It was an extended week of prolonged drama in the WSL1 as both as both Chelsea and Manchester City maintained their 100% records in the league but title contenders Arsenal slipped to their second consecutive defeat.
The round of games began on Thursday night in front of the BT Sports cameras and a crowd of 1,337, Arsenal were undone by Chelsea’s Fran Kirby who scored a goal in either half ensuring the Champions a 2-0 victory; temporarily lifting them to top spot. The defeat leaves Arsenal already six points behind leaders Manchester City having played the same number of games whilst Chelsea maintained their perfect start to the season in all competitions. It was a dramatic affair in Widnes on Saturday evening as Sunderland, who’d been beaten 7-0 by Arsenal the previous weekend, fought from two goals down to earn a draw against Liverpool. There might have been fears of an FA Cup hangover for Sunderland as they fell behind on 16 minutes through a Caroline Weir goal before an own goal made it 2-0 with just 23 minutes played. However Carlton Fairweather’s side rallied with a goal of their own from Brooke Chaplen on 31 minutes before she rescued a point with her second on the hour mark. Both sides were forced to settle for a draw but both remain unbeaten in the league after two games each. The first of two Sunday games saw Manchester City travel to Solihull to take on Birmingham City. Birmingham, having narrowly lost at Liverpool in the first round of WSL fixtures, were hoping to take advantage of City’s energy sapping extra time loss to Chelsea but despite a tight opening stage fell behind to a Daphne Corbox goal on 35 minutes. A tight first half was followed by a tense second half with Manchester City only securing the three points in the fifth minute of stoppage time thanks to a header from Jane Ross. It was the Scottish internationals fourth goal in four games. The win for City saw them return to the top of the pile with three wins from three games including three clean sheets. The weekend’s final game at Meadow Lane was equally dramatic as Notts County were twice forced to come from behind against Reading to earn a point. Helen Ward gave Reading the lead after six minutes before England International Jess Clarke brought the teams level on 32 minutes. Parity would last just six minutes however as Kirsty McGhee put Reading ahead again on 38 minutes. The lead was to last 26 minutes before Clarke added her second to earn a first point of the season for the Lady Pies. There’s a huge week of WSL action ahead with three mid-week matches ahead of a bank holiday weekend round of fixtures.
