Barclays WSL Matchweek 19 Roundup 

This is the Matchweek 19 roundup, and it was an entertaining weekend across all six Barclays Women’s Super League matches, with 19 goals scored in total, including two seven-goal thrillers as things start to heat up with all the battles that remain in play.

Bragging rights were there to be claimed in three big derby matches, and crucial points were still looking to be secured by many clubs, with implications on the race to finish in the top three, plus the battle to avoid finishing around the relegation play-off spot.

Everton 2-3 Liverpool

The opening derby day clash came from Goodison Park as Everton and Liverpool faced off, and it was the red half of Merseyside who were celebrating at the end of it following a 3-2 win that saw the away side hang on towards the end after a little fight back from Everton as the second half went on.

After a good start to the opening half of the match, Liverpool tested the Everton goal with a header that hit the post before a handball was given in the box against Inma Gabarro following a scramble in the penalty area. The ball bounced up and was judged to have struck the arm of Gabarro, and then it was Ceri Holland who converted the penalty to give her team the lead with her first of the match.

The goal conceded meant it was the sixth time this season that Everton have conceded in the opening 15 minutes of the first half, and it is a stat in which only Aston Villa and London City Lionesses have conceded more in that opening time frame. The home side conceded again before the 20th minute mark, and a cross by Alejandra Bernabé was headed into the net by Everton’s Martina Fernández.

Some improvements came from Everton, but they would find themselves 3-0 down before half-time as Ceri Holland dribbled towards goal, unchallenged from the halfway line with pace before curling a shot into the top corner and putting Liverpool comfortably in control as the first half ended.

Early in the second half, Everton were forced into a substitution after Inma Gabarro appeared to get her foot stuck, and stayed down before she was subbed off. They needed one moment to go their way, and a deflection off Aurora Galli’s free-kick gave them a lifeline to come back into the match. It wasn’t long afterwards when more fortunes were heading in their direction as Grace Fisk picked up a second yellow card for an off-the-ball trip on Zara Kramžar after reacting to an initial challenge by Kramžar beforehand. It was the first red card Grace Fisk has received in her Barclays WSL career.

The Slovenian hit the crossbar at one point in the later stages as Everton had momentum in their favour. When it got into stoppage time, Kramžar grabbed her first Barclays WSL goal to make it interesting in the final seven minutes of added time. Liverpool hung on however, and they recorded their first away victory of the league campaign.

Manchester United 0-3 Manchester City

Manchester City are inching ever closer to becoming the WSL champions for the 2025/26 campaign after a 3-0 win at Old Trafford this past Saturday over their rivals Manchester United. The away side matched the scoreline in which they beat United with earlier in the season, and were comfortably the better side for most of the match on this occasion as well.

An impressive display by Manchester City was started off with a couple of opportunities going close to leading to the opening goal of the match. Phallon Tullis-Joyce had to pull off some early saves, and was also thankful for the crossbar as it kept out an effort from range by Lauren Hemp. The first goal would come eventually though, as Vivianne Miedema headed the ball into the net in the 17th minute.

Once again, Manchester City showcased their set-piece strengths and made it a 14th goal in the Barclays WSL for this season from set-pieces. Miedema peeled off from her marker and beat another United player to the ball to make it 1-0, and she didn’t have to wait long to grab her second of the match.

The Dutch international was not covered well by United’s defence as she headed in another goal just two minutes after opening the scoring. For Miedema it was also a goal that helped her make it bit of history this weekend as she became the first player in Barclays Women’s Super League history to score at least ten goals in five different seasons.

Control of the match was firmly being felt by Manchester City in their own rival’s stadium, and they got their third of the match when Kerstin Casparij followed up at the back post from a Lauren Hemp, and celebrated towards the away fans as City dealt a blow to Manchester United’s top-three hopes. The game ended 3-0 and it means that Andrée Jeglertz’s side only require at least two wins from their final three to be crowned as champions.

