KHADIJA ‘Bunny Shaw’ was the star of the show in the final WSL weekend of the year, ***writes Olivia Clark.***The festive fixtures delivered drama as Manchester City’s flawless home form continued with a record breaking game for Jamaica captain Shaw.
Chelsea and Leicester returned to winning ways, while Liverpool remain winless heading into the winter break, leaving Gareth Taylor under pressure to spark a turnaround in the new year.
Man City ended 2025 in style with a 6-1 win against Aston Villa, as Shaw scored a four goals – including her 100th goal for the club, becoming the first City player to reach that milestone. This was City’s tenth consecutive WSL win, keeping them firmly at the top of the table with a six-point cushion.
Reggae Girl Khadija Shaw is a City slicker
After last weekend’s shock win over Chelsea, Everton struck early through Honoka Hayashi, but Arsenal’s response of goals from Katie McCabe, Alessia Russo and Olivia Smith secured a comfortable 3–1 victory.
PARTY TIME: Olivia Smith of Arsenal celebrates scoring her team’s third goal during the Barclays Women’s Super League match against Everton at Goodison Park Photo by Alex Burstow/Arsenal FC via Getty Images
Russo marked her 100th WSL appearance, while Leah Williamson’s return strengthened the defence. Despite Courtney Brosnan’s saves, Everton suffered a fifth consecutive home defeat and remain pointless on their own turf.
Chelsea’s last game of the year against Brighton kept them firmly in the WSL title race as they won 3-0. Brighton struggled to threaten as their visitors produced twice as many shots on target, marking the Blues’ eighth unbeaten game away at Brighton.
Third-placed Manchester United and fourth-placed Tottenham shared a 3-3 draw. Spurs raced into a 3-0 lead, as they hoped to beat United for the first time in women’s league history.
But United hit back with three late goals after being frustrated by the crossbar in the first half, including a 94th minute equaliser by Fridolina Rolfö to sustain their push for a Champions League place.
Despite being down to ten players for the majority of the game, Liverpool rescued a point later on against West Ham after a flurry of four goals in the second half, resulting in a 2-2 draw.
Leicester, having lost their last two games, risked a third straight defeat for the first time in 2025, but instead sealed a tight 1-0 win over London City Lionesses. The game ended dramatically as Janina Leitzig saved a 96th minute penalty from Kosovare Asllani, preserving Leicester’s advantage.
The standout player of the weekend was Shaw, whose four-goal demolition of Aston Villa stole the show. The striker has now reached 12 goals in 11 league games, putting her seven goals ahead in the Golden Boot race in an attempt to retain the award for a third consecutive year.
This week showed little movement across the table as the WSL heads into the winter break. With a month to regroup, the teams will return refreshed for the next instalment of fixtures.
Arsenal will host Man United for an important first game back to kick off the second half of the season, while Chelsea host West Ham in a London derby, marking an exciting contest at both ends of the table.
www.wslfootball.com