Chelsea returned to the top of the Women’s Super League table with a victory over West Ham and are in the top spot of the defending title with two games remaining.

It was a regular win for London as Pernille Harder ended another impressive performance with a goal.

Niamh Charles, Sophie Ingle and Erin Cuthbert are also on the scoresheet.

Victory ensures Chelsea are two points clear of challengers Manchester United – who beat them at Wembley on Sunday – with 20 games to play each.

In the fierce title race, Chelsea also expanded their goal difference advantage, leading Manchester United by 4 points.

They were limpid 1-0 at half-time thanks to Charles against a recalcitrant West Ham, who hadn’t won a game in the WSL since December.

Harder’s cool display shortly after the break doubled their lead, and Chelsea never really had trouble building their stadium in Chigwell as Ingle grabbed the rebound to make it 11. 3-0, with substitute Cuthbert scoring an excellent fourth.

Chelsea manager Hayes told Sky Sports: “It was another great team effort because we played so many games back to back.”

“We wanted to keep a clean sheet and that was important. We had an early goal but didn’t build on it. We struggled to create the overload we wanted and had to adjust at half-time.

“I don’t talk about goals, I talk about performance. I hope they build on what they did in the first half.”

Chelsea closer to title

The result means Chelsea can win the WSL title this weekend if they beat Arsenal and United fail to beat rivals Manchester City.

They were at the end of the season and Chelsea showed their experience and strengths, taking their chances and comfortably beating struggling West Ham United.

Harder, who made a huge impact off the bench in the FA Cup final win over Manchester United three days ago, returned to the starting line-up as one of seven changes Hayes made.

Chelsea’s depth is so strong they were able to rotate key players Guro Reiten and Cuthbert and make three changes to the backline without seeing any dip in performance.

Ingle was another player who came back after impressing at Wembley, flicking the ball past half-time to Harder before scoring herself a header from close range. .

Victory also marked a celebratory night for Charles, who was making her 100th appearance for the club at the age of 23 and was the quickest to react to the rebound from a first-half Sam Cole strike.

Worries linger for West Ham

While Chelsea’s momentum continued, it was yet another unwelcome loss for West Ham, who are now 10 games without a win.

They played well – England international Lucy Parker impresses in midfield, while striker Vivian Assey had a couple of first-half chances.

They came close to scoring at the end when substitute Amalie Thestrup’s shot was saved by Jess Carter and Kate Longhurst’s long-range shot missed inches.

But while they failed to capitalize on rare chances, Cuthbert was relentless at the other end and Chelsea extended their advantage with a fine goal in stoppage time.

It was a worrying end to the season for Paul Konchesky’s side as they were beaten by Chelsea.