Chelsea Women 1-2 Brighton & Hove Albion Women: Chelsea’s 33-game unbeaten run ends

Women’s Super League leaders Chelsea’s 33-game unbeaten run ended as they were shocked by struggling Brighton.

A much-changed Chelsea, who left key strikers Pernille Harder and Fran Kirby on the bench, dominated but created little against a well-drilled defence.

And Megan Connolly’s corner eluded everyone to earn the visitors victory.

Connolly’s left-wing set-piece at a snowy and windy Kingsmeadow ensured just a third win in 14 league games this season for Brighton, who move up to eighth in the table.

Chelsea remain top but missed a wonderful opportunity to further extend their lead following Manchester United’s surprise home loss against Reading.

A home victory – a 19th successive win in all competitions – looked likely following Kerr’s goal from Erin Cuthbert’s set-piece – the Australian’s 10th in 13 games this season.

But a side who had lost eight of their 14 league games this term replied through a similarly imposing header from Whelan – just Brighton’s 10th goal this season.

Brighton sat deep but pressed aggressively as soon as the Blues crossed the halfway line – a tactic that disrupted the home side’s fluency.

Beth England had a shot deflected onto the bar, but the hosts lacked tempo and quality and were restricted to a series of wayward long-range strikes.

A frustrated and vocal Blues boss Emma Hayes made a triple change just over 10 minutes into the second half, Jo So-Yun adding much-needed creativity in midfield and Kirby and Harder – with 19 goals between them – injecting greater pace and movement.

But despite strong, persistent pressure chances remained at a premium, and Connolly snatched an improbable win on a rare Brighton attack with 12 minutes left.