Chelsea drop points but refuse to blame fatigue
Sonia Bompastor refused to use fatigue as an excuse after Chelsea dropped points to West Ham on Sunday. Goals from Maika Hamano and Aggie Beever-Jones fired the Blues to a 2-0 lead within 21 minutes, but Shekiera Martinez’s second-half double meant the Hammers stole a point. It was the first time in more than seven years that Chelsea had squandered a two-goal lead in the WSL. The reigning champions went into the match having played Manchester City four times in 12 days, but Bompastor did not want to make any excuses. “It’s always difficult with this quick turnaround to have all the energy but that’s not an excuse,” the manager said. “We are Chelsea, we have the depth in the squad and the quality in the squad enough to finish this block with a better result. But sometimes it happens.” Emillia Hawkins
Champions League on cards for Manchester United
Manchester United moved to within two wins of guaranteeing Champions League qualification with their 2-0 defeat of Everton on Sunday. Four WSL games remain, making their chances look good, although they are against a resurgent West Ham and Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal. Marc Skinner’s side have been somewhat flying under the radar this season, the narratives elsewhere (Chelsea’s unbeaten run, Arsenal’s form under their new manager, Renée Slegers, and Manchester City sacking of Gareth Taylor at a critical point of the season), overshadowing their consistency and lack of controversy, bar the exit of Geyse. United boast the best defensive record in the league, conceding four fewer than the two teams above them. They were fortunate for the opener against Everton, a mistake from Courtney Brosnan, who spilled the ball after a free-kick, leading to Dominique Janssen’s goal. Everton have looked much improved in recent weeks as players return from injury, but Grace Clinton converted Leah Galton’s cross shortly after the restart to take the edge off the game. Suzanne Wrack
Villa trust in the process finally pays off
Aston Villa earned their first win under Natalia Arroyo to move four points clear of Crystal Palace in the battle to avoid relegation. It was a late own goal from Liverpool’s Jenna Clark, after Marie Höbinger’s opener and Kirsty Hanson’s equaliser, that ensured the Villans took all three points. Arroyo praised what the players have been doing since her arrival at the end of January. “We showed the kind of team we can be – brave, aggressive and that we can deal with a goal when we concede, which is the only mistake we made,” she said. “The faith we showed was amazing, I’m very, very happy for them.” It has taken six matches for the first win under the Spaniard and with four games remaining the chance to build a little bit of momentum and condemn Palace to a return to the Championship is there. SW
Leitzig thwarts Spurs’ chance to win
Tottenham ended their losing run with a draw at Leicester, but in a game where they were a constant menace in front of goal, Janina Leitzig stopped them from claiming all three points. There were plenty of opportunities for Spurs to take the lead in the first half, the best of them a low, driven ball by Martha Thomas that was saved thanks to Leitzig’s quick reaction. Robert Vilahamn’s side had 23 shots on goal, but a tenacious and spirited display by the keeper proved to be the difference. The German made 10 saves, including five inside the area. Matilda Vinberg had the chance to clinch the game at the very end, but once again Leitzig was there with a leaping stop to frustrate the visiting side. Renuka Odedra
Manchester City’s injury woes continue
It has been a difficult period for Manchester City who came out of their 12-day “quadrilogy” with no League Cup, cast adrift in the race for the final Champions League spot and out of Europe with a significant injury crisis to go with it. Their injury list continued to lengthen in the warm-up to the encounter with Brighton. Laia Aleixandri pulled up with hamstring problem in the warm-up meaning Nick Cushing had to opt for the young centre-back partnership of Naomi Layzell and Gracie Prior. A gritty, resilient performance was therefore needed against a Brighton side who dominated the statistics, with more possession and creativity than the visitors. City relied on moments of quality to edge their way to a 2-1 victory – an opener for Kerstin Casparij before Vivianne Miedema came off the bench to score her seventh of the campaign. It was a performance that echoed their manager’s call to “fight until the end” for that top-three finish. Sophie Downey
Palace running out of time
Crystal Palace’s hopes of staying in the WSL suffered a heavy blow as they slipped four points behind Aston Villa. There were not many expectations for what Leif Smerud’s side could achieve against a team of Arsenal’s quality, despite the Norwegian’s fighting talk, but results elsewhere add extra strain on a difficult afternoon. A 4-0 defeat was not helped by an injury crisis and arguably the international break has come at the perfect time. “We’ll have to keep believing” Smerud said. “We can control some things but not others. We tried today … but we have a few more chances.” Arsenal, for their part, were in total control and went second. Beth Mead scored her 50th and 51st league goals for the club while Alessia Russo is now one behind Khadija Shaw in the race for the Golden Boot. SD
