Chelsea crush Bristol City on opening weekend of WSL as Arsenal leave it late for 3-2 Birmingham win

Chelsea's bid to land the Women's Super League 1 title began in confident fashion with a 6-0 victory against Bristol City at Kingsmeadow.

The Spring Series champions top the 2017/18 table after the opening round of fixtures thanks to Maren Mjelde's double and further goals from Drew Spence, England striker Fran Kirby, Magdalena Eriksson and Gilly Flaherty.

Eni Aluko, the striker who made allegations of racism, harassment and bullying against former England manager Mark Sampson, came off the bench as a late Chelsea substitute.

Aluko claimed Sampson made racist comments towards herself and Spence during his time in charge of the national team. Sampson, sacked by the Football Association on Wednesday over an unrelated matter, strongly denies Aluko's claims and has twice been cleared by separate investigations.

Manchester City started the season with a 4-0 win at Yeovil. Izzy Christiansen, from the penalty spot, Jane Ross, Jill Scott and Georgia Stanway were on target for last year's champions.