Eight-time Women’s Super League champions Chelsea suffered a shock 5-1 loss to league leaders Manchester City this weekend. The defeat followed a 2-0 loss to Arsenal and leaves Chelsea third in the table.
This comes as a major surprise given Chelsea’s recent dominance. The club won six consecutive Women’s Super League titles from the 2019-20 season onwards. They topped it last season by going unbeaten in the league and finishing with a record 60 points from 22 matches.
After the 5-1 defeat, Chelsea captain Millie Bright addressed the media in a post-match interview. Asked to explain the defeat, Bright pointed to Manchester City’s clinical finishing despite Chelsea dominating possession.
The statement that sparked controversy was Bright’s claim that Manchester City goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita made more saves than Chelsea’s Hannah Hampton.
Chelsea Women fan pages latched on to this comment, accusing the captain of throwing her teammate under the bus.
Throwing your teammate under the bus, pathetic from a captain. pic.twitter.com/0zyHcGYRFk
— Chelsea Women (@CFC__Women) February 2, 2026
Bright’s own form was called into question, with users stating that she wasn’t performing well enough to criticize others.
The post questioned why Hampton was being singled out, given that she won the Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper award in December.
You would think that she had a decent performance.
— Godwin Tolulope Anthony (@Tolulorps) February 2, 2026
Of all the statements in the world that you can give as a captain whose team just lost to a rival, you blame the goalkeeper? Not just any, but the best goalkeeper in the world?
Sonia, Bright, and Kaptein need to leave this club.
One user claimed that the statement was false, pointing out that both Hampton and Yamashita made five saves each.
She was watching a different game then cos 5 saves each and the scoreline was 5-1.
— Camang123 (@angie647) February 2, 2026
Another user linked it to the Earps’ saga, in which the former English international Mary Earps alleged in her autobiography that Hannah Hampton displayed disruptive behaviour during England’s victorious Euro 2022 campaign.
Earps had also accused manager Sarina Wiegman of rewarding that behaviour, as Hampton became the undisputed starter over Earps.
Some users even suggested that Millie Bright should join PSG to reunite with Earps if she had an issue with Hampton.
Usually I’d ignore this, but after the Earps saga I tend to think it’s deeper than we realise. https://t.co/YEWiO49stU
— At The Bridge Pod ⭐️⭐️ (@AtTheBridgePod) February 2, 2026
If she likes Earps that much, to the point she insults her own teammate as the fucking captain of her team then we might as well send her to PSG to be with her bestie 🤷♀️ https://t.co/xni3VGoP6F
— 🎐 (@fuyu_cfc) February 2, 2026
Users also brought up a clip from 2024, claiming Bright ignored Hampton as she looked to her captain for support after receiving a yellow card, suggesting the issue has been ongoing.
she already made it very obvious where she stands on hannah pic.twitter.com/AdYbRWjCyU
— ale 🪩 (@stylesfc_) February 2, 2026
Other users accused the fan page of taking words out of context and insinuated that Bright hadn’t spoken anything controversial.
They claimed the captain was pointing out that the Chelsea attackers tested the other keeper more, but weren’t clinical enough.
Sorry, but I think everyone’s reaching here about Millie Bright / Hannah Hampton
— Marva (@MarvaKreel) February 3, 2026
It’s very common to say “we tested their keeper more/ just as much”, and this just feels like an iteration of that.
Feels like she’s just saying they were as dangerous initially but not as clinical https://t.co/gHNpaff9mP
Despite the controversy and the recent league struggles, Chelsea Women are still competing actively in all competitions.
They finished 3rd in the new Women’s Champions League league phase, as UEFA adopted the same format as the men’s competition. Chelsea has thus secured direct qualification to the quarter-finals.
Chelsea has a fifth-round faceoff against Manchester United coming up in the Women’s FA Cup.
A week before the 5-1 loss to Manchester City, Chelsea defeated the league leaders 1-0 in the Women’s League Cup semifinal, and are now awaiting a final against Manchester United.
Such reactions have become the norm when highly successful teams endure bad seasons.
A recent example is Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, who faced heavy criticism last year despite having won four consecutive league titles before that.
These cycles are a part of football, and Chelsea would be hoping that such statements won’t derail their season further.
