There was an air of disbelief and ridicule when Manchester City manager Gareth Taylor said in December that his team could still win the title.

Eights behind then leaders Chelsea, seemed inconceivable. Seven games and six wins later, nobody is laughing now.

Their 2-0 victory over Chelsea on Sunday, their first in the league in 12 attempts, took them joint top of the table and blew the Women’s Super League title race wide open.

A pre-match montage played on the big screen before kick-off showed City’s back-to-back defeats against Aston Villa and Chelsea at the start of the season. Those losses came after the club had been dumped out of the Champions League in the qualifying stages. It seemed they were at rock bottom and there were question marks over whether Taylor was the right man to take the club forward.

What followed was goals from the 11 wins they had managed since. It felt like a statement to those who had doubted them. City have always believed they could still win the league, now maybe the rest of the football world does too.

Man City moved level on points with leaders Man United and ahead of Chelsea after a 2-0 win

‘I think Chelsea win the title if we don’t win today,’ Taylor said. ‘It’s really opened it up.

‘It’s still Chelsea’s title to lose if we look at it that way but it’s a real positive step for us and gives us great confidence going into this next period.

‘To be in this position now from where we were is top. We’ve not done anything yet, we’ve still got some important games to come, six games left, lot of challenges in front of us but we go into it with high levels of confidence.’

Four teams can realistically become champions. Manchester United are currently top on goal difference, with City level on points in second. Chelsea and Arsenal have both played a game less than the two north west clubs, with the Blues one point off top and the Gunners three.

Emma Hayes’ side, who had beaten European champions Lyon in a testing Champions League match on Wednesday, looked tired and leggy. Goals from Filipa Angeldahl and Lauren Hemp had City 2-0 up inside 30 minutes, the first time Chelsea had conceded two in the first half an hour since 2019.

‘I thought we were so sluggish first half, third away game in a week, I thought it looked like it,’ Hayes said. ‘I thought it was the difference between the two teams in the first half.‘The game was very difficult, your minds can want to do a million things. If your legs can’t, that’s the challenge.’

City were on top from the first whistle and took the lead after 21 minutes. Angeldahl intercepted Ann-Katrin Berger’s pass and played a one-two with Hemp. Chelsea stood off the City midfielder, who sent a sensational chipped finish into the top left corner to score her first league goal for the club.

A second came nine minutes later when Chelsea failed to clear a cross into the box. Laura Coombs managed to knock the ball back to Hemp, who hit a phenomenal half-volley into the top right corner.

After 36 minutes, Hayes had seen enough. Off came Lauren James and Sophie Ingle to be replaced by Johanna Rytting Kaneryd and Niamh Charles.

Perhaps just as impressive as City’s two goals was their ability to see out the second half. It was a defensive performance we are used to seeing Chelsea display. The visitors rarely threatened the hosts’ goal after the break.

Taylor had said in his pre-match comments that if they won every remaining game they would match Chelsea’s points tally for last season. Next weekend’s trip to Arsenal is another season-defining match for Taylor’s side in what is undeniably the most exciting title race in WSL history.