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WSL Roundup: Arsenal Power to the Top of Table as Man City Keep Pace; Man Utd Beaten

​Arsenal moved to the top of the Women’s Super League on Sunday after recording the league’s biggest ever win when they thrashed Bristol City 11-1. 


Elsewhere, Manchester City kept pace with the reigning champions, while early leaders Chelsea saw their game fall victim to weather.

Incredibly, Vivianne Miedema had a direct hand in 10 of Arsenal’s 11-goal haul, scoring a double hat-trick and registering a further four assists.

Lisa Evans and Leah Williamson got the Gunners’ first two goals of the day, with the hosts racing into a 9-0 lead at the hour mark when Evans netted her second of the game. Miedema completed her first hat-trick after 36 minutes and her second in the 64th minute.

For Arsenal, not only was it was it a record WSL win, bettering the 9-0 victory Liverpool managed over Doncaster Belles back in 2013, it was also a new WSL record for consecutive home wins. This was the Gunners’ ninth straight league victory at home, beating their own record.

Bristol City got a scant consolatory goal towards the end when Yana Daniels made it 11-1.

Manchester City consigned Liverpool to yet another defeat to stay level on points with Arsenal at the top – only goal difference put the reigning champions ahead as things stand.

Ex-Liverpool defender Gemma Bonner scored the only goal of the game for the Sky Blues in the first half, meaning that the Reds have now lost four WSL games in a row and have still only taken a single point and scored a single goal all season.

Frustratingly for Liverpool, it was yet another narrow defeat, having only been beaten by a single goal against a clearly very potent Arsenal side a week earlier. Only teams in the WSL top five have a better defensive record than Liverpool, whose major problem is a total failure to score.

Unbeaten Chelsea had to watch both Arsenal and Manchester City leapfrog them in the table as their game away at Everton had to be postponed due a frozen pitch. Emma Hayes’ team will at least have a game in hand on their rivals, who are both just two points ahead.

Elsewhere, Manchester United lost for the first time in the WSL to a team outside of the ‘big three’ after being pegged back by a resilient West Ham side. Aside from narrow losses to Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea, United had previously won all of their other league games this season without conceding, but the Hammers refused to be beaten and fought back.

Kirsty Hanson gave the Red Devils the lead inside the opening minute, but that advantage was wiped out by West Ham’s Laura Vetterlein almost immediately. Lauren James looked like she had won it late on for the visiting United, but West Ham defender Katharina Baunach scored two free-kicks in the dying minutes to give her side a shock 3-2 win.

On Friday night, Brighton and Reading had drawn 2-2. Three of the goals were scored in the first half and Brighton looked to be heading for an important win after Aileen Whelan and Ini Umotong netted. But Remi Allen scored a 95th minute equaliser for the visiting Reading side.

Birmingham and Tottenham didn’t play over their weekend, with their fixture for this gameweek scheduled for this coming Wednesday night instead.

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Source : 90min