Chelsea’s 34-match unbeaten WSL run came to an end tonight with a 1–0 home defeat to Everton.
The only goal of the game arrived in the 12th minute, when Honoka Hayashi drifted in at the far post to silence the Kingsmeadow crowd and end 19.5 months of WSL invincibility.
It brings to an end the longest unbeaten run in WSL history – previously set by, yes, you’ve guessed it, Chelsea (33 games, 2019–2021).
As far as upsets go, they don’t come much bigger. This was only Everton’s second win of the WSL campaign, and it blows the title race wide open, with Manchester City now six points clear – their only league defeat of the season coming away to Chelsea on the opening weekend.
The Record Run in Numbers
- Previous loss: 1st May 2024 – Liverpool 4-3 Chelsea
- Days: 585
- Played: 34
- Won: 28
- Drawn: 6
- Scored: 56
- Conceded: 18
The record run spanned two eras: the end of Emma Hayes’ reign in May 2024 and the entirety of Sonia Bompastor’s WSL tenure to date. Inside it sat an invincible 2024–25 league campaign.
Across the run, Chelsea kept 20 clean sheets, conceded only 18 goals, and dropped points just six times. Their only competitive defeats came in Europe – a 2–0 Champions League quarter-final first-leg loss to Manchester City, followed by back-to-back 4–1 defeats to Barcelona in the semi-finals in March and April 2025.
Chelsea’s Eight Seasons of WSL Domination
Looking at the past eight WSL seasons (2017/18–2024/25), Chelsea’s scale of dominance becomes even clearer.
Seven league titles. Six in a row.
Across 163 league matches they’ve won 129, drawn 24 and lost just 10, scoring 461 goals and conceding 105. Ridiculous.
What This Result Means?
Honestly? Not a lot. But it does signal that the current champions are beatable – and having a genuine title race certainly makes things more interesting. Chelsea will no doubt still be there or thereabouts come the end of the season, and with City still to play, the WSL has something it hasn’t felt in a while: jeopardy, unpredictability, and a race that suddenly looks very alive.
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