Black (Anthracite officially, apparently) as expected. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Home Win Was the prediction correct? Yes % of correct predictions so far 44% (56 from 126) Based on conventional 3pts for a win, 1pt for a draw, but also -1pt for a goal conceded (GC) and +5pts for a clean sheet (CS).  Colours ranked on a points per game (PPG) basis. The odd decimal places were caused either by undeniable half-and-half tops or lower league sub keepers in a different colour.  The Fire Cracker colour was confirmed with the help of the social media team at Dulux UK.  All of this arises from a comment attributed to Petr Cech (and supported by anonymous scientists of some description) that orange is the best colour for a goalkeeper because it changes the behaviour of other players around the box. It is supposedly because of an innate primeval human reaction to the colour and the colour “spreads” more in the vision of a striker at the key moment of decision. Genius or garbage? The evidence is gathering here, and is leaning towards the latter.
What Next?
Follow @GrahamYapp on Twitter! Another WSL fixture for me on Sunday, and a new tick, as Manchester United take on Tottenham Hotspur at Leigh Sports Village.