Chelsea

OTD: Chelsea took hold over Spurs | Video | Official Site  Chelsea

The awards this Sunday will see 14 prizes up for grabs across both the Women's Super League and Women's Championship.

After guiding the Blues to the league title in her first year in England, Sonia Bompastor is up for the WSL Manager of the Season.

Sandy Baltimore and Aggie Beever-Jones are nominated for Women’s Super League Player of the Season, with the young England striker also in the running for the WSL Rising Star prize.

Johanna Rytting Kaneryd's strike against Tottenham Hotspur in October is in contention for WSL Goal of the Season, while Chelsea are also up for the Club Matchday Experience gong.

Fans and the general public will be able to vote for the WSL Player of the Year award from 12pm today until 12pm on Friday.

An additional vote will open for supporters to vote for their WSL Goal of the Season at 5pm on Saturday following the conclusion of the top flight’s final day fixtures, through until 4pm on Sunday.

Details of how to cast votes will be publicised on the leagues’ social media channels from midday today.

The shortlists for awards involving the Blues are:

Women’s Super League Player of the Season

Alessia Russo (Arsenal)

Aggie Beever-Jones (Chelsea)

Kiko Seike (Brighton & Hove Albion)

Mariona Caldentey (Arsenal)

Mary Fowler (Manchester City)

Maya Le Tissier (Manchester United)

Olivia Smith (Liverpool)

Sandy Baltimore (Chelsea)

Shekiera Martinez (West Ham United)

Women’s Super League Goal of the Season

September – Jess Park (Arsenal v Manchester City)

October – Johanna Rytting Kaneryd (Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur)

November – Frida Maanum (Arsenal v Brighton & Hove Albion)

December – Alessia Russo (Arsenal v Aston Villa)

January – Vivianne Miedema (Aston Villa v Manchester City)

February – Janice Cayman (Leicester City v Aston Villa)

March – Grace Clinton (Aston Villa v Manchester United)

April – Viviane Asseyi (Crystal Palace v West Ham United)

Women’s Super League Rising Star

Aggie Beever-Jones (Chelsea)

Ella Morris (Tottenham Hotspur)

Grace Clinton (Manchester United)

Kiko Seike (Brighton & Hove Albion)

Michelle Agyemang (Brighton & Hove Albion/Arsenal)

Olivia Smith (Liverpool)

Shekiera Martinez (West Ham United)

Club Matchday Experience

Tottenham Hotspur Women v Chelsea Women | Match | Official Site  Chelsea

The Blues head coach admitted in her pre-match press conference that, after the title was claimed in midweek in Manchester, she was considering resting several players who have featured in most of our matches this term. That has proved to be the case.

It has resulted in Millie Bright and Lucy Bronze being left out of the squad this afternoon, with Bompastor naming an unfamiliar back four for today's game.

Hannah Hampton remains in goal and will be protected by Ashley Lawrence, Sjoeke Nusken, Maelys Mpome and Guro Reiten.

Oriane Jean-Francois will sit in midfield behind an attacking front five of Maika Hamano, Erin Cuthbert, Catarina Macario, Johanna Rytting-Kaneryd. Mia Fishel leads the line as she continues her journey back to full fitness after injury.

Chelsea: Hampton; Lawrence, Nusken, Mpome, Reiten; Jean-Francois; Rytting Kaneryd, Cuthbert, Macario, Hamano; Fishel

Chelsea substitutes: Cox, Bjorn, Girma, Kaptein, Charles, Walsh, Beever-Jones, Brown, Sarwie

Tottenham: Kop, Grant, Morris, Bartrip, Naz, England, Holdt, Hunt, Spence, Summanen, Neville

Tottenham substitutes: Heeps, Nilden, Oroz, Rybrink, Vinberg, Thomas, Ahtinen, Ayane, Gunning-Williams

Hassan Sulaiman's side worked tirelessly from start to finish, aiming to end the season on a high.

Despite strong moments throughout the match and coming close to breaking the deadlock, Spurs' defence remained resolute. The game was evenly contested, with the home side also creating chances, but our defenders stood firm.

The final result was a goalless draw, and we head back to Cobham for the last time this season with the points shared. With all fixtures now played, the Blues currently sit in third place in the Under-18s Premier League table.

Patiently building

This London derby got off to a steady start as both sides cautiously assessed the tempo, each looking to assert dominance and find an early breakthrough.

We began applying pressure early, with promising runs from the energetic Ibrahim Rabbaj unsettling the Spurs defence inside the penalty area. Despite the intensity, Tottenham held firm and dealt with the early threat well.

In the opening stages, it felt like we were steadily building momentum. We dominated possession and pushed forward with intent. Frankie Runham, working out wide, was lively throughout, making dangerous runs and weaving his way into the box. Yet again, our opponents' backline proved difficult to break down, though there were encouraging glimpses for the Blues.

As the match progressed, the home side began to grow into the game. Tynan Thompson emerged as a bright spark for Spurs, using the wing effectively to cause problems going forward. However, our defender Joseph Wheeler-Henry kept a close watch on him, shielding goalkeeper Jack Austin from serious danger.

