WSL Round-up: Chelsea beat Liverpool to keep pace with leaders Manchester City, United held by Villa
Updated 10/11/2024 at 21:33 GMT
Chelsea kept up the pressure on Women's Super League leaders Manchester City with a dominant 3-0 victory over Liverpool at St Helens Stadium on Merseyside. First half goals from Mayra Ramirez and Guro Reiten and a late strike from Aggie Beever-Jones were no more than the visitors deserved for a sparkling performance. Victory leaves the champions one point behind last season's runners-up City.
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Chelsea kept pace with Women's Super League leaders Manchester City with a 3-0 win over Liverpool at St Helens Stadium on Merseyside.
The reigning champions, who beat City to the title on goal difference last season, kicked off Sunday's action four points in arrears.
Colombian striker Mayra Ramirez looked to get things started early for The Blues when she raced onto a long ball in the third minute, but her shot was blocked and the chance was eventually cleared by the Liverpool defence.
Neat interplay from the Chelsea midfield nearly opened up Liverpool again shortly thereafter, but The Reds' defence scrambled to shut it down.
Chelsea were not having it all their own way and only quick thinking from Kadeisha Buchanan stopped Marie Hobinger putting the home side ahead in the 23rd minute.
The Blues opened the scoring in the 37th minute through Ramirez after a barely believable sequence of events. First, a Liverpool clearance ricocheted off Ramirez and spun out to the right where a shot was slammed against the crossbar. The rebound fell to a swarming team-mate who saw her own shot cleared off the line before Ramirez pounced to finally put it away.
Ramirez and Sjoeke Nusken celebrated with a Jurgen Klinsmann-esque sliding dive.
Rachael Laws then handed Chelsea their second goal with a dreadful mistake on 42 minutes. Her pass out from the back failed to find a Liverpool team-mate but was eagerly seized by Guro Reiten, who slid her shot into the empty net from the edge of the box.
The visitors tightened their control in the second half, holding over 70% possession, and starved Liverpool of chances.
A late flurry threatened to turn the match back into something more of a contest, but Chelsea held fast.
Chelsea made it three when Aggie Beever-Jones controlled Wieke Kaptein's pass on the edge of the six-yard box before sliding her finish past Laws in the 90th minute.
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The victory was Chelsea's sixth in six games to start the season.
West Ham edge past Leicester
West Ham United claimed their first WSL win of the season after edging past Leicester City with a 1-0 victory.
Viviane Asseyi scored the only goal of the game to end a 15-match winless run in the league which dated back to February, according to the BBC.
Asseyi was able to go past Foxes goalkeeper Janina Leitzig and slide the ball into an empty goal, which ultimately secured three much-needed points for Rehanne Skinner's side.
The result leaves West Ham in ninth, while Leicester sit eighth and are only separated from the east Londoners by their marginally superior goal difference.
Palace and Everton share the spoils
Crystal Palace and Everton shared the spoils in a battle at the bottom of the WSL - a result which means The Toffees no longer prop up the table.
It could have been a different story at Gander Green Lane after Indiah-Paige Riley broke the deadlock in Palace's favour with only 29 seconds on the clock.
However, Honoka Hayashi ensured Brian Sorensen's side headed back to Merseyside with a share of the spoils.
Palace drew first blood in this contest when My Cato intercepted Katja Snoeijs and laid the ball on a plate for Riley to slot home.
Hayashi came close to restoring parity moments later, but did manage to get on the scoresheet when she headed Veatriki Sarri’s delivery past Eagles shot-stopper Shae Yanez.
Everton - along with Aston Villa - remain one of two winless sides in the division and still prop up the table following this weekend's action.
Meanwhile, Palace are one place and two points better off in 10th.
Man United held by Villa
Manchester United remain in fifth after being held to a goalless draw by Aston Villa at Leigh Sports Village.
Marc Skinner's side played out a rather drab stalemate with a struggling Villa side, who moved off the foot of the table with this point, but are still chasing a first win of the season.
Skinner's side failed to recover from a sloppy start, with goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce fortunate not to be intercepted on the goal line by Gabi Nunes during the opening exchanges.
United's blunt attack was best summed up by the fact they managed only one shot on target in the match.
This was a third straight draw for The Red Devils following a three-game winning streak at the start of the season.
Skinner's side remain unbeaten after six games, but are already seven points adrift of league leaders Manchester City.
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