Women’s Super League: talking points from the weekend’s action
Miedema stays focused on the title race
Who knows where Vivianne Miedema will play next season but for now she is Arsenal’s, and so important to Jonas Eidevall’s team. The Dutch striker has revealed that several clubs are interested in signing her for next season – she is out of contract in the summer – but there are no signs that her mind is elsewhere. When Arsenal thrashed Leicester City 5-0 on Sunday to briefly go top of the WSL the Netherlands international was in sparkling form. Miedema had two close efforts before half-time, one saved by the goalkeeper Demi Lambourne and another smacked against the woodwork. Then came two goals in the space of eight second-half minutes that took Arsenal away from Leicester. Jemma Purfield’s clearance stopped at Miedema’s feet at the edge of the box and she executed a one-touch finish. Her second came after a well-worked assist from Nikita Parris. With the league’s title race going down to the wire, the Gunners will be hoping Miedema’s sparkle isn’t extinguished. SR
As it happened: Leicester 0-5 Arsenal
Chelsea’s squad depth makes a difference
Chelsea cruised to a 5-0 victory against Reading on Sunday evening, returning to the top of the table in some style, back to being one point ahead of Arsenal. Emma Hayes’s attack has now racked up 27 goals in six games. But the more stellar stat has got to be that their latest clean sheet is their eighth in nine league games. Sure, any title-defending side should have the ability to do something similar but in recent outings Chelsea have been without their first-choice centre-back, holding midfielder and two attackers who play a huge role in their pressing game. So not only have they achieved this feat without their strongest team, but they’ve achieved it with players who have gone from being on the fringe to the first XI in a matter of weeks. MN
Match report: Chelsea 5-0 Reading
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Toone the history maker
Ella Toone became the first player in Manchester United Women’s history to reach 100 appearances for the club in their 1-0 win against Brighton on Sunday. She was presented with a framed shirt by the manager, Marc Skinner, and celebrated the achievement with yet another stellar performance. She was lively in the opening 45 with three attempts at goal. Her closest came when she had a one-on-one with Katie Startup but the goalkeeper made a cracking save by closing down the midfielder. Toone didn’t dim in the second half, however, as she provided the assist to the goalscorer Leah Galton.
The assist took her to eight this campaign, two more than anyone else. “She is a wonderful player for this club,” Skinner said. “She has lots of aspirations of being a top, top player. I love working with her every day to try and make her the player she wants to be.” SR
City keep up the pressure on United
Manchester City enjoyed a satisfying Saturday afternoon in London, strolling to a 2-0 win against Olli Harder’s West Ham to keep the pressure on Manchester United for the last Champions League place. Gareth Taylor’s side are now three points behind United with a game in hand. “All we can do is attack the game in front of us,” Taylor said. “We’ll be attacking every game as it comes – that’s the most important thing.” Georgia Stanway and Khadija Shaw scored the goals and Taylor was delighted with the return of Chloe Kelly after her anterior cruciate ligament injury. “It’s great to have her back,” Taylor said. “It’s been a long time. It felt a bit strange, having not had her for that period of time.” Kelly will be another asset for Taylor as we head into the final straight of the season. MN
Match report: West Ham 0-2 Manchester City
Spurs search for ways to score
Rehanne Skinner’s Tottenham have had a great season but the team have just started to show signs of slowing down in the past few games. In particular it is the art of goalscoring that has deserted them. That the squad was hit by Covid and had to postpone two games has obviously not helped but the 1-0 home defeat by Aston Villa on Sunday was the team’s third straight fixture in which they have failed to find the net. Spurs dominated against Villa, Rachel Williams created a few halfchances and Ria Percival had a shot cleared off the line – but then Ramona Petzelberger popped up to score the winner with the visitors’ first effort on goal. MC
Underachieving Blues must plan for brighter future
Birmingham had only picked up four points from 17 games before their Friday night game and perhaps it is a sign of how Everton’s season is going that they managed a fifth against Chris Roberts’s side. True, Everton were dominant and should have won but the Birmingham goalkeeper Emily Ramsey made some impressive saves, leaving Everton 10th in the 12-team league. They should be far higher up with the squad they have and need to start preparing for next season already, including who the manager is going to be. MC