The WSL Finally Returned – Weekly Round Up…

On Saturday and Sunday the Women’s Super League finally returned after the international break. Below is a round up of all the results and a record breaking moment from the weekend.

Brighton & Hove Albion 1-3 Birmingham City –

League strugglers Birmingham City ran out 3-1 winners away at mid-table Brighton. Two goals from Louise Quinn and one from Veatriki Sarri secured the victory to give the Blues a glimmer of hope heading into their final three games.

However, Darren Carter’s side face the not so enviable task of facing Manchester City and Chelsea in their next two games, with the midlands side requiring a minimum of a point if they are to have any chance of survival before the second city derby on final day.

Manchester City 4 – 0 Leicester City –

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Manchester City were struggling massively at the beginning of the season, but are now making a bid to qualify for next season’s Champions League following another dominant display against the Foxes. Goals for Caroline Weir, Lauren Hemp, Julie Blakstad and Alex Greenwood secured the points for City at the Academy Stadium. The Mancunian side sit just a point behind their City rivals with a game in hand, whilst Leicester are still not out of danger in 11th place.

Aston Villa 0 – 0 Manchester United –

The Red Devils suffered another setback in their hopes for Champions League football last night as they failed to break down a stubborn Aston Villa defence. 18 shots on goal from the visitors were not enough to break the deadlock, leaving the fate of United’s season in the hands of their rivals. With City’s game in hand being against bottom side Birmingham, United must avoid dropping any further points in their last two games to keep piling the pressure on their local rivals.

Tottenham Hotspur 1 – 3 Chelsea –

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League leaders Chelsea kept their title dreams alive after coming from behind to beat Spurs with ten players on Sunday. A shaky start saw The Blues concede an own goal, with Sophie Ingle the unfortunate party. Chelsea then levelled the game through Guro Reiten before they saw their goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger receive a straight red card. The game looked as if it may tip in Tottenham’s favour but, when you have Sam Kerr on the pitch, there is always the possibility of a goal. The 28-year-old Australian sensation scored in the 71st minute to give her side the lead, before Jessie Fleming in the 95th minute secured the victory and subsequently keeps them one point ahead of rivals Arsenal.

Everton 0 – 3 Arsenal –

The Gunners secured another victory last night which keeps the pressure up on league leaders Chelsea as the gap still remains just one point. Goals from Caitlin Foord, Beth Mead and Jordan Nobbs kept their sides title ambitions alive. Everton now go six games without a win in all competitions.

Reading 1 – 2 West Ham United –

In this mid-table clash, The Hammers came out on top to move them up to sixth in the table. Despite Reading’s loss, both sides have secured their place in the league for next season with two games spare. The goal for Reading came from Faye Bryson from virtually the last kick of the game. Meanwhile, West Ham’s goals came from Emma Snerle and Yui Hasegawa.

KEY MOMENT FROM THE WEEKEND – Beth Mead breaks WSL assist record and gets her 50th WSL goal

Arsenal’s Beth Mead secured her 36th WSL assist in her sides 3-0 victory over Everton on Sunday night. The England forward played a lovely one two with teammate Jordan Nobbs before laying the ball perfectly back into Nobb’s path for her to fire The Gunners into a 3-0 lead.

The previous record of 35 assists was held by Karen Carney.

Mead also scored her 50th goal in the WSL.

“It’s an amazing feeling, I love playing in this league and I love playing for Arsenal. So to get 50 goals in this league, which is such a competitive league is an amazing feeling for me.”

With the season drawing to a close, implications at every end of the table remain on a knife-edge, with the title race, battle for Champions League football and the relegation dogfight all very much in the balance.

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