Barclays WSL
Two goals in the last fifteen minutes gave Chelsea a 2-0 victory over Manchester City, which puts them into a strong position at the
top of the Barclays WSL.
Both teams went into the match with unbeaten records and with City one point ahead, having played a game more. Chelsea were quickly onto the front foot and carried the game to their opponents but the Cityzens stood firm and defended well. It was always going to take something special to break the deadlock and it came with fifteen minutes remaining, as Mayra Ramirez raced onto a pass from the halfway line and ran at the City defence, holding off two opponents before steadying herself and planting a shot past Ayaka Yamashita and into the far corner. Before City were able to recover, they found themselves defending a Chelsea corner which they were unable to fully clear, and Lucy Bronze fed a pass to Guro Reiten who curled her shot inside the far post for a goal to secure three crucial points.
There was late drama at Brighton & Hove Albion where the home side netted a late winner for a 3-2 victory against West Ham Utd, which keeps them in the top three. A good passing move led to Brighton taking the lead on the half hour, Rachel McLauchlan finishing it off by producing a neat left foot shot from twelve yards. Seraina Piubel missed a golden chance to equalise after the break and this looked to be even more the case shortly afterwards, McLauchlan this time turning provider as her pass found Kiko Seike who steered her shot home to double the Seagulls’ lead. The Hammers were not finished though as, moments after she had hit the bar from 25 yards, Katrina Gorry unleashed another long range effort which this time beat Sophie Baggaley to put her side back in the game. Five minutes later and the scored were level, Gorry breaking forward from midfield and firing in from the edge of the area. There was to be another twist, Brighton attacked down the right and Seike slipped a pass to Fran Kirby who took her time before guiding a shot which went in off the post for the decisive goal.
The North London derby went firmly the way of Arsenal, with a 3-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at the Tottenham Stadium which keeps them on the verge of the top three sides. In a powerful first half display, the Gunners went ahead after two minutes as a deflected pass found its way to Alessia Russo who hit a shot on the turn into the far corner. Midway through the half, Frida Maanum exchanged passes with Kim Little before drilling home the second past Rebecca Spencer. Beth England did bring out an excellent save from Daphne van Domselaar but Arsenal went on to round off a fine performance after the break, Maanum and Mariona Caldentey combining to set up Stina Blackstenius to slot home the third goal.
Manchester Utd got back on the winning trail following three successive draws, with a 2-0 success away to Leicester City. A sharp looking United side dominated matters from the start but it was an exercise in patience for Marc Skinner’s as they looked to find the breakthrough. Indeed. Hannah Cain could have given Leicester the lead when she poked a shot wide from close range but United continued to dictate the game and took the lead on the stroke of half time, Geyse tricking her way past her full back before crossing for Elisabeth Terland to plant a header home for the opening goal. United pressed hard for a second after the break and it came with nine minutes remaining, an underhit back pass by Catherine Bott was seized on by Celin Bizet Ildhusoy who finished clinically for the match clinching goal.
Aston Villa breathed a sigh of relief when they won for the first time at the eighth attempt, beating Crystal Palace 3-2 with a late winner at Villa Park. It was Palace who took the lead on the half hour when Mille Gejl set up My Cato to drill home from ten yards but Villa responded well to the setback, Anna Patten levelling the scores with a low shot and on the stroke of half time, Kirsty Hanson slid an inch perfect through ball into the path of Rachel Daly who made no mistake in putting them in front for the first time. Palace looked to have earned themselves a valuable point late on as an Ashleigh Weerden cross was neatly volleyed in at the far post by Annabel Blanchard but deep into injury time, Ebony Salmon grabbed the winner for Villa with a powerful strike from the edge of the area which gave Shae Yanez no chance.
It was also a first victory of the campaign for Everton, who won 1-0 against Liverpool in their local derby at Goodison Park. The match was tinged by controversy over the only goal of the game and poor refereeing, with a penalty being awarded for a foul by Fuka Nagano on Honoka Hayashi which clearly looked to be at least a yard outside the area. Katja Snoeijs stepped up to tuck the ball home from the spot and in the second half, Everton defended extremely well under increasing Liverpool pressure and goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan was in magnificent form, pulling off a string of saves to help her team over the line for a result which takes them out of the bottom three and also means that just two points cover the teams in the bottom half of the table.
Leading scorers:
7 - Khadija Shaw (Manchester City);
5 - Guro Reiten (Chelsea);
4 - Rachel Daly (Aston Villa);
4 - Frida Maanum (Arsenal);
4 - Kiko Seike (Brighton & Hove Albion);
3 - Aggie Beever-Jones (Chelsea);
3 - Annabel Blanchard (Crystal Palace);
3 - Grace Clinton (Manchester United);
3 - Johanna Rytting Kaneryd (Chelsea);
3 - Fran Kirby (Brighton & Hove Albion);
3 - Nikita Parris (Brighton & Hove Albion);
3 - Jill Roord (Manchester City);
3 - Mayra Ramirez (Chelsea);
3 - Alessia Russo (Arsenal);
3 - Elisabeth Terland (Manchester United);
