WSL roundup: Liverpool fightback stuns Manchester United, Chelsea open gap
Liverpool fought back from conceding an early goal to earn a surprise win over Manchester United, the women’s side’s first-ever win over their rivals in the WSL.
Ella Toone slotted home in just the third minute, before Melvine Malard fired wide with the goal at her mercy moments later. Liverpool hit back against the run of play in the 33rd minute, as Melissa Lawley’s deep cross from the right was headed into her own goal by Millie Turner, under pressure from Emma Koivisto.
Turner partially made amends in the second half, blocking Ceri Holland’s shot, but Liverpool did go ahead in the 68th minute. From a corner, the substitute Shanice van de Sanden’s delivery caused chaos in the United defence and the Liverpool captain, Taylor Hinds, hooked the ball home.
After a lengthy stoppage for a head injury to Gemma Bonner, who was helped off the pitch, Katie Zelem went closest to a leveller with a fierce shot in the closing minutes, parried away by Teagan Micah. Despite 12 minutes of stoppage time, United could not force an equaliser, and manager Marc Skinner was scathing in his assessment.
“We lost on the fundamentals. Liverpool are not nice to play against, and we didn’t match that – we were too passive in the final third,” said Skinner. “You can play all the pretty football you want, you need to win headers. It’s not good enough.
“We can’t blame fatigue,” Skinner continued. “It’s desire to win the ball, to go and compete. We can’t be beaten like that. When they [the players] come back from the [international] break, they had better be fired up.”
The Liverpool manager, Matt Beard, was delighted to see his team win a fixture they lost 6-0 last season. “I’m super proud. I think we nearly gifted them a second, but I thought we were the better team over the course of the 105 minutes that we played today,” he said.
“It is great for us to celebrate in front of our fans and go off to Christmas with three points,” Beard added. On Bonner’s injury status, he said: “I do not know, I haven’t been in yet, but we will find out and release a statement later.”
Lauren James returned in style as Chelsea moved three points clear at the top with a 3-0 win over lowly Bristol City. James, dropped to the bench for the Women’s Champions League draw with Häcken, curled home the opening goal after 17 minutes, with Erin Cuthbert’s volley putting the visitors in charge at half-time.
Sam Kerr headed home from Guro Reiten’s cross just before the hour to make sure of victory, after James had rattled the bar with another long-range effort. The only negative for Emma Hayes’ side was Niamh Charles’ late red card after picking up two bookings, while the hosts slip to the foot of the table on goal difference.
Khadija Shaw scored a hat-trick after missing an early penalty as Manchester City won 4-1 at Everton to go second in the table. Shaw saw her eighth-minute spot-kick saved by Courtney Brosnan, but got revenge by lobbing the Everton keeper just one minute later.
The Jamaica forward made it 2-0 with a low shot, and Jill Roord slotted home from Chloe Kelly’s cut-back to put City out of sight inside the first halfhour. Aurora Galli pulled a goal back from distance in the second half, but
Shaw completed the scoring by heading home from Alex Greenwood’s free kick just past the hour.
West Ham climbed off the bottom of the table after Honoka Hayashi’s equaliser deep in stoppage time earned a 1-1 draw with Leicester at the King Power. Lena Petermann’s 70th-minute strike looked to have ended the hosts’ six-game winless league run, but Hayashi bundled home in the 98th minute to grab a point.
Aston Villa picked up a welcome three points with a 1-0 home victory over Brighton. Adriana Leon scored the winner just past the hour with a clever finish from a tight angle, and the hosts held on despite Maz Pacheco’s late red card to leapfrog their opponents in the table.