The latest Women's Super League weekend offered plenty of talking points, with London City Lionesses catching the eye despite losing to Chelsea, and Liverpool still searching for their first points after another narrow defeat. There were also notable displays from Brighton, West Ham, Everton and Arsenal as the season continues to take shape.
London City were beaten 2-0 at Stamford Bridge, but their performance against the champions suggested significant progress. Jocelyn Prêcheur's side controlled 43% of possession and matched Chelsea's three shots on target, with Isobel Goodwin posing a particular threat in behind. “When we compare it to September when we played other top-four opposition, it was really good,” Prêcheur said. “What I like is that we start to see a team – that was my biggest challenge. We saw a team that defended and attacked together. We still need to improve.”
Liverpool’s wait for a first league win goes on after a 2-1 loss to Tottenham. Head coach Gareth Taylor issued a rallying call: “We have to battle through it. The message is clear. We’re working so hard to turn this into a better situation but it takes a bit of time and a bit of support. Unfortunately, at the moment, we’re getting knocked with it, but we will keep fighting.” The contest was evenly matched, but Liverpool took an early lead and then faded as Spurs came back.
Brighton showed resilience without the injured Michelle Agyemang, scoring twice in a 3-2 defeat at Manchester United. Fran Kirby and Kiko Seike both found the net, and coach Dario Vidosic said: “We responded quite well to start. We could have scored a couple more goals in the second half.” Meanwhile, West Ham remain bottom on goal difference after a 1-0 loss to Manchester City, but Rehanne Skinner praised her side's attitude. “We’re disappointed we’ve not taken something out of it,” she said, “but the attitude and desire from the players was great, and the resilience as well.”
Everton snatched a point with a 94th-minute equaliser from Kelly Gago in a 3-3 thriller at Aston Villa, while Arsenal cruised past Leicester 4-1. Stina Blackstenius scored twice and set up Alessia Russo, with the Gunners recording a third consecutive win in all competitions. Renée Slegers said: “We had some new partnerships on the pitch today as well, so that needs to click, but I think it did really well.”