As for Manchester United, they continue to be a part of this close battle to finish in the top three places in the table. They slipped down the table this weekend out of the top three and also are having to balance that battle with their focus towards staying in the UEFA Women’s Champions League as they head into the second leg of their quarter-final behind to Bayern Munich this midweek.

Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham Hotspur

In front of a crowd of 46,123 at the Emirates Stadium, it was Arsenal who claimed the bragging rights of the North London derby yet again and made it a second week in a row where they have scored five goals in a Women’s Super League match at their home stadium.

It’s also the second WSL match in succession that Tottenham have conceded five goals in, and it took five minutes before Alessia Russo headed in from a corner to make it 1-0. Two minutes later and it was 2-0 as Russo doubled her tally with well-timed run in behind the defence before calmly rounding Lize Kop and precisely finding the bottom left corner in scoring.

A goal was pulled back by Tottenham as they aimed to make it an interesting encounter once Frida Maanum ended up heading into her own net following some pressure from her Norwegian compatriot Cathinka Tandberg. Just as Spurs looked to be finding their grove, they went behind by a two-goal cushion again, and Alessia Russo completed her hat-trick after a poor pass out from the back by Lize Kop in the Tottenham goal. The hat-trick was the first one ever registered by Alessia Russo in the time she has been with Arsenal.

In the second half, Arsenal looked to cement their lead and it took some time to do, but half-time substitute Caitlin Foord made it 4-1 after a smart turn by her was followed by a decent finish at goal. The changes Arsenal made helped them to see the game out, but Tottenham weren’t out of it in terms of scoring.

The impact from substitutes in this match was not finished in the second half, as Bethany England marked her 200th appearance in the Women’s Super League with a late strike that ended up as nothing more than another consolation. Stina Blackstenius had the last word though when it came down to goals in this one. Following a pass by Victoria Pelova, the Swedish forward was sent running through on goal before scoring Arsenal’s fifth of the match in stoppage time.

With two games in hand over their rivals for the top three place, Arsenal find themselves in a strong position in third after this weekend, and with all the momentum as they extend their unbeaten run in all competitions to 11 matches. They now also find themselves on a five-match winning streak in the league. Tottenham on the other hand have now lost three in a row, which is the first-time Martin Ho’s side have been beaten that much in consecutive matches this season.

Chelsea 4-3 Aston Villa

A seven-goal thriller played out at Kingsmeadow between Chelsea and Aston Villa, and in the end, it was the home side who claimed the three points to boost their hopes of finishing in the top three this season.

Sonia Bompastor’s side did not get off to the best of starts after a mis-placed pass by Lucy Bronze led to an Aston Villa attack which was capitalised on as Lynn Wilms crossed the ball over to find Chasity Grant, who made it 1-0 inside the first two minutes. The Dutch combination worked well for Villa, and for Grant it was her first goal of the campaign.

Chelsea found a response in the 20th minute, which then sparked this match into life in the first 45. Sam Kerr levelled things after following up on a through ball by Sjoeke Nüsken, and then two more goals in quick succession saw Chelsea go 3-1 up, firstly with a Lauren James cross just getting a small touch off the head of Naomi Girma for her first goal in the WSL, and then James herself scored from outside the box to continue her fantastic form with another goal.

Aston Villa had managed to conjure up a response of their own, and it was their go-to goal scorer Kirsty Hanson getting on the scoresheet once again. She made it 3-2 after converting in from another cross by full-back Lynn Wilms, and the two players were combining as well for the goal which levelled the game back at 3-3.

The goal that got Hanson her 12th of the campaign came from another cross that was headed up and brought back down by Wilms to then be struck in off Hanson’s right foot and beat Hannah Hampton at the bottom left corner. It meant a hat-trick of assists for Wilms, becoming just the fourth Aston Villa player to achieve that in the Barclays WSL.