Austin was eventually called into action, reacting sharply to a low, close-range strike from Reiss Elliot-Parris. The Chelsea keeper stayed composed and gathered the ball cleanly.

Approaching the half-hour mark, a cagey spell developed as both teams struggled to create clear-cut opportunities. We nearly found the opener when Harry McGlinchey floated a ball into the penalty area. Sol Gordon met it with a flicked header, but the Spurs player between the sticks, Samuel Archer, was well-positioned and caught it comfortably.

Chances remained hard to come by. Runham had a promising moment inside the box, firing a left-footed strike on goal, but Archer reacted quickly and made another strong save.

Arguably the best chance of the half came from the hosts. Thompson, again influential, cut inside and unleashed a powerful curling effort. Austin had to leap to tip the shot away, his gloves stung by the strike as he kept the scores level.

As we approached half-time, the tempo lifted and both teams seemed to settle into their rhythm. Our midfielder Reggie Walsh launched a long, looping ball forward, which Gordon did well to reach with a flicked finish - only to see it rise over the crossbar.

That proved to be the final opportunity of the first half, as the teams went into the interval goalless, each still searching for the breakthrough after the restart.

Still searching

Chelsea came out for the second half with the same intent and energy that had built in the closing stages of the first. Rabbaj made a clever weaving run before setting up Runham for a low-driven shot, but the effort skimmed just wide across the face of goal, denying him the opener.

Riding that momentum, another opportunity followed not long after. Substitute Kobe Barbour, introduced by Sulaiman, made an intelligent and rapid run down the wing. Spotting Walsh in space, he squared it to him, but the midfielder's powerful effort struck the outside of the post. It was impressive work from the young Blues, and the signs were promising.

Chelsea were truly growing into the London derby, threatening more than at any point in the afternoon. Barbour remained lively, this time collecting the ball in midfield, shrugging off his marker and unleashing a venomous strike from distance. It looked destined to ripple the net, but for the second time this afternoon, the woodwork denied Chelsea. His shot crashed against the post and spared Spurs once again.

Almost immediately after, the Blues produced another dangerous move. Rabbaj floated in a pinpoint cross into the penalty area where Walsh met it with a volley, but his attempt found only the side netting. At that point, a goal felt within touching distance.

As we passed the 70-minute mark, Chelsea continued to apply pressure, growing more confident on away soil. McGlinchey delivered a looping corner, and towering defender Olutayo Subuloye rose to meet it with a thunderous header, only to see it narrowly clear the bar.

However, Spurs had a moment of their own through a swift counter-attack. Substitute Luca Williams-Barnett surged upfield and let fly with a powerful strike. Thankfully, Austin was alert and produced a bold, reflex save, tipping the shot onto the crossbar before the ball ricocheted out of danger.

In the closing stages, we searched for a last-minute winner, including a return to action for Shaun Wade after his long-term injury. Despite the late push, Spurs remained compact and disciplined, forcing the Blues to settle for a point in our final fixture of the 2024/25 season.

The teams

Chelsea (4-3-3): Jack Austin; Joseph Wheeler-Henry, Lewi Richards, Olutayo Subuloye, Harry McGlinchey; Ollie Harrison (c), Frankie Runham, Reggie Walsh; Ibrahim Rabbaj (Shaun Wade 69), Sol Gordon, Hezekiah Grimwade (Kobe Barbour h-t)

Unused subs: Hudson Sands, Jeremiah Berkeley-Agyepong, Yahya Idrissi

Booked: Wheeler-Henry 31, Runham 90+3

Sonia Bompastor's side will travel to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the final away game of the season, one week before the Women's Super League campaign concludes with a home fixture against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge.

The London derby with Spurs has been selected for broadcast, and will be shown live on the BBC in the UK, with kick off now scheduled for 2.15pm.

Ticket information will follow in due course.

It may have been Enzo Fernandez who got the decisive goal, heading in Cole Palmer’s cross shortly after half-time to give us a 1-0 derby victory, but striker Jackson’s performance on Thursday night underlined his importance to the team in Maresca’s eyes.

The striker was unlucky not to get his name on the score sheet too, hitting the post in the very first minute of the game after getting in behind the Tottenham back line, an example of the different dimension our head coach believes he brings to the Blues.

‘Nico for us, I’ve said many times since we started, that he is an important player because he’s a threat for the defensive line,’ said Maresca after the win over Tottenham at Stamford Bridge.

‘Off the ball he’s pressing everyone. For sure with Nico we are a different team.’

That was particularly important in our last match, as we used that threat in behind from Jackson to stretch Spurs and look for quick opportunities to catch them short of numbers in defence.

Maresca views that ability to adjust our tactics to capitalise on the opposition’s strengths and weaknesses as vital to his plans, pointing to the different approach needed across our five home league wins in a row as an example.

‘This was a different game compared to before the international break. The last four games at home were Leicester, Southampton, West Ham and Wolves, four teams that sit back and wait for us.

‘Tottenham is a different kind of game, so for us in some ways it’s better. But it’s just a matter of different types of games.

