Chelsea back on top of WSL; tense Merseyside derby, Arsenal seal comeback | OneFootball

There were five Women’s Super League fixtures taking place on Sunday.

Here’s what went down …

Arsenal complete comeback at Villa

Scorers: Salmon 35′; Pelova 54′, Wubben-Moy 84′, Blackstenius 86′

Arsenal strengthened their grip on Champions League qualification with second-half a comeback win over Aston Villa.

Kick off at Villa Park had to be pushed back by 45 minutes due to traffic heavily delaying the visitors’ pre-match arrival.

Ebony Salmon rolled home the opener after Jordan Nobbs picked out Adriana Leon with a perfectly weighted ball in the build-up.

Victoria Pelova pulled Jonas Eidevall’s side level with an instinctive half-volley from Anna Leat parrying Alessia Russo’s shot inside the area.

The Gunners continued to threaten Villa’s goal as Leat had to produce several strong stops to deny Caitlin Foord, Stina Blackstenius and Pevlova.

But their pressure finally told in the closing stages when Lottie Wubben-Moy met Russo’s cross with a looping header before Blackstenius squeezed in a third.

Both teams’ WSL positions remain unchanged after the result with Arsenal still in third while their hosts remain seventh.

Blues back on top

Scorers: Beever-Jones 2′, Cuthbert 88′

A very early goal and an insurance late one fired Chelsea past West Ham on Sunday evening and back to the top of the WSL table.

As with Tottenham earlier in the day, it took Chelsea just two minutes to open the scoring as Lauren James found Aggie Beever-Jones with a fantastic assist and she did the rest.

The Hammers then had a goal ruled out for offside as they attempted to restore parity against the league leaders, again going within a whisker before half-time as a Riko Ueki strike met with the woodwork.

Chelsea were left cursing lady luck themselves in the second half when Mayra Ramírez went close to putting things out of reach, only for her strike to hit the post but they finally did manage to send the game to bed with two minutes left thanks to Erin Cuthbert’s sumptuous volley after taking the ball down in the box from a corner.

With the victory, Chelsea go back to the WSL summit on goal difference ahead of Manchester City.

Seagulls win after second half thriller

Scorers: Rantala 54′, Peterman 84′; Haley 62′, Robinson 68′, Terland 85′

A second half filled with excitement saw Brighton fight back twice to pull off a thrilling 3-2 win at the King Power Stadium.

Jorelyn Carablí went closest to breaking the deadlock in the first half when she drilled a free-kick from 40 yards at goal, which produced a fingertip save to keep it out.

Leicester started the second half strongest and went close through Yuka Momiki before the opener arrived via Jutta Rantala who drove into the area from the right and fired high into the net.

However, two goals in six minutes turned both the game and result on its head as the Seagulls pulled off a quickfire turnaround.

Madison Haley levelled first before Katie Robinson was played through and she raced clear before keeping a cool head to round the goalkeeper and finish from a tight angle for the lead.

There was time for more drama though as the Foxes looked to have rescued a point by equalised through Lena Petermann with six minutes left to play, only for the in-form Elisabeth Terland to issue an instant response for a thrilling winner.

Brighton leapfrog Leicester into eighth with the victory.

Spurs skipper secures victory

Scorers: England 2′

A lone early Bethany England goal fired Tottenham to a narrow 1-0 win over bottom-of-the-table Bristol City on the road.

It took Spurs just two minutes to hit the front on the road through England, who netted her first league goal of the campaign by finishing smartly after being played through by Grace Clinton.

The strike takes the Tottenham captain’s incredible career tally against the Robins to 12 goals in 14 games.

Spurs came close to adding to their advantage in the closing stages but both Wang Shuang and Matilda Vinberg crashed efforts against the woodwork that would have killed things off.

With the win, Spurs stay sixth but close the gap on Manchester United, while City remain six points adrift at the foot of the table.

Honours even in tense derby

There was no separating Everton and Liverpool in Sunday’s Merseyside derby as they played out a 0-0 draw in front of a crowd of over 9,000 at Goodison Park.

The first half produced no goals but the best chance of it fell to the home side when Hanna Bennison found Emma Bissell and she fired inches past the post shortly before the interval.

Chances remained at a premium in a largely incident-free affair in the second half, although the Toffees again edged the clearer openings, with Lucy Hope spinning brilliantly on the edge of the box before unleashing a curling strike which clattered against the crossbar.

The stalemate leaves Liverpool in fourth as they move ahead of Manchester United, while Everton stay ninth.

Saturday’s result