Barclays WSL
Chelsea will lead the Barclays WSL table going into the Christmas and New Year break, but not with a 100% record after their winning
run was brought to a halt by a 1-1 draw against Leicester City.
It could have been even better for the Foxes as they took the lead in the 20th minute through Missy Goodwin and they held on until twelve minutes from time, when Wieke Kaptein scored an equaliser and salvaged a point for the league leaders. The result was not quite enough to take Leicester out of the bottom two but they currently possess a point which no other team in the league has achieved so far.
Even though they dropped points for the first time this season, Chelsea have actually strengthened their position at the top of the table after second placed Manchester City went down to a 2-1 defeat at Everton, who picked up only their second league win of the season. A superb first half performance from the Toffees saw them take a two-goal lead into the interval, given to them by Lucy Hope and Honoka Hayashi, and the Cityzens were unable to respond apart from a late penalty by Mary Fowler.
Arsenal remain in third place but are only a single point behind Manchester City after they won 1-0 away to Liverpool. Alessia Russo scored the only goal of the game with twenty minutes on the clock, to keep up their winning run under the caretaker management of Renee Slegers.
It was also a good day for Manchester Utd who are also one point adrift of second place following a 1-0 success on their travels, at Crystal Palace. A goal deep into injury time from Grace Clinton earned United a third win in four matches, which they also achieved by keeping yet another clean sheet.
Honours were even at Brighton & Hove Albion, where the fifth placed home side battled out a 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur. Both goals came late in the game, Beth England keeping up her recent good form by putting Spurs ahead with fifteen minutes remaining and Marisa Olislagers replying to give the Seagulls a share of the spoils shortly afterwards.
Aston Villa ended a troubled week on a happy note, winning 3-1 against a West Ham Utd, a result which has propelled them up the table into seventh place. Under the interim management of Shaun Goater, the Villains took a fourth minute lead through Adriana Leon and after Viviane Asseyi had levelled the scores at the midway point of the first half, Leon netted a second to put Villa back in front just ahead of the interval. Kenza Dali wrapped up the win - the only one in the league by more than one goal on the day - when she scored a decisive third with seven minutes remaining.
Leading scorers:
9 - Khadija Shaw (Manchester City);
6 - Guro Reiten (Chelsea);
6 - Alessia Russo (Arsenal);
5 - Beth England (Tottenham Hotspur);
5 - Kiko Seike (Brighton & Hove Albion);
4 - Aggie Beever-Jones (Chelsea);
4 - Grace Clinton (Manchester United);
4 - Rachel Daly (Aston Villa);
4 - Johanna Rytting Kaneryd (Chelsea);
4 - Frida Maanum (Arsenal);
4 - Elisabeth Terland (Manchester United);
