After six consecutive years on the throne, Chelsea’s reign as English women’s football’s top team is over. It was a chastening afternoon for Sonia Bompastor’s side at the Etihad Stadium where Manchester City dismantled the champions to open up a surely unassailable lead at the top of the Women’s Super League.

In an emphatic victory symbolic of the ongoing changing of the guard, Kerolin scored a hat-trick as the runaway leaders won 5-1 and their jubilant fans were taunting Chelsea with chants of “easy, easy, easy” before the end. City are coasting towards clinching their first title since 2016 and this latest victory almost left their head coach lost for words.