James and Carpenter lead Chelsea surge as sorry Spurs hit for six in WSL again

Two goals each from a rampant Lauren James and battling Ellie Carpenter helped Chelsea to cruise past Tottenham and keep the pressure on Manchester City at the top of the Women’s Super League.

It was a thrilling statement from the home team, in a game laden with stunning goals after a first half in which Tottenham more than held their own.

Related: Chelsea 6-2 Tottenham: Women’s Super League – live reaction

James’s first was cancelled out by Matilda Vinberg approaching half‑time, before Carpenter restored Chelsea’s lead and James added her second. Sjoeke Nüsken and Maika Hamano, on as substitutes, powered in the fourth and fifth before Carpenter completed the rout.

On the impact of her substitutes Sonia Bompastor, the Chelsea head coach, said: “When it happens like that, the fact that they have clarity on what we expect from them, they have clarity on what the team is trying to achieve, and also they are coming with confidence, is always a positive.”

Following Tottenham’s 6-1 defeat by London City Lionesses this month Martin Ho said he was the “most frustrated” he has been during his time at the club. At Stamford Bridge it looked initially like it would be a different story after a strong start, only for the concession of the opening goal to provide a reminder of their defensive issues. Toko Koga was uncharacteristically caught out, the Japan defender being dispossessed by James who drove towards the near post before firing in from the tightest of angles.

The bright play of Ho’s team did not evaporate, though, with Kadeisha Buchanan on hand to steer the ball out for a corner just ahead of Cathinka Tandberg. A deserved equaliser arrived just before the break when Vinberg converted Julie Blakstad’s pinpoint ball towards the far post with a bullet header.

If there was hope that Spurs would end their run of 20 WSL games against big four opposition without a win, enduring 16 defeats in that time, they were crushed in the second half.

“The first 60 minutes, I can take a lot from,” Ho said. “There’s a lot of good performances, a lot of the things we asked, they’ve done in abundance. I couldn’t have asked any more in that first 60 minutes.

Manchester City held off a spirited fightback from Brighton to close out a 3-2 win and maintain their perfect start in the Women’s Super League.

Andree Jeglertz’s side raced into a 3-0 lead after an early double from Khadjia Shaw and a first goal for summer signing Niamh Charles.

Brighton, though, rallied before the break with goals from Olivia Garcia and Caitlin Hayes. City remain two points ahead of Chelsea.

London City Lionesses made it a full house for the top three, beating Everton 2-1. First-half goals from Delphine Cascarino and England winger Freya Godfrey had seemingly put the Lionesses in control.

Everton, though, set up a tense finish after substitute Holly McNamara headed in with 20 minutes left.

Manchester United are up to fifth in the table after a third successive league win, seeing off bottom side Charlton 3-1.

Three goals in the opening quarter of an hour saw Ella Toone and Andrea Medina put United two up before Leah Davidson pulled one back. Julia Zigioitti Olme completed the scoring just after the half-hour mark.

Aston Villa stunned faltering Liverpool, coming from behind to secure a 2-1 win for their first league success of the season. Natalia Ramos scored a spectacular early opener, but Villa improved after half-time, with Chasity Grant firing in an equaliser before a Grace Fisk own goal.

Kelly Gago scored the only goal in the first half as West Ham defeated Crystal Palace 1-0. Press Association

“When you’re on top and you concede that second, the way we conceded, from our possession, then that deflates you maybe as a group a little bit. But we have to recover quickly psychologically.”

It was not so much a Spurs collapse as Chelsea putting their foot on the gas, channelling any anger and frustration felt at a less than dominant first-half performance into one full of gut-busting intensity in the second half. Just before the hour Bompastor’s side retook the lead, when Alyssa Thompson surged into the penalty area from the left before sending an angled cutback for the arriving Carpenter to power in.

Four minutes later James extended their lead, collecting the ball from Lucy Bronze in the centre circle before she powered towards goal, wrongfooted Koga and curled an effort past Lize Kop.

“It’s a big help when you have a player who can create from nothing,” Bompastor said of James. “I’m pleased, but I want to highlight the team performance. When the individuals are performing it’s because the team is performing as well and the players around her are doing the job for her to express her quality on the ball.”

Chelsea’s fourth was equally as stylish; Keira Walsh flicked the ball to Nüsken and she blasted a rising strike home six minutes after coming on.

Hamano found herself in acres of space for the fifth, sending a curling shot into the top corner. Walsh was at fault for Spurs’ late second, waiting too long to receive a pass which Gaupset pounced on and then fired a low effort past Hannah Hampton. Unwilling to let the game finish on a down note, Carpenter swapped the ball from her left foot to her right as she turned and fired in her second.

It was a chaotic finish to an end‑to‑end match, as Chelsea continue to assert their status as serious title contenders.