Women’s Super League: talking points from the weekend’s action

After 10 games without defeat in her interim role, the chorus of voices calling for Arsenal to extend Renée Slegers’s tenure gets louder by the week. Before taking to the opposite dugout on Sunday, Matt Beard, the Liverpool head coach, lauded her for doing “a fantastic job” and said it would be “great for the game” were she to stay on permanently; afterwards, Alessia Russo, the match-winner, credited Slegers with instilling fresh motivation in the team. Arsenal were far from perfect against Liverpool but, in grinding out a 1-0 win on Merseyside, showed a resilience that was lacking under Jonas Eidevall at the start of the season. They have cohesion, focus and a sense of direction, marks of a team making real progress. Will Magee

Match report: Liverpool 0-1 Arsenal

Chelsea’s first slip up in this season’s Women’s Super League was a surprising one. They salvaged a point against Leicester after falling behind for the first time this season having had 81 touches in Leicester’s area but ultimately scoring only one goal. Sonia Bompastor expressed her frustration with her side’s performance. “We need to realise when we play this kind of team who have a low and compact block, we need to have more creativity on the pitch,” she said. “In some chances we were not accurate enough so we need to be more efficient.” Despite the two dropped points, Chelsea actually extended their lead at the top of the table due to Manchester City being shocked by Everton, but have Leicester punctured the champions’ air of invincibility? Suzanne Wrack

Match report: Leicester 1-1 Chelsea

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Walton Hall Park was the scene of an almighty shock on Sunday as Everton defeated Manchester City for the first time in the WSL. Their 2-1 triumph was a second successive home victory in the league for Brian Sørensen’s side, their 4-2-3-1 formation creating the platform for ruthless counterattacks, which saw Everton take a 2-0 first-half lead thanks to goals from Lucy Hope and Honoka Hayashi. Both strikes highlighted lacklustre defending on City’s part. “We want to play entertaining, good football, that’s what we try to do,” Sørensen said. “Other times we can see a game out and be defensively organised and strong. That’s what we had to do today.” A big win for Everton, then, and one that sees them pull further away from relegation trouble. Renuka Odedra

What happens when two teams who strongly adhere to possession-based identities meet? It ends in a draw. Both Brighton’s Dario Vidosic and Tottenham’s Robert Vilahamn had emphasised the similarities between their sides pre-match and so it proved on Saturday evening in Crawley. Unbeaten at home in the league this season, Brighton were the better side on the ball but Spurs matched them with a steely resilience. Ashleigh Neville and Molly Bartrip have played every minute of Spurs’ WSL campaign so far and proved once again why they are so integral. Brighton were just as steely – their errors playing out from the back more or less eliminated despite facing the most effective pressing team in the league. A draw was perhaps a fair result, a positive note to build on going into the winter break. Sophie Downey

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Crystal Palace will be frustrated with the goal they conceded in their 1-0 defeat by Manchester United on Sunday. Palace’s defence had been resolute until first-half injury time, but then the ball was played back to goalkeeper Shae Yanez who took a touch before playing a weak pass to captain Aimee Everett. Geyse disrupted the pass, leading to Grace Clinton pouncing and scoring. The goal was the 26th Palace have conceded this season and the result was their seventh loss in 10 games. They sit bottom on the table, a point from safety, but manager Laura Kaminski was able to remain positive after the match. “I’ve never seen this team defend or play like that against a world-class side,” she said. “I feel like now the tide has to start turning in our favour.” Sarah Rendell

Aston Villa enjoyed a much-needed new manager bounce with a 3-1 win over fellow strugglers West Ham. Shaun Goater, who has temporarily replaced Robert de Pauw in the wake of his exit last week, experienced his first taste of WSL action and guided Villa to arguably their best performance of the campaign so far. Villa go into the Christmas break seventh in the WSL, having leapfrogged West Ham, Everton and Liverpool. “It’s a huge boost,” said Goater. “I think the players will be looking and knowing, over the last two games, we’re scoring these goals and we’re starting to learn certain things. I’m very pleased and I think everyone will have a good break.” Emillia Hawkins

Source: theguardian.com