Right then. Matchweek Three of the WSL has finished, and apparently the league has collectively decided that calmly seeing out a football match is boring. Late goals? Yes. Comebacks? Yes. A 95th-minute equaliser? Obviously. One team having 42 shots? Somehow, yes. Everton winning despite Everton players still not actually scoring an Everton goal this season? Well, there we go. Here is your Week 3 review. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Manchester City 4-2 Liverpool Friday night football started sensibly enough. Then everyone remembered they were supposed to entertain us. Lauren Hemp opened the scoring, Liverpool flipped the match completely through Alice Bergström and Vivian Endemann, Khadija Shaw made it 2-2, and for a while this looked like it could go absolutely anywhere. Unfortunately for Liverpool, Manchester City have developed a slight habit of turning the final stages of matches into their own personal overtime. Grace Fisk's own goal put City ahead before Hemp grabbed her second to finish it. 4-2. Three wins from three for City. Shaw has now scored in each of City's opening three league matches and became the outright WSL record-holder for home league goals with 52. And City have now scored 14 goals after the 80th minute since the start of last season, more than anyone else in the league. So if you're playing City and the clock hits 80:00... Maybe unplug it. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Charlton Athletic 1-4 London City Lionesses London City arrived at The Valley and apparently decided sightseeing could wait. Isobel Goodwin scored twice inside the opening 15 minutes, including one assisted by Alexia Putellas for her first league goal contribution since joining. Charlton did produce one of the goals of the weekend through Jodie Hutton, smashing one in off the underside of the bar. Lovely goal. Unfortunately, London City responded with the footballing equivalent of: "That's nice. Anyway..." Jana Fernández restored the two-goal advantage before Nicole Anyomi made it four. London City finished with 76% possession, while Charlton have now started their top-flight campaign with three defeats. The Lionesses weren't just in The Valley. They were all over it. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chelsea 2-0 Birmingham City Chelsea's opening draw with Aston Villa suddenly feels quite a long time ago. They followed last week's 5-0 win against Manchester United with another victory and another clean sheet. Lexi Potter scored after eight minutes, Chelsea had 14 first-half shots and 80% possession, and Birmingham spent quite a lot of the opening period being asked whether they would like the ball back. To Birmingham's credit, they stayed in it and created opportunities of their own. But when Chelsea finally needed the second goal, Melvine Malard arrived to score her first league goal for the club. Chelsea: two consecutive wins. Chelsea: two consecutive clean sheets. Chelsea machine status: apparently rebooting successfully. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Arsenal 1-1 Manchester United Manchester United conceded seven goals across their opening two matches. So naturally they went to the Emirates and very nearly won. Because football. United were much improved defensively, with Maya Le Tissier leading a far more organised back line, and Julia Zigiotti Olme punished an Arsenal mistake to put them ahead. Arsenal pushed. United defended. The clock ticked. 90 minutes passed. United supporters began considering the possibility of relaxation. That was their mistake. 95th minute: Smilla Holmberg. 1-1. Arsenal's unbeaten WSL run is now 20 matches. United are still searching for their first league victory of the season, but after conceding seven in the first two games, taking a point away at Arsenal is a fairly substantial improvement. Arsenal really did hit the "one more attack" button until it worked. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brighton 1-1 Aston Villa Brighton had: 25 shots. 3.17 xG. And one goal. Aston Villa had: Two shots. And one goal. Somewhere, expected goals has submitted a formal complaint. Gabby George put Brighton ahead on her first start, and the Seagulls spent much of the afternoon creating enough opportunities to win several football matches. Villa goalkeeper Akane Okuma made seven saves. Then, late on, Lynn Wilms scored directly from a corner. Yes. An actual Olimpico. Villa basically looked at Brighton's 25 shots, looked at their own two, shrugged, and left with the same number of points. That is not smash-and-grab. That is smash-and-politely-borrow. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crystal Palace 0-7 Tottenham Hotspur This scoreline becomes even stranger when you learn the half-time score. Crystal Palace 0-0 Tottenham. Palace had been reduced to ten players after Fuka Tsunoda's early red card, but they survived the entire first half despite Spurs having 18 shots. At half-time, Palace could reasonably think: "We're still in this." Spurs returned from the dressing room and chose violence. Olivia Holdt scored. Then scored again. Then scored again. Hat-trick. Victoria Pelova scored twice, while Shekiera Martinez and Amanda Nildén joined in too. Final Spurs statistics: Seven goals. 42 shots. 82 touches in the Palace box. 4.69 xG. From 0-0 at half-time to 0-7 at full-time. That second half didn't escalate. It launched. Spurs finish the weekend second in the table and currently have the best goal difference in the league. I think we may have to start taking Tottenham rather seriously. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- West Ham 0-1 Everton And finally we arrive at what may already be my favourite statistical oddity of the season. Everton have scored two league goals this season. Everton players have scored... Zero of them. Their opponents are doing it for them. Yuka Momiki sent a dangerous ball across goal, it went in off West Ham's Laia Codina, and Everton collected their second win of the campaign. Their two WSL goals this season have therefore both been own goals. Why employ a goalscorer when your opponents provide a complimentary service? Efficiency. Everton already have two victories after three matches. Last season, they had to wait until December for win number two. The methods may be unconventional, but nobody gives you fewer points because the other team scored your winner. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So, what did Week 3 teach us? Manchester City remain perfect. Tottenham just put seven past an unbeaten Palace side after being held goalless for 45 minutes. Chelsea appear to be gathering momentum. Arsenal remain unbeaten but have already become very familiar with dramatic rescue missions. London City Lionesses are settling nicely into season two in the WSL. Brighton's xG department probably needs a lie down. And Everton have apparently discovered football's greatest loophole: simply persuade the opposition to score your goals for you. Three matchweeks down. If this is the level of nonsense we're getting in September, this season could be tremendous. What was your moment of the weekend? And more importantly: which result surprised you the most?   submitted by   /u/MonthRemarkable9919 [link]   [comments]