The Barclays Women’s Super League action this weekend delivered up plenty of entertainment and drama, with late goals scored in many of the fixtures as teams showed some strong mentality to keep on targeting goals right up until the final whistle.
All-but two of the fixtures across matchweek three saw late goals scored at least after the 80th minute-mark, with Manchester City, Tottenham and Everton among the teams that benefited from wins, whilst Arsenal and Aston Villa salvaged late draws against Manchester United and Brighton respectively. Chelsea and London City Lionesses also claimed three points in their games on Saturday.
Here's the roundup of all the action from this busy third matchweek of the 2026/27 Barclays WSL campaign.
Manchester City 4-2 Liverpool
The action this past weekend started off in entertaining fashion with Manchester City needing two late goals to beat Liverpool at the Joie Stadium, maintaining their unbeaten home record under Andree Jeglertz, which has now equalled that of Chelsea’s 14-game winning run at home between September 2019 and January 2021.
Lauren Hemp scored the opener of the game for her first goal in the Barclays WSL since November last year, after running onto a pass by Carlotta Wamser before slotting past Khiara Keating in goal. Much like the previous fixture against Aston Villa, Lauren Hemp played a key role for Man City with their relentless approach. However, as the second half wore on, Liverpool began to cause their opponents a lot of problems with their press and energy, led by midfield duo Natalia Ramos and Fuka Nagano, which helped to shift momentum in their favour.
They took advantage and turned the game on its head with Alice Bergström levelling things up, and then with City’s defence unable to clear their lines, Vivian Endemann pounced to give the Reds the lead. Once again though, the momentum went back into the home side’s favour and Khadija Shaw made it 2-2, which was bundled home after Khiara Keating’s parry went behind her and created the scoring scenario for the Jamaican.
Shaw’s goal makes her the first Man City player in the Barclays WSL to score in all three of her opening games. She also now holds the outright record for the most home goals in the league’s history, overtaking Bethany England after the goal against Liverpool took her on to 52 home goals in her Barclays WSL career.
The second half was not as frenetic as the first 45, although it still continued to be a closely fought encounter that could have went either way. Liverpool were targeting a first away win in the league against Man City, but as the game went on, City’s pressure and intensity increased, to which the third goal came via a cross by Grace Clinton that was accidentally put into the goal by Liverpool captain Grace Fisk.
As Liverpool pressed for another late twist, Lauren Hemp ended up through on goal for Man City and calmly finished her second of the night to ensure Man City’s 100% record remains intact. Their mentality to keep on battling until the final minutes has been well-proven as they have managed more goals after 80+ minutes than any other Barclays WSL team since the start of last season (14).
Charlton Athletic 1-4 London City Lionesses
London City Lionesses earned their second victory of the season in an improved attacking display that saw them score four goals at The Valley against a Charlton Athletic side who have become just the fifth team in the history of the Barclays WSL to lose all three of their opening games.
Forward Isobel Goodwin starred in this one, scoring a quickfire double that put the away side comfortably ahead inside in the opening 15 minutes of the game. The first came after a well-placed pass in behind the defence by Alexia Putellas found the England youth international. The assist for Putellas is the first goal contribution she has managed in the league since joining, plus she also led the game with the joint-most touches in the opposition box (7), and completed the joint-most dribbles (3).
Her second was also taken confidently after another defence-splitting pass, this time by Daniela Arques. The 20-year-old Spaniard made her Barclays WSL debut as well in this one and was busy across the midfield areas. She made 129 touches across the 90 minutes, with only defender Mapi León making more (153). Argues also made the highest number of recoveries of any outfield player in the game (7).
Momentum was largely against Charlton as they tried to create anything going forward. They ended with six shots, and only one of them being on target after 90 minutes, and the one on target was their goal scored by Jodie Hutton in the 39th minute. The strike that went in off the underside of the crossbar after a run on the left side was one of the best goals of the weekend, however with Jana Fernández restoring the two-goal lead a few minutes later, London City restored some control to their performance.
Eder Maestre’s side limited any major Charlton attacking moments heavily in the second half, establishing much more of the possession which saw them end the game with 76% overall in that stat. They also missed four big chances in the second half to extend the lead further, one of which saw Goodwin miss out on the chance to score a hat-trick with a header over the bar. Summer signing Nicole Anyomi who replaced Goodwin off the bench did make it 4-1 however in the 76th minute to give herself a first Barclays WSL goal.