‘We are together already for nine months, but until the day that I will leave here I will tell you that our game plan depends on the opponent. We cannot do the same game plan against Tottenham as against Leicester, because they play a completely different way.

‘So the reason last night we used more balls in behind is because of Tottenham, the way they defend, the way they press.’

Chelsea are quickly back in action after that win, making the short away trip across west London to face Brentford in the Premier League on Sunday. With eight matches remaining in that competition, Maresca knows every game will be crucial between now and the end of the season.

‘From Friday morning we are going to prepare for the next game against Brentford. From now on all the games are difficult for us, and for all the rest. So we are going to try to prepare for the next game in the best way and just go game after game.’

It was a testing contest full of ups and downs, but most importantly, the derby contained the full complement of points for the Blues.

After a first-half that saw Nicolas Jackson, Jadon Sancho and Enzo Fernandez go close to breaking the deadlock, it would only take minutes after the interval for the Blues to find that all-important goal as Enzo headed in from Cole Palmer’s cross.

Despite Moises Caicedo and Tottenham having goals disallowed, Chelsea held on for victory at the Bridge - even after a nervy 12 minutes of added time - with Cobham graduate Colwill praising the fans for their role in the win.

‘Three points mean everything, especially in the derby. Anything can happen in this derby and they are a good team, so we had to take it up a step,’ Levi said to Chelsea TV.

‘The fans gave us the emotion, and we felt everything with them. It was an amazing place to play here tonight. It lifted us. In the last 10 minutes, when things got tough, our supporters gave us the energy to keep going.

‘Had the match kept going for another 10 minutes, they would’ve kept giving us that energy. We would have run and given them every single thing we had. We felt in control, even though Tottenham may have had chances or had the ball, and with the added time, we knew we had to do that for another 12 minutes. Like I said, the fans pushed us and made that easy for us.’

As a defender, Colwill was particularly pleased to keep a clean sheet in a derby that tends to see plenty in the way of goalmouth action alongside his centre-back partner Trevoh Chalobah.

‘A clean sheet in a derby means everything to us,’ Levi beamed. ‘I think we were strong, we won our duels and gave them nothing and that’s what we have to take into every game.

‘Playing alongside Trev is amazing because I used to look up to him, and I still do now, probably! I feel like we trust each other and it showed today.’

The 22-year-old also pointed to midfield duo Enzo and Moises Caicedo as another key part of the victory.

He continued: ‘I don’t think people will give [Enzo] as much praise as he should get, especially for that goal. And Moises [Caicedo] was just breaking up every single thing and making everything look so easy. For me, if I have Caicedo playing in front of me, all you hear is ‘wow, Moises!’ He just makes it so easy for us.

‘We have amazing players with big characters and that’s what you need, especially on nights like tonight when there’s a big derby. We have to take that into every other game from now on.’

Full Match: Chelsea 1-0 Tottenham | Video | Official Site  Chelsea

Chelsea retained capital bragging rights with a fourth-consecutive victory over London rivals Tottenham on Thursday evening, as Fernandez headed in Palmer's pinpoint cross to net the only goal of the game.

With Palmer returning to the side after missing the trip to Arsenal before the international break, and getting straight back into things with his eighth Premier League assist of the season, to tee up Fernandez's sixth goal of the campaign, Maresca was pleased with both players' contribution, even if he doesn't want the side to become too reliant one our No20.

'Tonight the assist for Enzo was a top assist,' said our head coach. 'Enzo was in the right position, so I am very happy for both of them.

'Cole Palmer’s performance tonight was very similar to the rest of his performances, the only difference is that in the previous performance he didn’t score or assist. Because he’s a top player, and probably the best player we have, every time he doesn’t score or assist it is news.

'But for me it is something normal. We cannot rely on Cole to score or assist in every game.'

He also felt the performance of the team as a whole was very positive. Even when we were diverted from our preferred possession-based style of play to dig deep and hold our lead during 12 minutes of added time at the end of the game, the Italian feels that kind of experience can only strengthen us as a group.

'Tonight was very important, first of all because of the performance. We know how important it is in this moment to win games, but since we started we try to win games in the way we want and I think tonight the performance as very good and we are happy.

'Probably since day one we don’t work every day to win the game in the way that we played in the last 10 minutes, in terms of waiting for them and giving the ball to them. But if you want to become a team I think you need to also learn to play how we played in the last 10 minutes, to win a game in a dirty way.

'I think for 90 minutes, until the added time, we were in control, we created enough chances to win the game. We created enough chances in the first half.

'To be honest that might have been my mistake because I made a change before I saw the added time and, when I saw it was 12 minutes, I thought it was probably too early to make that kind of change. Fortunately we won the game and we are happy.'

Finally, Maresca had a special message to the Chelsea fans inside Stamford Bridge on Thursday, thanking them for the fantastic atmosphere they created and the relentless backing they gave the Blues players throughout.

'I want to say that my feeling from the bench tonight was that we have the best environment with the fans since the start of the season,' he added. 'I was very happy with the way the fans were tonight.

'With them in the way they were tonight we are going to achieve important things, because they push us and they help us. So I’m very happy and, please, if they can do the same until the end it is good for us.'