MANCHESTER City kept their title defence alive with a stoppage time winner and West Ham stunned Aston Villa despite heavy pressure, reports Olivia Clark.
City were victorious over Liverpool in a 1-0 win to secure what will be an important three points in ensuring the title is still theirs. It was defender Rebecca Knaak who scored the all-important goal for the Citizens in the 91st minute through a league defining header. The Citizens will be looking to capitalise in their final fixture against West Ham to keep Arsenal away from title contention.
Champions elect Man City cruising to WSL title
Manchester United drew 1-1 with Brighton, marking the first time the Red Devils have both conceded and failed to win in any meeting with the Seagulls. Brighton were in front from the 39th minute as Jelena Čanković scored, and the game remained this way until Man United responded four minutes into added time to narrowly escape defeat.
Chelsea claimed a 3–1 win over Leicester, with Lauren James starring in a dominant first-half display. James scored twice as Chelsea raced into a three-goal lead, while Sam Kerr also found the net to become the club’s all-time leading WSL scorer. Leicester pulled a goal back through Shannon O’Brien and showed improved resilience after the break, but Chelsea comfortably saw out the result to secure Champions League football for next season.
Spurs secured a 2-1 victory over London City Lionesses, edging a competitive London derby to extend their winning run against newly promoted sides at home to six matches. The Lilywhites’ first goal was handed to Signe Gaupset thanks to a mistake by Malou Marcetto Rylov. Their second goal came through Olivia Holdt as she struck from outside the box, leaving Elene Lete with no chance of getting a touch. The Lionesses did pull one back in the 90th minute, but it wasn’t enough to gain those crucial points.
Despite a dominant performance from Aston Villa against West Ham, it was the Hammers who came out on top in a 2-0 win at Villa Park. Villa were denied several chances, calmly blocked by Megan Walsh. The deadlock was not broken until the 86thminute, when Riko Ueki scored a stunning goal from the edge of the box. And they weren’t done yet, doubling their lead into stoppage time through Seraina Piubel for her first WSL goal of the season.
This week Arsenal have some catching up to do, facing Brighton, Villa and the Toffees all before their final fixture with Liverpool on matchday 22.
www.wslfootball.com