Following a mad first half which was the first time in Barclays WSL history that two teams had scored three goals before half-time in the same match, the second half wasn’t as eventful although Chelsea were in control of proceedings for the most part. A couple of chances came there way via Alyssa Thompson and Sam Kerr, but an effort from range by Kirsty Hanson that struck the corner of the post was the closest effort before the eventual winner by Sjoeke Nüsken.

With all the late pressure that Chelsea had in the later stages, the German midfielder had the ball set up to her by Sam Kerr, and she curled it into the far corner and secured the three points for Chelsea to take them second in the table ahead of a big week for them as they aim to remain in the UEFA Women’s Champions League.

West Ham United 1-1 London City Lionesses

It ended all-square at one-each between West Ham United and London City Lionesses at the Chigwell Construction Stadium, with a goal in either half for both sides, and a result that leaves West Ham still above Leicester City in 11th-place after this weekend.

Some early momentum was with West Ham as they started the game brightly through an early chance for Shekiera Martinez that went wide of the goal, and also a few opportunities came their way on a couple of corners. But it was on the counter-attack from one corner just before the 20th minute when London City Lionesses caught the home side out.

Freya Godfrey led the fast-break into the other half of the pitch and then slotted in her teammate Jana Fernández to open the scoring. It helped to shift momentum into the away side’s favour, but not much else was created by Eder Maestre’s side in the first half. It could be said that neither team had offered too much on the attacking front in the opening half, with West Ham having only registered three shots to London City’s two. The goal was also the only shot on target between the two teams in the opening 45.

There weren’t much of a vast improvement as the second half played out, and Isobel Goodwin came close on one occasion to doubling London City’s lead. Some more good work by Freya Godfrey via a cutback inside found Goodwin who could only hit the ball wide of the goal.

Things had improved for West Ham United and they managed to get a goal back via a sure-fire goal of the month contender by Oona Siren. Saki Kumagai headed the ball away after Viviane Asseyi’s free-kick couldn’t find a West Ham player in the box, but Siren hit a first-time volley that was struck well and found the net, looking like it had deceived Elene Lete as the London City Lionesses keeper couldn’t get the best hand on it.

After that equaliser, West Ham built back up momentum as the second half went on and chances for their two forwards Riko Ueki and Shekiera Martinez ended up going wide in close fashion. A point was earned each and West Ham now have a four-point cushion over Leicester City after this weekend. Failure to hold on for the win for London City makes it two straight draws, but also five games in all competitions without a win.

Leicester City 0-1 Brighton and Hove Albion

Just the one-goal was needed by Brighton & Hove Albion as they ended their winless run going back to January 23rd and made it a seventh-consecutive defeat for Leicester City as they now find themselves four points behind at the bottom of the Barclays WSL table.

Brighton ended the encounter with 15 shots, and seven of them were on target with Leicester City goalkeeper Janina Leitzig having to make six saves in total to avoid the scoreline being a much bigger one. The best of the saves was one that Leitzig had to make in the first half to deny Caitlin Hayes from heading in off a corner.

Brighton carried on where they left off in the first half in terms of dominating proceedings, and it took them three minutes of the second half before breaking the deadlock through Kiko Seike scoring in her third straight Barclays WSL match. The Japanese forward was playing for the first time since being away at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup with Japan.

As well as Seike, Fran Kirby and Rosa Kafaji played well for Brighton, and both were involved on the goal as Kirby sent Kafaji through on goal, before the Arsenal loanee was able to tap it across to Seike to score into the empty goal after Leitzig came out to stop Kafaji from scoring.

Chances were minimal from Leicester City in this match after registering just five across the 90 minutes plus added time. There attacking issues continue to be a cause for concern as they are ranked at the bottom in stats such as lowest conversion rate and fewest big chances created. With four points now being the gap between themselves and West Ham, they have to win one of their remaining four matches to at least have a chance of avoiding the relegation play-off.