Charlton haven’t begun life in the top flight how they would have liked, with nine goals having been conceded and Jodie Hutton’s goal being the only one they have scored themselves. Manager Karen Hills has been vocal in how the team is getting up to speed and that they need to try and get results. “We are a new team, for a lot of these players it's their first time playing at this level. It's going to take time to get up to speed. These games are tough, it's a learning opportunity for these players, but we don't have time to just learn.”
Chelsea 2-0 Birmingham City
Back-to-back league victories and back-to-back clean sheets have happened for Chelsea as they won by two goals to nil against Birmingham City, continuing on from where they left off from last week’s 5-0 win over Manchester United.
Sonia Bompastor’s side came out of the blocks strongly and immediately put Birmingham under pressure, to which they were rewarded in the 8th minute after Lexi Potter managed to fire the ball into the goal following a clever flick from Alyssa Thompson which had been initially saved by goalkeeper Sophie Baggaley.
A sway of opportunities came the way of Chelsea in the first half as they dominated proceedings. 14 shots were had in total by the hosts, five of which were on target, and they could have been out of sight in the opening 20 minutes, with Alyssa Thompson going close one time and even Sjoeke Nüsken had a header hit the crossbar.
The numbers firmly backed how much control that Chelsea were having, ending the first half with 80% possession and 37 touches in the opposition box. However, in having not managed to establish some proper breathing space, things got nervy for the home side and Birmingham started to grow more in confidence.
Océane Hurtré was lively for Amy Merricks’ side again, and Wilma Liedhammar could have brought the game level if she had made better contact on the effort she had after sliding in to get on the end of Lily Crosthwaite’s cross. Suzu Amano also went close twice for the away team, but eventually Chelsea found a goal that would seal the three points.
With how it has been highlighted that Chelsea have struggled to be more clinical at times in front of goal, having summer signing from Manchester United Melvine Malard available was a welcomed boost. The French forward played for 27 minutes in this game and was able to score her first Chelsea goal in the Barclays WSL by capitalising on Millie Turner under-hitting her header back to Sophie Baggaley.
Arsenal 1-1 Manchester United
Both of these teams went into this game with something to work on after prior results before this past weekend, and both ended up leaving the Emirates Stadium with a point each after some late drama saw the game end level at 1-1.
For much of the first half, it was Arsenal who were putting the pressure on Manchester United’s backline, yet without too much created in the way of big chances. Stina Blackstenius had a chance stopped by a good save by Phallon Tullis-Joyce, and earlier in the half, Elisabeth Terland had some opportunities saved by Misa Rodríguez in goal.
There were improvements from Manchester United from a defensive point of view, and it was needed after leaking seven goals in the first two games of the season. As a defensive unit, they were a lot better having made 105 defensive actions as a team across the 90 minutes. Man Utd captain Maya Le Tissier led from the back and made the most defensive contributions individually in this game (20).
They grew in confidence to push higher up the pitch, and in one moment managed to capitalise on an underhit pass by Georgia Stanway that Julia Zigiotti Olme beat Steph Catley towards, and then eventually finished the ball away to make it 1-0.
Frustrations were setting in for Arsenal after going behind, and were at risk of being punished for another game where they were lacking that clinical edge up top. In terms of most shots in the game, Stina Blackstenius had three, but so did defender Leah Williamson. One player who did have an impact for Renee Slegers’s side was substitute Smilla Holmberg when she scored the equaliser in the fifth minute of stoppage time to salvage a point for her team.
Even though it was another draw for Arsenal, it still meant that they extended their unbeaten streak in the Barclays WSL to 20 games. For Eva Olid and Man Utd, the wait goes on for their first win in the league.
Brighton and Hove Albion 1-1 Aston Villa
Brighton and Aston Villa are still searching for their first victories after the game at the American Express Stadium ended all-level at 1-1, and it was one where the home side largely had control of things, yet the away team scored late on to snatch a point in the end.
These two teams were 10th and 11th respectively heading into it, and it is the same positions that they remain in after its conclusion, with Brighton left to regret many missed opportunities to put the game to bed. They produced 25 shots in total with an xG of 3.17, and the shot total was eight more than what they managed in their 2-2 draw with Birmingham City the week before. The shot total in this one for the Seagulls was also their highest total registered in any game since the 2024/25 Barclays WSL campaign.
