Manchester City forward, Lauren Hemp, believes that their first league title in ten years is firmly in their sights after defeating champions Chelsea 5-1.
A dominant performance against the reigning champions saw the Cityzens blow Chelsea off the field from the moment Melissa Burgin blew her whistle. Brazil international, Kerolin Nicoli, bagged her first hattrick since joining last January, while Alyssa Thompson scored Chelsea’s sole goal.
The victory takes City 11 points clear at the top of the Women’s Super League table ahead of second-place Manchester United.
Lauren Hemp’s hope for the campaign
The 25-year-old was keen to not get carried away but acknowledged that the league title is firmly ‘in their sights’.
Hemp was hailed an ‘unsung hero’ in the mixed zone following her assist for Kerolin’s third goal.
“I don’t mind that”, she said, “I’ll do whatever I can to help the team, and yeah I work my hardest until the final whistle goes. So, yeah, however I can help the team”.
The magnitude of the victory was not lost on the Lioness who described the result as ‘massive’. Perhaps even more so considering their last two meetings with the west London club ended in defeat, most recently 1-0 in the Subway Women’s League Cup semi-final.
Ahead of a ‘very exciting’ clash against Arsenal at the weekend, Hemp hopes their dominant display can be replicated.
She said: “Hopefully we can push on from here and obviously the league is in our sights and hopefully we’ll carry on this momentum into the Arsenal game at the weekend and furthermore.”
What the result means moving forwards
It is looking more likely that there will be a new WSL champion for the first time since Arsenal reigned victorious in the 2018/19 season. After six consecutive league titles for Chelsea, it appears their era of dominance is coming to an end.
Following Emma Hayes’ departure, the club hired Sonia Bompastor in July 2024. The former French international was the first woman to win the UWCL as both a player and manager, and Blues fans hoped she would achieve the same in England.
Her first season at Chelsea saw them win an unprecedent domestic treble undefeated. However, on the European stage Barcelona defeated them 8-2 to destroy their hopes of a first title.
The 2024/25 season started strong for the Champions but November sparked a turning point. A shock draw to bottom of the table Liverpool angered fans as Manchester City started to increase their lead at the top. A first defeat in 585 days soon ensued as Everton dug deep to see out a 1-0 lead at Kingsmeadow.
With their unbeaten record gone, anger sparked a seven game winning run before Arsenal rained on their parade. Following defeat to their London rivals, Bompastor admitted that the chance of a seventh consecutive league title was ‘slim’.
Despite backtracking on her statement, and expressing that her side will not ‘give up’, the heavy defeat last weekend suggests the title is too far out of their reach.
Hattrick hero
Kerolin, who signed for Manchester City in January 2025, is beginning to replicate the fine form she showed at North Carolina Courage.
“I think I’m really happy at City and really enjoying the group – it’s amazing”, she expressed.
The forward has now scored in four consecutive matches, and has only featured once this season where she was unable to provide a goal or an assist.
She said: “I think when we go outside there [on the pitch], we show everyone we are together, and I think that’s the most important thing.
“We just like to keep the energy up and show our quality and then we have a game plan and we’re going to follow this.”
After an injury-hit first year in sky blue, Kerolin has really benefitted under new head coach Andrée Jeglertz.
She said: “He’s come in here and he’s helped us a lot with a lot of different things.
“The gym is very different with the same players, so I think he has really good hands on that. I’m really happy right now.”