Manchester City thrash West Ham 4-1 to cap WSL title celebrations

Khadija Shaw scored twice in what could be her penultimate game for Manchester City as they secured a comfortable 4-1 win over West Ham before lifting the Women’s Super League trophy for the first time in a decade.

City fans now face the prospect of life without the Jamaican striker, who netted her 20th and 21st goals in 22 WSL appearances this season to dismiss West Ham. Offers from other clubs are on the table, and Shaw appears set to leave unless City execute a sharp reversal.

Shaw, widely regarded as the world’s best center-forward, celebrated both goals in front of City supporters behind the goal at Dagenham & Redbridge’s ground. After the first, she lifted praying hands toward them in thanks, and teammates engulfed her following her second.

“She has been amazing. It’s been an amazing season for her. I’m so happy that she has had this season for us,” said City manager Andrée Jeglertz. “At the same time, we’re also playing a way to get the best out of each player. So, as long as you have Kerstin Casparij on the right side, you have Lauren Hemp with the crosses, and Kerolin, and all those players that are serving her. Then we are getting everything out of her because we are optimising so many other players.”

The celebrations were joyous at the final whistle, with City finally able to celebrate their second league title on the pitch after Arsenal’s draw with Brighton 10 days earlier confirmed the destination.

“It’s difficult to put a word on [the emotion of it all],” said Jeglertz. “It’s more like emptiness, because you’re working so hard for something and then when you suddenly reach it, it’s like, was this it? I’m of course proud, relieved, but at the same time also tired because it’s been a long season. We still have a couple of weeks left but just being in the situation where we are now, just seeing all the happy people, it fills you with so much warmth.”

Arsenal secured automatic Champions League qualification ahead of Chelsea with a 3-1 win at Liverpool on the final day of the Women’s Super League season.

Alessia Russo scored twice in the first half either side of Mariona Caldentey’s 32nd-minute strike, as Arsenal all but ended Chelsea’s hopes of finishing second by halftime.

Zara Shaw pulled one back for the hosts at Anfield, but it was too little, too late as the Reds ended the campaign second from bottom.

Chelsea, who needed Arsenal to lose to have any hope of a top-two finish, will enter the Champions League qualifiers after ending their campaign with a 1-0 win over fourth-placed Manchester United at Stamford Bridge.

The departing Sam Kerr scored the only goal in the 34th minute, equaling Fran Kirby’s all-time record of 116 goals for the club.

Toko Koga scored a stoppage-time winner as fifth-placed Tottenham beat FA Cup finalists Brighton 2-1.

Freya Godfrey struck deep into added time for London City as they also came from behind to beat Aston Villa 2-1 and finish above Brighton in sixth place.

Mayumi Pacheco pounced in the sixth minute of stoppage time as eighth-placed Everton ended their season with a 1-0 win over bottom club Leicester, who head into a relegation playoff on the back of 11 straight defeats.

It was a bit flat, with nothing on the line and an FA Cup final on the horizon for the champions, making the game something of an irritation. That did not matter, though, as City were not there for the match but for the afterparty.

Jade Rose’s first goal for City divided the teams in the first half, the center-back rewarded for impressing in her debut season. Shaw extended the lead in a more aggressive second half from City before Seraina Piubel pulled one back for the hosts, turning in Ffion Morgan’s low cross. Then City began to put on a show.

Shaw’s second goal was low into the far corner from the left, and Laura Coombs provided the cherry on top with a strike for City’s fourth in her final league game, having called time on her 19-year career.

The job Jeglertz has done off the pitch with City this year has been perhaps more impressive than the job on it. He arrived last summer to a squad stacked with world-class talent, but a culture and staleness that had set in and stagnated under Gareth Taylor before his departure in March 2025.

Jeglertz brought a personable calmness with him, and the club’s commitment to building the right ‘team around the team’ was vital as City started playing with a freedom and belief that matched the players’ potential.

“It’s not easy because they are very strong individuals,” he said. “A lot of superstar and world-class players and sometimes also egos. But it’s not always a negative, they really know they want to become a better player and they are very eager that I support that. That’s always challenging for us coaches but it is in a positive way because that drives the level and the standard higher.”

It feels like City are at the start of their revolution, but in probably losing Shaw, their most reliable general, whether they can make this team become dynastic is the big question.