Women's Super League Recap: Manchester United Closes Gap on Leaders Chelsea
Image credits: No credits available
The Women's Super League saw a series of exciting matches on Sunday, with Manchester United, Manchester City, Everton, and Liverpool all securing victories. Manchester United's 2-0 win over Leicester was a significant result, as it closed the gap on leaders Chelsea to five points. The match saw Melvine Malard open the scoring inside 20 minutes, with Leah Galton making it two on the stroke of half-time. Leicester were much improved after the break, but they were unable to breach one of the best defences in the WSL this season.
Manchester City continued their push for the top three with a 2-1 victory at Tottenham, thanks to Aoba Fujino's second-half winner. The visitors had over 70 per cent of possession, although Spurs created some good chances. Matilda Vinberg missed a one-on-one when she escaped City's offside trap early in the second half. City, though, were denied by a stunning goal line clearance from Ashleigh Neville, who acrobatically turned Vivianne Miedema's header away off the underside of the crossbar. The winner came in the 78th minute as Fujino controlled in the box, shifting the ball onto her left foot and sending a volley into the top left corner.
Everton inflicted a fourth consecutive defeat on Aston Villa after goals from Maren Mjelde and Honoka Hayashi earned them a 2-0 win at Villa Park. Villa are second bottom, just four points above Crystal Palace, and are still searching for a first league win under head coach Natalia Arroyo. Mjelde volleyed the visitors into a 16th-minute lead after the hosts failed to clear from inside their own box. The debutant goalkeeper Katelin Talbert was at fault for the second goal, spilling the ball to Hayashi who did well to fire the ball high into the net from an angle for her fourth goal of the season. The Women's Super League is becoming increasingly competitive, with several teams still in contention for the top spots.
Jasmine Matthews' first-half strike gave Amber Whiteley a winning start to her second stint as Liverpool's interim manager as the Reds beat rock-bottom Crystal Palace 1-0. Matt Beard was sacked on Thursday and Palace also had a change in the dugout as Leif Smerud replaced Laura Kaminski on Friday. Marie-Therese Hobinger headed an early chance wide for Liverpool but Matthews made no mistake in the 10th minute firing in after the hosts failed to clear at a corner. The league standings are still tight, with several teams separated by only a few points. The defensive performances of several teams have been impressive, with Manchester United recording a milestone 10th league clean sheet of the campaign.
Here are the match scores:
- Manchester United 2, Leicester 0
- Manchester City 2, Tottenham 1
- Everton 2, Aston Villa 0
- Liverpool 1, Crystal Palace 0
Related Tags