A set-piece had led to Arturo Ruiz’s side taking the lead in the 30th minute, and it was a goal for summer signing Gabby George on her first start for the club. The defender played for 89 minutes and didn’t have a lot to do defensively given how Brighton were able to limit Aston Villa’s chances and ability to progress up the pitch with their intense pressing.
Another top display from Aston Villa goalkeeper Akane Okuma proved to be key once again, registering seven saves to keep her team in it. Villa found it difficult for the majority of the game to get a lot going up front, only managing to have two shots all game, one of which was the only shot on target and subsequently the winning goal to complete a proper smash-and-grab draw for Natalia Arroyo’s side.
The equaliser was also courtesy of a set-piece, but with this one coming straight from the corner itself as Lynn Wilms swung the ball in and hit over the many bodies crowded around the six-yard box to find the net. Aston Villa have averaged a total of 39.5 possession across their first three games, and despite that they have two points on the board.
Crystal Palace 0-7 Tottenham Hotspur
Selhurst Park was the home venue for this all-London clash as Crystal Palace took on Tottenham Hotspur, with both sides unbeaten in their opening two games and looking to try and continue that momentum. But a key moment in the early stages of the game proved to be decisive in how this one played out.
Crystal Palace’s on-loan midfielder Fuka Tsunoda was sent off with a straight red card just before the seventh minute, after being judged to have made a bad challenge on Cathinka Tandberg. Going down to ten players at that stage of the game left them at a disadvantage from there on in, and Tottenham firmly took control of the game.
For Palace it was going to have to be a replication of the solid defensive display shown against Arsenal the week before if they were to get anything from this one. The home side did well to hold out until half-time under what was a lot of pressure from Spurs’ attack to try and open the scoring.
Martin Ho’s Spurs side had 18 shots in the first half, and amassed an xG of just 1.31 with only one shot on target. The woodwork was also hit on two occasions in the opening 45. It wasn’t long though at the start of the second half when the deadlock was broken through Olivia Holdt’s first goal of the season.
The Danish international was among Tottenham’s best performers last season and was making her first start of the current Barclays WSL season, to which she certainly managed to impress. She went on to score two more goals and complete her hat-trick in an outstanding performance before being substituted after the 74th minute. At 3-0, Spurs didn’t let up as more goals followed, with Victoria Pelova scoring her first goal for the club to make it 4-0, and then Shekiera Martinez and Amanda Nildén scored one each before Pelova grabbed her second.
It was a ruthless showing from Tottenham, ending the game with an xG of 4.69 and a staggering 42 shots, as well as 82 touches in the opposition box. Their season has started well, and they end the weekend in second place with the highest goal difference in the league at this time.
West Ham United 0-1 Everton
The Chigwell Construction Stadium played host to the lowest-scoring game of this weekend in the Women’s Super League, with West Ham and Everton aiming to continue where they left off last weekend with their respective victories, and in the end it was the away side that walked away with three points.
The first half was an evenly contested one between these teams, although it was another opening 45 minutes where Everton didn’t register a shot on target. They came close to scoring through Ornella Vignola after the Spaniard rounded Constance Picaud-Inconnu, but she was unable to get the ball away and then Rosa van Gool fired an effort wide. Hannah Silcock also missed a header from a short range, and the defender was involved in West Ham’s best chance of the half after being dispossessed by Riko Ueki, before the Japanese international fired the ball over the bar.
Everton’s midfield were busy in both attacking and defensive aspects of the game, with Ruby Mace leading the game with 12 defensive contributions and producing the joint-most created chances compared to her teammates, along with Ornella Vignola (2).
For the home side, Riko Ueki did continue to be their main attacking threat, but they did struggle to properly test Everton’s goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan, who only had three saves to make all game. A few half chances came for Viviane Asseyi and former Everton player Kelly Gago, however the goal that eventually came, whilst scored by a West Ham player, ended up being for the opposition.
Scott Phelan’s side are still yet to see a goal from any of their own players in this campaign, with the two goals scored so far both being from own goals, and the one that won it for them this time was from a dangerous cross by Yuka Momiki that went in off Laia Codina. It was unconventional, but Everton have two wins from their first three games, which is better than what they achieved at this point last season when it took them until December to get their second win.
