Round 5 of the Women’s Super League produced plenty of drama and crucial results. Manchester City edged past Arsenal in a thrilling clash, while London City Lionesses celebrated their second win of the season with a narrow 1–0 victory over Liverpool. Tottenham maintained their strong start, Aston Villa continued to climb with a win at West Ham, and Leicester and Everton shared the spoils. Meanwhile, Arsenal dropped points for the third consecutive game, leaving Chelsea with a clear advantage at the top. Here’s everything you need to know from an action-packed WSL Recap Round 5.
Manchester United 1-1 Chelsea
Manchester United and Chelsea played out an intense 1–1 draw at Leigh Sports Village. United began brightly, creating early chances, but Chelsea struck first when Catarina Macario’s clever backheel set up Wieke Kaptein to finish calmly. United responded quickly as Sandberg volleyed home a stunning equaliser after a half-cleared cross.
The first half was fast-paced and evenly matched, with both sides threatening to take the lead. After the break, United kept up the pressure, with Toone and Rolfö going close, while Chelsea made several substitutions to regain momentum. In the closing stages, the visitors pushed hard, but goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce produced key saves to preserve the draw. Despite United’s dominance for much of the second half, both teams had to settle for a hard-fought point.
Manchester City 3-2 Arsenal
Manchester City edged Arsenal in a thrilling top-of-the-table clash. City took the lead through Khadija Shaw, but Arsenal hit back immediately after the break with a Caldentey equaliser. Andrée Jeglertz’s side regained the advantage through Kerstin Casparij, only for the Gunners to level again when former City forward Chloe Kelly struck against her old club. In a dramatic finish, Manchester City secured all three points thanks to a late winner from Iman Beney, the talented Swiss summer signing.
Arsenal have now dropped points in three consecutive games, leaving them in fifth place with just eight points. The gap to league leaders Chelsea is already five points after only five rounds, meaning Renée Slegers’ side has work to do. Meanwhile, Manchester City have responded impressively since their opening-weekend defeat to Chelsea, securing four straight wins to stay firmly in the title race.
Leicester City 1-1 Everton
Leicester City and Everton shared the points in Round Five. The Toffees started strongly, taking the lead through Ornella Vignola, who has now scored three goals this season — all coming in her stunning opening-day hat-trick against Liverpool. Since then, Brian Sørensen’s side have struggled, suffering defeats to Tottenham, London City, and Brighton. After drawing with the Foxes, they sit on four points in ninth place.
The same goes for Leicester City, who also have four points. The club changed managers less than two weeks before the season began, and interim head coach Passmoorvhas guided the team to a win over Liverpool and a spirited comeback against Everton, with Mouchon finding the equaliser.
West Ham United 0-2 Aston Villa
West Ham United suffered their fifth consecutive defeat, this time against Aston Villa. Natalia Arroyo’s side travelled to the Chigwell Construction Stadium and returned home with three points thanks to goals from Kirsty Hanson and a superb free-kick strike by Dutch international Lynn Wilms, who joined Villa this summer and is already making her mark.
Despite the loss, West Ham manager Rehanne Skinner focused on the positives:
“It’s our strongest game so far. I We conceded a couple of set-pieces that we could have done a little bit better on, although it’s a good strike and credit to them for that. The central free-kick we conceded, we could have dealt with much higher up the pitch.
“It’s only those slight moments that have then essentially cost us the game. Equally, we’ve got a wide, open goal before they score. If that goes in, it’s a different story. I think the biggest thing is we looked much more together today than what we have in previous games, and that’s obviously been something that we said we were trying to work towards. So I’m pleased with the players for that.”
Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Brighton & Hove Albion
Tottenham Hotspur began the 2025/26 Women’s Super League season under new head coach Martin Ho, who succeeded Robert Vilahamn after joining from Norwegian side SK Brann. Spurs currently sit third in the table, level on points with Manchester City and just one behind leaders Chelsea. They have won four of their five matches so far, the latest a narrow victory over Brighton & Hove Albion. Once again, summer signing Cathinka Tandberg provided the decisive goal for Tottenham.
Meanwhile, Brighton sit sixth with seven points. Dario Vidosic’s side started the season slowly, losing to Manchester City and drawing with Aston Villa, before earning two league wins and a League Cup victory. Following the defeat to Spurs, Vidosic reflected on the performance:
“I felt some of the decisions were quite inconsistent, with Tottenham also hard done by with a few challenges, and it just needs to improve. In the first half we didn’t adapt to their press. We were a little bit slow, lacked energy and lost a lot of duels. The second half was much better, with some last-ditch tackling needed by Spurs.”
“We’ll be okay,” the head coach added. “We should have Fran back, Moeka [Minami] is not too far away, Maddy [Madison Hayley] too. There’s a lot to be confident about. We came to a tough place, the second half was good, with enough half-ish chances created, but we just weren’t clinical enough.”
London City Lionesses 1-0 Liverpool
Liverpool travelled to WSL debutants London City Lionesses and fell to a 1–0 defeat after a late penalty decision. Elena Linari showed no hesitation from the spot, firing her effort in off the underside of the crossbar.
It has been a difficult start to the season for Liverpool, who remain bottom of the table with zero points. Head coach Gareth Taylor reflected on the result:
“I think what we’re seeing at the moment is snippets – but snippets aren’t enough. I think we controlled most of the first half. We lost that control in the second half due to a number of things like decision making and a little bit of fitness. I think to be able to repeatedly win the ball back, like we want to do, it can take it out of you and we need to get to that level. I think we’re seeing some signs and some periods in games where we’re in control.
“Like I said, it’s not enough and we’re suffering with results. It’s what we were brought in to do. We knew that we lost good players from last season and we know that we’re at a level that we need to improve and it’s going to take time, unfortunately, as much as we want it quickly. There are some positive signs and the girls are working tremendously hard – we’re just suffering at the moment.”
For London City Lionesses, it was their second win of the campaign. The newly promoted side are still learning to play together, but their improvement and resilience are becoming more evident each week.
Where can I watch Women’s Super League?
You can watch the Women’s Super League match between West Ham United vs. Aston Villa on Sky Sports. If you’re watching from outside the UK, consider using a VPN service. We recommend NordVPN, it isn’t free, but it’s cheaper than juggling multiple subscriptions that may still only cover part of the schedule.
WSL Recap Round 5