Arsenal’s title hopes left hanging by a thread
Arsenal’s title pursuit hit a huge stumbling block on Sunday when they suffered a shock 2-1 defeat to struggling West Ham. After a dominant first-half performance which saw them lead 1-0, Jonas Eidevall’s side completely dropped the ball, with disastrous consequences. Arsenal have now lost three WSL games this season and the stats do not back a late title charge: previous champions have never lost more than two. Arguably the biggest concern is that those three defeats came against teams they are more than capable of beating – Liverpool, Tottenham and now West Ham. Reflecting on the latest setback, Eidevall said: “We’re really disappointed with that. It’s a frustrating lesson starting the second half as slow as we did, but we need to put our focus on the things we can control – that’s the next games ahead.” Emillia Hawkins
Match report: West Ham 2-1 Arsenal
Harris’s Brighton era starts with defeat
All eyes were on Leigh Sports Village as Brighton took to the field for the first time under the command of Mikey Harris. Brighton’s new interim manager had been handed the reins just three days previous after the shock sacking of Melissa Phillips. Early on not much seemed to have change for the Seagulls, who pressed well at times, as they have all season, but threatened little. In the end they were edged out 2-0 by Manchester United, registering just two shots on target, both from Elisabeth Terland. United’s Marc Skinner has arguably been under more sustained pressure than Phillips this campaign and similar frustrations continued. Despite a victory that puts them just four points adrift of the Champions League spots, they struggled to create at times, registering one of their lowest xG of the season. Skinner will be thanking his lucky stars for the form of Nikita Parris, whose brace took her tally to eight for the season. Sophie Downey
Manchester City extend winning run
Barring Chelsea, Manchester City are arguably the in-form team of this campaign and they extended their impressive run to seven wins in a row at the Joie Stadium. It was not particularly pretty at times from Gareth Taylor’s side who were made to work hard by a resilient Leicester but they dug in and found a way to secure a 2-0 victory. It is a rare occurrence these days when Khadija Shaw is not among the goals but once again City’s dynamic wingers stepped up. The form of both Lauren Hemp and Chloe Kelly has been notable and they finally unlocked the Foxes’ stubborn defence as the game drew to a close. Both finishes were eye-catching in their own right – Hemp going for the acrobatic before Kelly scoring direct from a corner two minutes later. It was a result that saw them keep the pressure on Chelsea at the top, their next opponents when the league resumes in 11 days’ time. SD
Jones shows Villa how it’s done
Bristol City’s Carrie Jones showed Aston Villa’s attackers how to finish with a 25-yard screamer to make it 2-2 at the Bescot Stadium. Following a poor clearance from the Villa midfielder Kenza Dali, Jones controlled the loose ball, looked up to pick her spot and smashed it into the top right-hand corner past a helpless Daphne van Domselaar. Speaking after the game Bristol City’s manager, Lauren Smith, seemed unsurprised by the midfielder’s strike. “When Carrie picks it up, sets herself … it’s only going one place. She’s clinical in those areas.” Aston Villa, on the other hand, were far from clinical. The home side enjoyed 72% possession and had 36 shots compared to the visitors’ four attempts on goal. Despite Carla Ward’s team dominating the game, Bristol City stood firm as Villa piled on the pressure, culminating in two goalline clearances at the end of the game. They will need more last-ditch defending and stunning strikes if they are going to stay up this year. Xaymaca Awoyungbo
Jordan Nobbs 👏pic.twitter.com/Ha4kBbub2t
— Sky Sports WSL (@SkySportsWSL) February 3, 2024
Chelsea win overshadowed by penalties and cards
The Everton midfielder Clare Wheeler was at the centre of attention in Everton’s 3-0 loss to the WSL leaders, Chelsea, at Kingsmeadow. The Australia international gave away two penalties either side of half-time – with the first one possibly understandable, yet harsh. She cleared the ball well before catching Johanna Rytting Kaneryd. Guro Reiten dispatched the spot-kick past Courtney Brosnan to give the champions the lead. The second one, after 72 minutes, was more clear-cut as Wheeler struggled to keep up with and clipped Mayra Ramírez, who looked brilliant during her first start for Chelsea. It was all too much for the Everton manager, Brian Sørensen, who was first shown a yellow card and then a red one for dissent after some confusion surrounding some late substitutions he wanted to make. XA
"Brilliant goal from Chelsea" 🤩
— Sky Sports WSL (@SkySportsWSL) February 4, 2024
Chelsea Captain Erin Cuthbert bursts into the box to produce a nice finish past Brosnan into the bottom corner ⚽ pic.twitter.com/Rl5CdJBT1l
Tottenham concede again to drop two points
With the clock ticking down at Prenton Park, it looked like we were about to witness something as rare as a Tottenham clean sheet. In their past 29 league games going into the weekend, they had managed not to concede in only two. Make that 30. As the game entered added time Marie Höbinger neatly sidestepped a challenge on the edge of the area to dispatch the ball behind Barbora Votikova to ensure the game finished 1-1. The Tottenham manager, Robert Vilahamn, was nevertheless pleased with the team’s performance, including the defence. “They defended very well as Liverpool didn’t get many chances and the goal just came from a miscommunication really,” he said. “So, I’m happy with how we pressed and how we defended.” Marcus Christenson
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chelsea Women | 13 | 29 | 34 |
| 2 | Man City Women | 13 | 27 | 31 |
| 3 | Arsenal Women | 13 | 16 | 28 |
| 4 | Man Utd Women | 13 | 15 | 24 |
| 5 | Liverpool FC Women | 13 | -2 | 19 |
| 6 | Tottenham Hotspur Women | 13 | -6 | 19 |
| 7 | Leicester Women | 13 | -8 | 13 |
| 8 | Aston Villa Women | 13 | -10 | 13 |
| 9 | West Ham Women | 13 | -12 | 11 |
| 10 | Everton Women | 13 | -15 | 11 |
| 11 | Brighton & Hove Albion Women | 13 | -16 | 11 |
| 12 | Bristol City Women | 13 | -18 | 6 |
