Chelsea thrash City to close in on Arsenal at the top of the WSL, Brighton move into top three as Manchester United held

ByIbrahim Mustapha

Updated 14/11/2021 at 19:25 GMT

A poor start to the season for City continued as they were on the receiving end of a hammering at home to the reigning WSL champions. Goals from Jessie Fleming, Sam Kerr, Fran Kirby and Magdalena Eriksson moved the Blues within a point of league leaders Arsenal. Elsewhere, there were draws for Manchester United and West Ham, and a dramatic late win for Brighton.

Chelsea thrashed Manchester City 4-0 to move within a point of league leaders Arsenal at the top of the WSL.

With the Gunners held 1-1 by Tottenham in the north London derby 24 hours earlier, the reigning champions knew they had a chance to close in on their rivals with a win over struggling City.

Wasting little time to get going, Jessie Fleming pounced on a sloppy pass by Karima Taieb in the City goal after just a minute, before rounding the keeper with ease to slot home for 1-0.

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To their credit, City reacted well to going behind and spent much of the first half on top, forcing Chelsea to sit deep in their own half.

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Caroline Weir had a great chance to equalise for the hosts but was denied by Blues stopper Ann-Katrin Berger.

However, in added time at the end of the first half, Chelsea punished their opponents after a devastating counter-attack, with Sam Kerr finishing from close range.

Chelsea turned the screw after the break with Fran Kirby making it three from inside the penalty area on 51 minutes before captain Magdalena Eriksson’s header completed the rout four minutes later.

Manchester United missed out on a chance to close in on the top three after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Everton.

Tottenham’s draw meant a United win would put them level on points with the north Londoners who had occupied the final Champions League place at the start of the day.

Ella Toone gave them the perfect start with a fantastic long-range strike from the edge of the penalty area after just 10 minutes.

However, a defensive mix-up in the second half allowed Simone Magill to level the scores with 15 minutes to play.

Ella Toone of Manchester United Women scores their first goal during the Barclays FA Women's Super League match between Everton Women and Manchester United Women at Walton Hall Park on November 14, 2021 in Liverpool, England.

Image credit: Getty Images

Brighton were able to capitalise on Spurs and United dropping points this weekend and now find themselves in the top three courtesy of Maisie Symonds’ stoppage time free kick to beat Leicester, who remain bottom with no points.

The second City derby went the way of Aston Villa as Anita Asante’s first half header was enough for all three points against rivals Birmingham.

West Ham and Reading played out an entertaining 2-2 draw as the Royals battled back from 2-0 down to snatch a dramatic draw.

Lisa Evans opened the scoring before Grace Fisk doubled the Hammers’ advantage before the break.

Abbey-Leigh Stringer’s own goal gave the visitors hope with 20 minutes to play before 19-year-old substitute Emma Harries’ 93rd minute header was adjudged to have crossed the line despite West Ham protests.

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