Aggie Beever-Jones and Erin Cuthbert punished a resilient West Ham for their profligacy in the final third as Chelsea secured a 2-0 win to move back above Manchester City at the summit of the Women’s Super League table.

It was not straightforward for the visiting Blues and, had Honoka Hayashi’s effort not been incorrectly flagged offside inside 15 minutes, it could have been a much more nervy affair.

Emma Hayes made three changes to the team beat Ajax in a comfortable 3-0 win on Tuesday night, with the right-back Ashley Lawrence, the midfielder Jelena Cankovic and the forward Beever-Jones coming in for Eve Perisset, Erin Cuthbert and Guro Reiten. They also welcomed back Mayra Ramírez and Nathalie Björn who were deemed fit enough for the bench.

For Rehanne Skinner there were two changes following her team’s 3-1 defeat against Liverpool last weekend, with the midfielder Jessica Ziu and the centre-back Anouk Denton coming in and Hawa Cissoko and Emma Snerle named on the bench.

Chelsea’s bid to go six wins from six games in March, with two still to play this month, got off to a quick start, but it was far from one-way traffic for the reigning champions. West Ham could have scored twice inside five minutes, but instead they found themselves a goal down at home against a team that have won 12 of the past 12 WSL games in which they have scored first.

In less than a minute Riko Ueki’s ball in was met by Viviane Asseyi but the forward’s header flew agonisingly wide. They were punished instantly, with Chelsea working the ball to James on the left who clipped the ball backwards into the run of Beever-Jones who turned in.

It was a bruising concession following an impressive start and West Ham continued to look dangerous, Ziu’s cross met by Kirsty Smith but the unmarked Scotland defender put her effort wide from close range.

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Hayashi put the ball in the back of the net in the 14th minute, after a free-kick was headed into her path, but the flag was up for offside despite Lawrence playing her on.

There was a further blow for the home team not long after, with the influential midfielder Katrina Gorry off injured and Marika Bergman-Lundin on to replace her – but still West Ham would threaten, Ueki clipping the ball off the crossbar after a run from the halfway line and Asseyi putting the ball over after Hayashi had found her.

The task was a big one, with the visiting team unbeaten in their past 11 WSL games against West Ham, going back to 2018, with 10 wins and one draw against their London rivals, but West Ham were not a pushover at the Chigwell Construction Stadium.

Sensing the threat the Hammers posed, Hayes sent on Cuthbert and Catarina Macario, followed by Ramírez and Fran Kirby less than 10 minutes later just past the hour.

The impact of Ramírez was instant, the Colombian forward harrying and stretching the West Ham back line, the outstretched foot of the goalkeeper Mackenize Arnold denied her shortly after coming on, and not long after that she sent the ball trickling towards the far post and off the base.

West Ham’s chances were drying up as the attacking strength deployed by Hayes pinned them back – but they were not without openings, with Asseyi’s free-kick dipping on to the roof of the net their best chance of the second half.

Chelsea got the goal to give them more of a cushion with two minutes of normal time remaining: Macario’s corner was taken down by Cuthbert, who lashed it into the roof of the net.

Chelsea continue to march on in all four competitions, above Manchester City on goal difference. Meanwhile, West Ham miss out on the chance to move above Everton and remain second from bottom, their performance against the champions demonstrating just how competitive the WSL is.

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