League leaders Chelsea suffered their first defeat of the season at the hands of WSL 1 surprise package Sunderland. Many predicted a difficult season for the Lady Black Cats, but Carlton Fairweather’s side are now just two points behind Chelsea at the top.
A second half hat trick from England youngster Beth Mead shocked the London side. Abby Holmes added a late fourth to send the 1,000 home fans into ecstasy. Mead is now the league’s top scorer with an impressive 8 goals in 8 games.
The result keeps the title race wide open as we enter the business end of the season. Despite starting the year as one of the favourites for relegation, Sunderland may now be dreaming of a historic finish, and Saturday’s result further cemented themselves as a genuine threat to anyone in WSL1.
Elsewhere Notts County and Manchester City both kept themselves in the hunt with wins at Liverpool and Bristol Academy, respectively.
Notts County beat reigning champions Liverpool 2-1 thanks to a double from in-form forward Jess Clarke. Clarke, who has now scored 5 goals this season, was unlucky to miss out on a place in Mark Sampson’s World Cup squad. County move within three points of Chelsea, who they also face in the FA Women’s Cup final on August 1st at Wembley.
England striker Toni Duggan scored twice as Manchester City eased past struggling Bristol Academy. New signing Daphne Corboz grabbed her first goal for the club as City ran out 3-0 winners. Bristol Academy remain rooted to the bottom of the table with just 2 points from their 8 games.
A win for Arsenal in their match on Sunday means that just 3 points separate the top four in WSL1, with Manchester City three points further back in 5th with a game in hand. Once again the WSL looks set to provide a tight, exciting finish.
