Sonia Bompastor future in doubt as humilation leaves Chelsea dynasty in ruins

Almost inconceivably, Sonia Bompastor’s position is uncertain. The French head coach took over from Emma Hayes in the summer of 2024 and was untouchable in her debut season, winning an invincible domestic Treble. Yet she now needs to win the Champions League to salvage this campaign — if she is afforded the chance to do so.

Bompastor was lukewarm when asked how confident she was that she would be in charge for the crucial game away to Tottenham next Sunday. “Really confident in terms of being someone really honest,” she answered. “In the club, if people think I’m not the right person to stay for this job, I’ll be happy to go. But I will never give up.

“I know football, sometimes it happens that you can be in this situation. I will always fight. But, again, the institution of Chelsea is a lot more important than myself.”

Other post-match comments were similarly intriguing. She lamented her squad’s lack of depth, which has been accentuated by injuries, and added: “I would have liked to be in a better place in terms of the last transfer windows.”

A coach leaving after criticising their club’s recruitment would hardly be unprecedented, and any deals before Tuesday’s transfer window deadline may be pivotal. “We’ll see,” Bompastor responded when asked about potential business in the next 48 hours.

Equally, sacking Bompastor would be awfully brutal and probably premature. Chelsea were firmly in the title race before back-to-back defeats by Arsenal and City, and their players must shoulder plenty of blame for Sunday’s lethargic, sloppy and weak performance.

City’s third goal, barely five minutes after Bompastor had sent Chelsea out for the second half early, epitomised the away side’s showing.

City cleared a Chelsea corner, and Ellie Carpenter took an age to let the ball drop and take a shot. Her effort was blocked, and then Millie Bright inadvertently nudged the ball back to her own goal. Comically, this touch sent Kerolin clean through, even though she was well inside her own half.

From there, the City winger had far too much pace for Keira Walsh, and coolly chipped Hannah Hampton for 3-0. Five minutes later, Kerolin steered home for her hat-trick after Miedema dispossessed Carpenter easily.

After Alyssa Thompson got a consolation, Miedema nodded in a fifth from a corner. Only some great saves by Hampton prevented City from scoring six or seven.

There will be plenty of time to celebrate City. They have won 13 consecutive league games, have dropped three points all season, and could break Chelsea’s WSL record of 60 points from 22 games — set by Bompastor’s team last season. Yet Sunday was all about City’s woeful opponents.

The first half had been even, but City were more incisive. Kerolin opened the scoring in the 13th minute after Chelsea failed to clear a corner, and Khadija “Bunny” Shaw made it two by overpowering Naomi Girma and finishing.

Girma’s struggles symbolise Chelsea’s woes. The USA centre back was signed from San Diego Wave last January for women’s football’s first $1million (now £730,000) fee — a transaction that undermines Bompastor’s transfer-related frustration — but has yet to find her best in England.

Chelsea look in need of a rebuild that is probably natural after Hayes’s 12-year reign. They won the title last season because of narrow victories that suggested Bompastor, while putting her own stamp on the team, was harnessing the ineffable ability of Hayes’s Chelsea to find a way to win. The further Chelsea get away from the Hayes era, the tougher it is to replicate that strategy.

Seven of the starting XI on Sunday never played under Hayes, though stalwarts from her tenure hardly fared better. Lauren James kicking out of play with her standing foot summed up her afternoon, and she was hooked three minutes later. Bright, 32, struggled at centre back.

Chelsea have a big summer ahead. Club legends like Sam Kerr and Bright may be out of contract, as could younger linchpins like Hampton and Aggie Beever-Jones. Lucy Bronze, absent on Sunday with a recurrence of the shin injury she played through at Euro 2025, is also on an expiring deal.

However, the club must make big calls long before this season ends.

Manchester City (4-2-3-1): A Yamashita — K Casparij, J Rose, R Knaak, A Greenwood (L Ouahabi 90+10min) — Y Hasegawa, L Blindkilde Brown (S Coffey 64) — Kerolin (A Fujino 63), V Miedema (G Clinton 76), L Hemp — K Shaw (M Fowler 76).

Chelsea (4-1-4-1): H Hampton — E Carpenter, N Girma, M Bright V Buurman (S Kerr 50) — K Walsh (A Beever-Jones 73) — L James (J Rytting Kaneryd 64), E Cuthbert (S Nüsken 50), W Kaptein, S Baltimore — A Thompson.

Arsenal on top the world

Arsenal won the inaugural Women’s Champions Cup after edging past Corinthians in extra time at the Emirates Stadium.

The Brazilian club surprisingly beat the American franchise Gotham in Wednesday’s semi-finals, and threatened another upset yesterday. They made it 2-2 in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time, when Vic Albuquerque scored a penalty. However Caitlin Foord got Arsenal’s winner in extra time.

Olivia Smith had opened the scoring in the 15th minute, before Gabi Zanotti equalised in the 21st. Lotte Wubben-Moy’s header just before the hour mark restored Arsenal’s lead but the late penalty, given after a VAR review of a Katie McCabe challenge, forced 30 additional minutes.

Arsenal prevailed and earned an enormous winning sum of $2.3 million (about £1.7 million), but they would not have appreciated the extra half-hour amid a cramped schedule.

Anneke Borbe, their goalkeeper, exiting on a stretcher while wearing a neck brace and taking oxygen after a nasty collision with Wubben-Moy just before the end was therefore both frustrating and concerning for Arsenal.

Arsenal had the advantage of playing in their home city for their semi-final and home ground for the final, while Corinthians and Gotham are in effect in their pre-seasons.

The tournament is a prototype for Fifa’s Women’s Club World Cup, a 16-team event that will launch in 2028. The Champions Cup included only the six continental champions, with Arsenal and Gotham getting automatic semi-final spots.

As with the semi-finals at Brentford’s Gtech Community Stadium, the Corinthians fans brought much needed vibrancy to the Emirates. The 25,031-strong crowd helped to create an instense occasion and the São Paulo-based side competed heroically.

Yet Arsenal, who dominated possession, can now call themselves world champions.

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