Chelsea 3-1 Man Utd: Player ratings as Lauren James hat-trick leaves former club playing catch-up

FROM STAMFORD BRIDGE — Lauren James scored a glorious hat-trick against former club Manchester United to leave them ten points behind the Blues in the WSL title race, extinguishing their title hopes for the season in the process.

Three minutes in, James sauntered over to take a corner in front of a hefty travelling support. Two minutes later, she was on the score-sheet to give Chelsea a comfortable early lead. Cooly running past the sea of red shirts, James gestured with her hands, resembling 'And what?' as jeers from the Red Devils fans were cancelled out by roars from the packed out home crowd.

James would have the last laugh overall. Her opening strike set the tone for the remainder of the afternoon as a whole, with two more goals to add the gloss, the 22-year-old's hat trick proving that even without prolific striker Sam Kerr, Chelsea dominance will continue.

James' second came from a timed run and clinical finish, sprung from Nathalie Bjorn's pinpoint long ball. The Sweden international is Chelsea's only winter signing and, on her league debut, proved why the former Everton player was on Hayes' radar to fill the void left by Millie Bright.

The third was James at her best. Given the freedom to roam, she tore across the Stamford Bridge turf and, with a clinical finish, settled at the top of the WSL Golden Boot race.

United were plagued with injury strife, restricting Marc Skinner's side to just five outfield substitutes. Chelsea were facing a far less calamitous statistic but were still without the aforementioned Bright and Kerr who suffered an ACL injury over the winter break.

Perhaps due to their injury crisis United were unable to respond with similar ruthlessness. A wasteful afternoon saw Marc Skinner's side