Four more WSL fixtures were played in gameweek 12 of the 2021/22 season.
Chelsea’s trip to Everton and Arsenal’s clash with Reading both fell victim to more Covid-19 postponements – champions Chelsea now haven’t played in a month as a result of three successive WSL fixtures having to be rearranged.
Safe from Covid, Aston Villa against Manchester City also looked like it might also be called off due to the west midlands weather, but went ahead only slightly delayed after two pitch inspections.
Here’s a closer look at the action that did go ahead from the weekend…
Man Utd made light work of Birmingham / Jan Kruger/GettyImages
Manchester United made it three WSL wins in a row to carry on from a strong December and send a Birmingham side high off a shock victory over Arsenal crashing back down to earth.
It didn’t take the hosts long to rack up the goals, with Katie Zelem netting erly and a quick-fire Leah Galton brace making it 3-0 before even 20 minutes had been played. Blues goalkeeper Emily Ramsey unfortunately had an own goal attributed to her against her parent club, before December award winner Alessia Russo wrapped up the rout.
Man City were victorious in the west midlands / Morgan Harlow/GettyImages
Manchester City inflicted more misery on an Aston Villa side that has gone backwards since a strong start to the season back in the autumn. Meanwhile, for a rapidly improving City, this was a fourth successive WSL win, having scored at least three goals in each of those.
A pair of Ellen White assists in the first half to Georgia Stanway and Vicky Losada gave City a comfortable half-time lead. Stanway got her second of the day midway through the second half to seal Villa’s fourth consecutive league defeat.
Leicester emerged victorious over Brighton / Naomi Baker/GettyImages
24 hours after Birmingham’s mauling, Leicester took full advantage and moved off the bottom of the table and out of the relegation zone with a win over a declining Brighton, who have now lost four league games in a row.
Shannon O’Brien scored the only goal of the game early in the second half at the King Power Stadium. The Foxes have now won two of their last three WSL fixtures and are starting to build some positive momentum that could help them stay up.
Kate Longhurst grabbed a point for 10-player West Ham / Alex Davidson/GettyImages
Having seen Manchester United leapfrog them on Saturday, Tottenham were denied a victory that would have taken them back into third place by a dramatic Kate Longhurst equaliser for West Ham.
Rosella Ayane had put Spurs ahead from the penalty spot early in the second half. Only moments later, the Hammers were reduced to 10 players when Hawa Cissoko was sent off. Yet with the hosts seemingly heading for victory, Longhurst grabbed an unlikely equaliser at the death.
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