WSL round-up: Arsenal dominate North London derby, Chelsea edge past Manchester City
Updated 16/11/2024 at 19:51 GMT
Arsenal produced a ruthless display to defeat North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur 3-0, while Brighton maintained their fine WSL record this season with a 3-2 win over West Ham - despite being reeled in from 2-0 up. The Seagulls are third in the table and guaranteed to end the weekend there, as title rivals Manchester City and Chelsea meet later on Saturday in a pivotal clash.
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Arsenal dispatched Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 in a one-sided North London derby, while Brighton saw off a spirited West Ham fightback to win 3-2 at the Amex Stadium.
Goals from Alessia Russo, Frida Maanum and super-sub Stina Blackstenius secured a deserved win for the Gunners, with Russo's opener coming with just 63 seconds on the clock.
It marked the second time in as many weeks that Spurs have conceded early, with Manchester City scoring after just 24 seconds in their previous game.
On the south coast, Fran Kirby reached a historic milestone - becoming just the fourth player to achieve 100 goal involvements in the WSL - as she registered a goal and an assist against the ninth-placed Hammers.
It was a historic weekend for the WSL, with all 11 games played at the clubs' main stadiums for the first time.
ARSENAL ROUT SPURS IN ONE-SIDED NORTH LONDON DERBY
It was a dream start for the visitors in the North London derby as Russo outwitted her defender and lashed Mariona Caldentey's through-ball past keeper Becky Spencer after barely a minute of action.
With the Spurs defence repeatedly carved open by Arsenal, it was a wonder the visitors weren't out of sight early on. Amanda Nilden made a fine challenge to deny Caldentey shortly after.
Maanum took advantage of sloppy defending with 22 minutes gone, breaking and charging through acres of space to fire into the bottom left corner.
Caitlin Foord had a volley blocked at close range, but Spurs had occasional chances, with Hayley Raso a lively presence for the hosts and almost embarrassing Daphne van Domselaar, as the visiting keeper dawdled over the ball and was nearly robbed.
Van Domselaar was called into action to make a superb save, tipping Bethany England's powerful effort over the bar at full stretch, but the hosts failed to take their chances.
Spurs improved after the break, switching to a back five and enjoying spells of possession, and Arsenal lacked some cutting edge. Foord fired wide from a tight angle and interim manager Renee Slagers made changes to press home their advantage.
And substitute Blackstenius had an immediate effect, firing over from a Katie McCabe cutback with nearly her first touch, before getting her goal in the 67th minute. It was Caldentey again who provided the assist before Blackstenius beat Spencer one-on-one, prompting some Spurs fans to head for the exit and celebrations from the travelling Arsenal faithful, who sold out their ticket allocation and enjoyed a derby to remember.
The Gunners continued their strong record under Slegers and now sit four points behind league leaders Manchester City, while Spurs are seventh and looking over their shoulders at the likes of Leicester and West Ham.
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BRIGHTON INTO TOP THREE WITH VICTORY OVER WEST HAM
Brighton hosted West Ham at the Amex Stadium in Saturday's early kick-off, with the hosts hanging on - having gone 2-0 up before being pegged back - to win 3-2.
The Hammers were searching for back-to-back WSL victories after their first win, against Leicester, last week, but Brighton recovered well from their 5-0 thrashing by Arsenal to get their campaign back on track.
The hosts were on top in the early stages, hemming the visitors into their own half, and defender Rachel McLauchlan got a deserved first WSL goal just before the half-hour mark, cutting inside and curling a Kirby pass into the bottom corner. Kirby's flick-on was her 100th WSL goal involvement and her afternoon would only get better when she scored the winner.
Summer signing Kiko Seike doubled Brighton's lead 15 minutes after half-time, scoring her first goal since a hat-trick in the opening game of the season, as McLauchlan laid off the ball to her in the box.
But West Ham fought back and skipper Katrina Gorry, who hit the crossbar shortly after Seike's goal, scored a quick-fire double in just five minutes - her first goals for the club. But her afternoon was ended prematurely as she went down with a shoulder injury attempting a sliding tackle on Seike, appearing to be in some pain before she was substituted after some attention from the physios.
With twenty minutes left and both sides still in the game, Seike teed up Kirby for her 66th WSL goal, with the England international taking a touch and seeing her low strike bounce off the post before knocking in.
West Ham searched doggedly for an equaliser, but the hosts held them off for all three points, moving up to third in the table as their bright start to the season continues.
RAMIREZ AND REITEN TO THE RESCUE AS CHELSEA LEAVE IT LATE AGAINST CITY
Mayra Ramirez and Guro Reiten struck in the space of four minutes to give Sonia Bompastor's Chelsea an important 2-0 win over Manchester City at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues moved back to the summit of the WSL table and maintained their 100% start to the campaign, but they did not have things all their own way in west London, with Gareth Taylor's visitors dominating possession, but looking fairly toothless in front of goal, getting just two of their eight attempts on target.
Chelsea, however, left it late to steal the three points, with Ramirez racing onto a through ball and slaloming past City centre-back Alex Greenwood before slotting into the far corner beyond Ayaka Yamashita on 75 minutes.
Reiten then curled a sumptuous effort into the opposite corner past the Japanese goalkeeper to double the Blues' advantage, and Bompastor's side held firm to move two points clear of their opponents at the top, with a game in hand.
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