Page 4 - Women's Soccer Scene Issue No.25 2021-22

The Barclays FA WSL

For the second week running, Arsenal went into their game with an
opportunity to extend their lead at the top, this time due to Chelsea’s
involvement in the Continental Cup Final.
The Gunners took on Birmingham City, bottom of the table, but
the only team to have beaten Arsenal in the league so far this season. Any
hopes of a repeat look to have been scotched as Rafaelle Souza and Vivianne
Miedema put Arsenal two ahead after half an hour, and Beth Mead made it
three midway through the second half. The Blues then staged a fightback
with Libby Smith and Lucy Quinn reducing the deficit to one, before Caitlin
Foord finally sealed a 4-2 win in injury time, which means that Arsenal
have now gone eight points clear.
Chelsea’s cup commitments also meant that Tottenham Hotspur had a chance to
replace them in second place, if they could win away to Reading FC Women. Ashleigh Neville
did hit the post for them in the first half but despite chances for both sides, neither could make
a breakthrough and the match finished goalless.
Tottenham therefore slip back a place over the weekend to fourth as, they day before,
Manchester Utd had reclaimed third place with a 4-0 victory over Leicester City. Martha
Thomas put United ahead after sixteen minutes and Alessia Russo made it two on the half hour
mark. United crowned the win with two further goals in five second half minutes from Katie
Zelem - both of which remarkably were scored direct from corners. The win means that United
are one point behind Chelsea - having played two games more - and ahead of Tottenham on goal
difference.
The weekend had opened up with Brighton & Hove Albion winning 1-0 away to
Aston Villa. Maya Le Tissier volleyed in the only goal of the game in the 28th minute, to earn
the Seagulls a second straight league win and move them back up to seventh in the table.
On Thursday night, Chelsea put their
Continental Cup Final disappointment behind Aston Villa 0
them to win 4-1 away to West Ham Utd and close Brighton & Hove Albion 1 (Le Tissier 28)
-
the gap on Arsenal to five points. Chelsea started Manchester Utd 4 (Thomas 16, Russo 30, Zelem
the match in determined fashion and took a firm 59,63)
grip with three goals in a twelve minute spell Leicester City 0
during the first half. Pernille Harder opened the -
scoring and Niamh Charles added a second three Arsenal 4 (Souza 14, Miedema 31, Mead 71, Foord 90)
Birmingham City 2 (Smith 76, Lucy Quinn 82)
minutes later, before Harder netted her second -
just after the half hour. Dagny Brynjarsdottir gave Reading FC Women 0
the Hammers hope when she pulled a goal back Tottenham Hotspur 0
early in the second half but any hopes of a -
fightback were ended when Sam Kerr scored a West Ham Utd 1 (Brynjarsdottir 48)
Chelsea 4 (Harder 21,32, Charles 24, Kerr 63)
fourth for the reigning Champions.
BARCLAYS FA WSL P W D L F A Pts GD
ARSENAL 16 11 4 1 42 10 37 32
CHELSEA 14 10 2 2 34 7 32 27 LEADING SCORERS
MANCHESTER UTD 15 8 4 3 32 15 28 Samantha KERR Chelsea 10
17
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 15 8 4 3 19 11 28 Vivianne MIEDEMA Arsenal 10
8
10
MANCHESTER CITY 14 7 2 5 30 20 23 Natasha DOWIE Reading FC Women 6
READING FC WOMEN 15 7 2 6 18 23 23 Fran KIRBY Chelsea 6
-5
BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION 16 7 1 8 18 23 22 -5
Kim LITTLE Arsenal 6
WEST HAM UTD 15 5 5 5 19 22 20 -3
Beth MEAD
ASTON VILLA 16 5 1 10 11 30 16 -19 Arsenal 6
EVERTON 14 4 2 8 11 23 14 -12
LEICESTER CITY 16 4 0 12 12 31 12 -19
BIRMINGHAM CITY 16 1 1 14 11 42 4 -31
Issue no. 25 - 10 March 2022 news@womenssoccerscene.co.uk