With a 6-0 win at Old Trafford, the Blues say farewell to Emma Hayes by securing our fifth WSL title in a row, due to a +7 better goal difference than Manchester City.

Mayra Ramirez, back in the side after four games out injured, headed in a Guro Reiten cross with the game barely underway to spectacularly set the tone for what was to follow.

Before long, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd used her considerable pace to race away and slot the second goal and although Manchester United struck the Chelsea woodwork, it was 4-0 in our favour by the break.

Ramirez emphasised what a great call it was by Hayes to select her by impressively creating the third goal for Sjoeke Nusken to tap in, and then going it alone to score her second of the game.

The Blues then netted as quickly at the start of the second half as we had at the commencement of the first - Melanie Leupolz with her first goal of the season - and then towards the end came a very special moment – Fran Kirby bagging her 116th goal for the club to bring down the curtain on another majestic Chelsea career.

In a high-pressure game, this was as commanding a 90 minutes as anyone with the Blues in their heart could have wished for. It is our biggest-ever victory against Man United.

The final whistle heralded the 16th trophy in the 12 years of the great Emma Hayes.

Mayra makes some return!

With the top two in the title race almost neck-and-neck going into today’s final round of games, what was happening at Aston Villa where Man City were the visitors was of importance, but the Chelsea players knew it was essential they purely concentrated on their own performance.

As when facing Tottenham during the week, we could look back on an excellent record in past WSL meetings against our opponents, although it was only a month ago that Man United achieved their first victory against Chelsea when we met in the FA Cup semi-final.

On that occasion, it was United who went ahead inside a minute with a header from a left-wing cross. Today at Old Trafford, the tables were very much turned!

A quick ball out from the Chelsea half found Reiten in plenty of space and such is the Norwegian’s quality she was not going to fail to send over a testing cross. It was perfect for the unstoppable Ramirez to run onto and thump a header past Mary Earps.

There were less than two minutes gone and how the packed Chelsea fan section at the other end of the stadium enjoyed that rapid lead – and they were enjoying it even more when the score became 2-0 inside the first 10 minutes.

Ramirez was involved again – turning, advancing and setting Rytting Kaneryd away. The finish was coolly taken, low, and aimed just inside the post. If goal difference was to be a factor in deciding the champions, this could hardly be going better!

It took a good tackle to prevent Reiten quickly adding another goal although it was not all plain sailing as from a corner, Maya Le Tissier met the delivery with a near-post run and rattled the Chelsea crossbar with her header.

Kicking on before half-time

After that frenetic, action-packed start, the game settled down into a quieter spell in Manchester’s mid-May sunshine. There was disruption to the Chelsea attack when Cat Macario had to come off with injury before half-time but the introduction of Nusken was hardly likely to reduce the goal-threat - and so it proved.

When Man U’s Millie Turner had no answer to Ramirez’s power as the Colombian raided down the right and crossed, the substitute was there inside the box to side-foot home goal number three on the day - and Chelsea's 100th of the season.

Ramirez was proving unplayable and she made it 4-0 unaided before the interval, starting a run outside the area and bursting through a gap in the defence before striking past Earps.

At half-time, Man City were 1-0 up in their game but with the balance of goal difference swinging even further in Chelsea’s favour, that scoreline seemed increasingly of minimal concern. In the end it ended up 2-1 to City.

Super, super Fran!

It was not the most picturesque goal of the game but Leupolz showed there would be no let-up at the beginning of the second half when she turned in a pass from Reiten for 5-0. The provider had only just scrambled the ball against the post as somehow the Blues had scrapped our way through the United backline.

The victory was ensured but there was still one possible big chapter to be written when Kirby came on with 20 minutes left to go.

With 85 on the clock, she played a defence splitting one-two with Sophie Ingle and one-on-one with Earps, was she ever going to miss? Not likely!

What it means

This fifth consecutive Women’s Super League title ensures Chelsea have seven league championships overall, or eight if you include the 2017 Spring Series. It is more than double any other club. All have been won during the Emma Hayes era.

What’s next?

Celebrations!

Chelsea Musovic; Carter, Bright (c), Bjorn, Charles; Rytting Kaneryd, Leupolz (Ingle 58), Cuthbert (Kirby 72), Reiten (Lawrence 72); Ramirez (Beever-Jones 58), Macario (Nusken 41)
Unused subs Hampton, Buchanan, Hamano, James
Scorers Ramirez 2, 45+2, Rytting Kaneryd 8, Nusken 44, Leupolz 47, Kirby 85

Man United Earps; Riviere (Evans 77), Le Tissier, Turner, Blundell (Mannion h-t); Naalsund (Miyazawa 67), Zelem (c); Garcia, Toone, Malard (Geyse 67); Williams (Parris 77)
Unused subs Tullis-Joyce, Rabjohn, Guerrero, Ladd
Booked Garcia 67

Referee Rebecca Welch