Page 4 - Women's Soccer Scene Issue No.30 2022-23

The semi finals of the UEFA Women’s Champions League meant that the
fixture programme was reduced to four games over the weekend, with the
top three at the start of play not in action.
This gave the opportunity for Manchester City go to back up to
second when they hosted West Ham Utd on Sunday, which they duly
accepted with a 6-2 victory. City got off to the fastest of starts with two
Chloe Kelly goals inside the opening seven minutes and after Emma Snerle
pulled one back for the Hammers, Laura Coombs restored the two-goal
advantage ahead of half time. Khadija Shaw and Steph Houghton further extended their lead,
before Lisa Evans replied for West Ham, but City were to have the final say and Mary Fowler
rounded off the scoring with eight minutes remaining.
The four matches played on the day produced a total of 22 goals, six of which came as
Tottenham Hotspur shared a 3-3 draw with Aston Villa in a see-saw game. Villa raced
into a two-goal lead thanks to Kirsty Hanson and Rachel Daly, before Spurs came roaring back
to level the scores with goals either side of half time, both coming from Eveliina Summanen.
The comeback looked to have been completed when Beth England gave Spurs the lead for the
first time on the hour but their hopes of a valuable win were dashed when Villa equalised with
six minutes left, Daly scoring her second on the day and her 15th league goal of the season.
Liverpool meanwhile ended any lingering worries by winning 2-1 against Brighton
& Hove Albion, who stay two places and two points above the bottom. Elisabeth Terland has
been in good form for the Seagulls in reent weeks and she put them in front on the half hour,
but after the break, the Reds came roaring back and two goals from Ceri Holland earned them
their fifth league win of the season and lifted them up into seventh place.
There was another dramatic fightback involving another team at the wrong end of the
table and this time it was Reading FC Women who ended up on the receiving end as they
went down 3-2 to Everton, who rekindled their chances of finishing in the top five. Things
were looking good for the Royals as Justine
Vanhaevermaet gave them a second minute lead Reading FC Women 2 (Vanhaevermaet pen 2,17)
from the penalty spot and the Belgian midfielder Everton 3 (Bennison 41, Snoeijs pen 62, Sorensen 83)
added a second shortly afterwards. Hanna - Liverpool 2 (Holland 54,70)
Bennison pulled a goal back for Everton just Brighton & Hove Albion 1 (Terland 39)
before half time and this proved to be the turning -
point of the match. The Toffees came roaring back Tottenham Hotspur 3 (Summanen 27,47, England 59)
after the break and a Katja Snoeijs penalty got Aston Villa 3 (Hanson 9, Daly 21,84)
-
them back on level terms, before Nicoline
Manchester City 6 (Kelly 6,7, Coombs 25, Shaw 62,
Sorensen netted the winning goal, seven minutes Houghton 65, Fowler 82)
from time. West Ham Utd 2 (Snerle 11, Evans 72)
BARCLAYS WSL P W D L F A Pts GD
MANCHESTER UTD 18 14 2 2 47 9 44 38
MANCHESTER CITY 18 13 2 3 41 18 41 23 LEADING SCORERS
CHELSEA 16 13 1 2 42 14 40 Kha Manchester City 17
28dija SHAW
29
ARSENAL 17 12 2 3 40 11 38 Rachel DALY Aston Villa 15
ASTON VILLA 18 9 3 6 35 31 30 Alessia RUSSO Manchester Utd 9
4
EVERTON 18 8 3 7 24 21 27 Beth ENGLAND Tottenham Hotspur 8*
3
LIVERPOOL 17 5 4 8 18 28 19 -10 Manchester Utd 8
Leah GALTON
WEST HAM UTD 18 5 2 11 19 36 17 -17 Chelsea 8
Sam KERR
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 18 4 1 13 23 39 13 -16
BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION 17 3 3 11 22 54 12 -32
READING FC WOMEN 18 3 2 13 21 41 11 -20
LEICESTER CITY 17 3 1 13 9 39 10 -30
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