From a little pocket of travelling fans in the corner of Kingsmeadow came a cascade of roars and screams, the sound of a title race coming alive. For Manchester City, a statement result to match a statement performance: the queens of Kingsmeadow dethroned, Chelsea beaten at home in the Women’s Super League for the first time in more than three years, their lead at the top of the table cut down to nothing.
Khadija Shaw got the only goal of the game, her first against Chelsea in the league in five attempts, but really this was a tale of resolve and backbone in the face of almost unimaginable pressure. Not just the increasingly desperate waves of Chelsea attack but the burden of history, the weight of what this would all mean. And it meant the world: you could see that as City’s jubilant players celebrated with their fans at the end, still not feeling the weary legs and the budding bruises from a brutal night’s work.