Women’s Super League: Matchday 3 round-up | OneFootball

After Chelsea’s match against Manchester United was controversially postponed, Manchester City took advantage and ended the weekend at the top of the WSL.

City hammer it home [Man City 2-0 West Ham]

With Chelsea and Man United out of action, City went top of the WSL with a dominant performance and a comfortable win at home, with Jill Roord making her first start since her ACL injury. Lauren Hemp gave City an early lead after 10 minutes, as she became the youngest player to reach 50 WSL goals. A second from Mary Fowler, who made her first league start, in the 71st minute was enough to seal the tie. While Rehanne Skinner disagreed with the offside decision that ruled out an early West Ham goal, City’s win was never in doubt from that point on.

No weapons in the Arsenal [Arsenal 0-0 Everton]

It was another frustrating afternoon for Arsenal as they failed to find the net at the Emirates. With almost 70% of possession and 21 shots on goal, only five of these shots were on target and crucially none beat the keeper. The Gunners will need to be more clinical in front of goal if they want to be real title challengers and perform on the European stage this season. Everton fought hard to keep Arsenal out and earned a much-needed first point of the season. Everton manager Brian Sorensen said: “Arsenal’s squad is unreal in comparison to ours but all the money in the world doesn’t matter because it’s on the pitch it has to be settled. Our records on big stages are quite good, we’ve never lost, so there’s no pressure.”

Five-goal thriller…all scored by one team [Spurs 2-3 Liverpool]

A 95th-minute penalty gave Liverpool their first win of the campaign and ended Spurs’ unbeaten start, despite their best efforts to negate their lead twice through two own goals. Two spectacular goals from new signing Cornelia Kapocs and Marie Hobinger almost amounted to nothing, as the Reds, who finished fourth last season, put two into their own net. Just when it felt like it might be the same story for Liverpool this season of ruing missed chances, they were able to reinstate their lead late on as Marie Hobinger scored from the spot following a contentious penalty decision. A first loss of the season for Spurs, but Liverpool may have bigger problems after midfielder Sofie Lundgaard sustained a serious injury, one that Matt Beard suggested was probably related to her ACL. Beard said: “I’m really proud, We showed immense character to win that game. We scored all five goals!”

Six goals, two red cards and a record breaking appearance [Brighton 4-2 Aston Villa]

Aston Villa midfielder Jordan Nobbs played her 193rd WSL match, breaking Chelsea’s Sophie Ingle’s record for the most appearances in the league. But that was as good as it got for the visiting side, after Brighton took the three points, as summer signing from Manchester United Nikita Parris scored on her full league debut. Villa captain and 2022/23 golden boot winner Rachel Daly scored both goals for her side, making it three goals in three games for the former England international.

Blanchard brace gives Eagles flight [Leicester 0-2 Crystal Palace]

After shipping 11 goals in two matches against Spurs and Chelsea, a historic match saw Laura Kaminski lead Crystal Palace to their first ever WSL victory. Annabelle Blanchard brought the form she found in the Championship last season to the King Power, as she fired two goals past the home side.Palace were an attacking force to be reckoned with last season, scoring 55 goals in 22 matches, 16 more than the Championship’s second-placed team. They showed glimpses of this form against Leicester, while the Foxes were left still searching for their first win under new boss Amandine Miquel. Blanchard said: “Each week we’ve been working hard so to see it come out today is a great feeling.”

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