Emma Hayes, the Chelsea manager, brushed off questions about free tickets versus paid and said the club had “won a lot today, not just three points, in people’s consciousness” after a lightning 25-yard strike from Beth England gave Chelsea a win against Tottenham.

“This is what we want,” said a reflective Hayes, of the historic first Women’s Super League game at Stamford Bridge, played in front of 24,564 fans. “We can be cynical about paying for tickets, easily, everyone knows I’m an advocate; we pay for this product.

“But I am not going to criticise because we have built on the momentum of the World Cup, the scheduling of the game, the timing of the game, we built on it. Now I have to put everyone under more pressure to say we want more of them.”

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If there was a fear that the free tickets might provide a bit of a damp squib after the 31,213 fans at the Etihad for the Manchester derby the day before, approaching the ground quickly quashed those feelings. Packed trains emptied on arrival at Fulham Broadway and fans streamed towards the ground. This was a proper derby day.

Horns hooted by the station, kids gripping tickets posed for photos with the mascots and even half-and-half scarves were on sale, perhaps providing an amusing downside to the move to playing in a big stadium.

“Driving into the stadium with posters up of all of our players, equal marketing in the megastore, everywhere around the perimeter, that’s there all the time,” Hayes continued. “Just as the kick-off is happening you heard the Spurs fans. I thought: ‘Happy days.’”

Her Tottenham counterpart, Karen Hills, added: “We said on the way down that 10 years ago, we were playing in front of five or six people. Now we’ve come all this way and we’re playing in front of 25,000 people. Next week it might not be that but the standard now has been set and every single game has to be approached in the same manner, whether it’s in a big stadium or an away stadium.”

With more than 40,000 tickets given out for the match there will likely be disappointment at not having beaten the record set in Manchester, but it was still five times higher than Chelsea’s best league attendance and a more vocal and atmospheric support than their league rivals. Though the fact that more paid to watch the match at the Etihad than attended this game for free has shown the importance of putting a value on top-level women’s football, there is hope that we are at the start of an arms race between top teams to lift the record higher.

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“Was it better than yesterday?” asked Hayes of the atmosphere. “Ah come on this is Chelsea, this isn’t the emptihad is it?” she jested after being told it was. “Man City can be equally proud, I’m being cheeky.”

England’s early goal gave the home side a small cushion but the Blues struggled to capitalise on a dominant first-half performance, giving the WSL debutants Spurs hope and providing a scintillatingly tense finish to the London derby.

Hayes was strangely pleased by the tightness of the result, saying: “This would have been a disaster if this was six or seven-nil, thank goodness. That sounds a bit odd to say that as a manager but I care about the game.”

The home side burst out of the blocks with intensity and in the fourth minute they had the breakthrough thanks to a cracking goal. England muscled the former West Ham player Ria Percival off the ball, cut inside and hammered her shot past Becky Spencer from 25 yards out. If Caroline Weir’s effort for Manchester City from a similar distance the day before had laid down an early goal-of-the-season marker, England’s strike upped the ante.

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It was the perfect start for a fresh-to-women’s-football crowd, which sprung into life as England wheeled away and did a knee slide towards fans behind the home dugout before being engulfed by teammates.

Chelsea should have scored more. The 2017-18 Double winners passed the ball around slickly, with the full-backs Hannah Blundell and Maren Mjelde effective on the wings.

Despite the Chelsea dominance, Spurs were not without chances and Hayes would likely have been frustrated that her side failed to extend their lead. A Kit Graham cross was cut out by a diving Ann-Katrina Berger but the goalkeeper could only parry it. Rachel Furness almost collected the loose ball but a smart clearance from Bright spared Chelsea’s blushes.

It was rare time on the ball and the Spurs first-team coach, Juan Amoros, looked pained on the edge of his technical area but it did give the visitors hope. Chelsea rode out subsequent pressure and with their big-game experience and stronger legs proving just too much they set up camp in the Tottenham box, with Ji masterminding every chance.

Now, Hayes’s focus is on pushing on, on and off the pitch. “Women’s football will continue to grow and I’m so proud of this football club. I doubt I will ever work at a place that has pushed for women to progress like this place has.

“It’s about having sensible conversations. It’s not just saying we want to play here week in week out, first of all our men’s team play here. It’s always been their home and for us it’s about recognising the opportunities, first we’ve got to build on getting people to Kingsmeadow, then when the opportunity comes to play here we will have a blueprint of how to market this game and our CEO will make sure every club in the country has it. It is about osmosis, it is about sharing information and driving standards and I’m pretty certain that’s why I was put on this earth.”

Nobbs returns as Arsenal hold off Hammers

Arsenal, the Women’s Super League champions, held on to beat a resilient West Ham side 2-1 on Sunday, thanks to first‑half goals from Beth Mead and Jill Roord.

Last season the Hammers similarly gave Arsenal a scare, twice taking the lead before the Gunners ran out 4-3 winners in their second game of the season. This time, the visitors clawed a goal back via the head of Martha Thomas. They pushed for the equaliser and Arsenal fans were left sweating when West Ham were awarded a free-kick for a backpass late on. Arsenal shirts crowded across the line, with Manuela Zinsberger in front trying to make herself big. It worked. The goalkeeper got her fingertips under Kenza Dali’s effort from 12 yards and pushed it on to the top of the bar.

There was an emotional return to competitive action for Jordan Nobbs, who missed the World Cup with a knee ligament injury. The Arsenal and England midfielder came on in the 67th minute and almost instantly made an impact, hitting a first-time shot wide of the post shortly after coming on.

A crushing own goal from the Birmingham captain, Kerys Harrop, moments after the break meant Everton took a first three points off their opposition in seven years. Willie Kirk’s team won only three times in the league last term but Hannah Cain’s diverted cross was enough for a victorious start.

Meanwhile, a typically stunning Fara Williams free-kick from 25 yards gave Reading a 1-0 win at Liverpool. The England record cap holder blasted over seconds into the game but it was in the 40th minute that she made her mark, guiding the ball perfectly past Anke Preuss in the Liverpool goal. Grace Moloney, the Reading goalkeeper, kept the visitors in front when she read a heavy touch from Courtney Sweetman-Kirk, who found herself through one-on-one, just after the break.