Blues make title statement
Chelsea were at their fluid, rampant and ruthless best in their 3-1 defeat of Arsenal at Stamford Bridge. How the team coped with a depleted squad and off-field controversies – Emma Hayes’s comments on relationships between players, which she clarified after the match – as well as the 30-minute delay to kick-off due to Arsenal’s wrong socks, was impressive. “We seem to do really well in adverse situations,” Hayes said. “It’s been a tough period, it’s been a tough day for us but we’re good at this, we know how to do this.” The odds on Chelsea winning a first ever Champions League, a historic quadruple, or even maintaining their domestic competitiveness have lengthened with each major injury, but time and time again Hayes has shown she can defy those odds. Betting against Chelsea would be a fool’s errand. Suzanne Wrack
City to start chasing goals
Manchester City bounced back from a disappointing week to defeat Brighton 4-1 on Sunday, cruising to victory with goals from Lauren Hemp, Mary Fowler, Khadija Shaw and Laura Coombs. Gareth Taylor’s side would not have settled for anything less than three points following Chelsea’s win on Friday, especially given that their treble hopes went up in smoke after successive defeats in the Continental Cup and the FA Cup last week. Now all hopes of silverware are pinned on the league title with just six games remaining. City are back level on points with the reigning champions, only trailing on goal difference. Taylor is determined to approach the run-in one match at a time. “We try and keep it as simple as possible. The frustrating thing today is if we don’t concede and we get one at the end then we go top of the league outright,” Taylor said. “We were top of the league early on this season, then were six points behind. All of a sudden within two games to claw that back to where we are now has been a phenomenal effort from the team.” Emillia Hawkins
Everton fail to find shooting boots
The football cliche “if you don’t shoot, you don’t score” sounds obvious but Everton are yet to catch on. Brian Sørensen’s side have scored the least goals in the league (14) and their 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa showed why. They don’t shoot enough. The home side registered only one attempt on target all game – Elise Stenevik’s goal – and looked flat throughout the first half. For all their buildup play, they were unable to create any clearcut opportunities as they lacked quality in the final third. Everton showed some signs of life in the second half, after conceding two quick goals from Kenza Dali and Ebony Salmon, but they rarely looked like troubling Aston Villa. Their goal came from a free-kick punted into the mixer on to Stenevik’s head. When all else fails, route one football might be the way forward. Xaymaca Awoyungbo
Vinberg’s late birthday present
The young Swedish winger Matilda Vinberg wrote her name into the headlines the day after her 21st birthday. Her second-minute finish in Tottenham’s 1-0 victory over Leicester ensured her side stayed comfortably sixth in the WSL. It was her first league start since signing in January and she made it count with a goal that epitomised the kind of sweeping attack the Spurs manager, Robert Vilahamn, wants. Originating from Rebecca Spencer in goal, it was move of just four passes from back to front that ended with a rejuvenated Jessica Naz delivering and Vinberg finishing sublimely. Vinberg has had to be patient with Vilahamn who has spoken about the need to ease signings in. “I just need to keep pushing them because they need that transition into this league,” he said. “It’s the best league in the world and I don’t think you should expect to come from a lower league and just think you’re going to be dominant.” Sophie Downey
Reds keen for Europe push
Liverpool have now equalled their second highest amount of points in Women’s Super League history after beating West Ham 3-1 on Sunday. The three points came from three goals scored by Leanne Kiernan, Missy Bo Kearns and Sophie Román Haug. They are now on 28 points, the total they achieved in the 2017-18 season. The only season they managed a higher number of points since the WSL started in 2011 is 2012-13 when they won the league with 36 points. After the other matches this weekend, the manager, Matt Beard, maintained they are pushing for a Champions League spot: “We’re aiming to finish as high up the league as we can,” he said. “It would be great if we finished fourth but it would be even better if we finished third. We’ll just try to get as many points as we can.” Liverpool are six points off Arsenal in third place. Sarah Rendell
Bristol vulnerable yet again
Manchester United once again exposed Bristol City’s defensive problems in a 2-0 win on Sunday. Lisa Naalsund scored two to put the bottom-of-the-table team out of sight and the opener by the Norway international highlighted City’s weaknesses. Not one defender approached Naalsund until it was too late and she broke the deadlock in the ninth minute. City did not have a way back into the game. Despite the loss, City’s manager, Lauren Smith, spoke positively about her team. “We showed character and resilience to make sure we stayed in the game for a huge period of time. That is the bit I am probably proudest of because that is what we have been working on. We knew our defensive performances up to this point recently have been the ones that let us down and we wanted to be better at that.” SR
