Arsenal moved five points clear of the WSL title holders, Chelsea, with a dominant 4-0 defeat of Reading.
If Arsenal were feeling any pressure with Chelsea breathing down their necks, two points behind them and holding a game in hand prior to kick-off, then it did not show at rain-lashed Borehamwood.
Reading could have been a banana skin on their title charge. The Royals are sixth after losing a third successive game in all competitions but prior to this latest defeat they were unbeaten in 10 league matches, finding some of the consistency that has eluded their manager, Kelly Chambers, in recent campaigns. Before this fixture Jonas Eidevall had praised their season to date.
“Apart from their last two games, Reading have been in amazing form, they have had amazing results,” the Arsenal coach said.
Before kick-off there was a pause as the captains, Kim Little of Arsenal and Reading’s Natasha Dowie held up a Ukraine flag in a show of solidarity with the invaded country, while Arsenal wore strips of blue and yellow tape side by side to form the flag on their wrists.
It took 22 minutes for a partnership between the Arsenal forwards Stina Blackstenius and Vivianne Miedema, with the latter playing deeper, to bear fruit. Miedema passed back to Blackstenius inside the box and the interception of the Swede’s return ball fell kindly for Miedema who fired into the far corner past Rhiannon Stewart. Two minutes later the Gunners doubled their lead. Caitlin Foord found Blackstenius and the striker’s shot was cleared off the line, only for Katie McCabe to fire in the follow up.
Aurora Galli scored the only goal of the game as Everton secured their first win in six Women's Super League matches with a 1-0 victory over Aston Villa.
A game of few chances looked destined to finish goalless but Galli (pictured) converted a Hanna Bennison cross in the 80th minute to snatch victory for the visitors. It was Everton's first win since they sacked manager Jean-Luc Vasseur but Villa's ninth straight home defeat.
Everton played the game in shirts without their usual sponsor, MegaFon, after the club suspended ties with Russian companies linked to Alisher Usmanov. The sides are separated by just two points in the league table, with Villa in ninth place with 16 points and Everton behind in 10th position. PA/Guardian sport
The third came 10 minutes later when Steph Catley’s corner was powered in by the head of centre-back Leah Williamson.
In the second half Miedema and Blackstenius combined again for the fourth, with the former racing through on the right before squaring to her strike partner who fired in to seal the win.
With a close to fully fit squad, that was boosted in the January transfer window, Arsenal have started to find the rhythm that gave them a blistering start to the season. They have to win every game and hope that Chelsea, who now have two matches in hand, drop points if they are to reclaim the title they last won in 2019. The pressure is now on Emma Hayes’s side to close that gap and edge ahead of the team that have led from the front all season.
