It was quite the second matchweek in the Women’s Super League. Chelsea put five past Manchester United, Crystal Palace somehow emerged from the Emirates with a clean sheet, and Manchester City became the only side in the division to win both of their opening matches. West Ham and Everton also picked up their first victories of the campaign, while Liverpool and Tottenham shared the points. Birmingham and Brighton did the same, although in considerably more dramatic circumstances. Here’s how all seven WSL fixtures unfolded in Matchweek Two. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- West Ham United 2-1 London City Lionesses West Ham are up and running. The Hammers claimed their first three points of the season with a 2-1 win over London City Lionesses at the Chigwell Construction Stadium, with several of their summer additions playing significant roles. Kelly Gago opened the scoring after Seraina Piubel sliced open the defence with a perfectly weighted pass. Gago used her pace, rounded Elene Lete and calmly finished to put West Ham ahead. That remained the difference at half-time. London City struggled to establish any sustained rhythm against a West Ham side determined to disrupt them. Rita Guarino’s team made nine interceptions during the opening 45 minutes, with Katie Zelem particularly influential. Zelem finished the afternoon with six interceptions, 13 recoveries and nine successful ground duels from 14 attempts. Nadine Riesen went even further defensively, recording 17 defensive contributions and winning 13 of her 18 ground duels. West Ham then produced something resembling a replay of the opening goal early in the second half. This time Riko Ueki supplied the pass, Viviane Asseyi raced through and the Hammers had breathing room at 2-0. London City did make things interesting through Daniëlle van de Donk, who apparently has decided ordinary finishes are overrated. She scored with a backheel for the second week running to reduce the deficit. But there was no late escape. West Ham held on for their first victory of the season. Before Saturday, they had won their opening WSL home fixture in only one of the previous six campaigns, so Guarino will hope this represents a more promising beginning. For London City and Eder Maestre, attention turns towards trying to respond next week. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Manchester United 0-5 Chelsea Well, Chelsea certainly found their shooting boots. After failing to win on the opening weekend, Sonia Bompastor’s side responded by dismantling Manchester United 5-0 away from home, with five different players getting on the scoresheet. Sjoeke Nüsken began the rout in the 21st minute before Keira Walsh doubled Chelsea’s lead 11 minutes later. United offered very little in response. They managed only one shot during the first half and just two throughout the entire match. Perhaps even more strikingly, United recorded only four touches inside Chelsea’s penalty area. Chelsea, meanwhile, were considerably more clinical than they had been against Aston Villa a week earlier. Lauren James scored the third against her former club, continuing what has become quite the habit: she now has seven goals in all competitions against Manchester United since leaving for Chelsea in 2021. Ellie Carpenter added the fourth only a couple of minutes later before Lucy Bronze completed the five-star afternoon in the sixth minute of stoppage time. Chelsea’s intensity gave United very little opportunity to settle, while Bompastor’s players combined goals with assists and strong individual performances across the pitch. Chelsea therefore have their first victory of the campaign. For Eva Olid and Manchester United, however, the opening fortnight has been considerably tougher. This is the first time United have failed to win either of their opening two WSL matches since 2019/20. Not quite the September they had drawn up. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Birmingham City 2-2 Brighton & Hove Albion Birmingham looked set for victory. Then Brighton arrived very, very late. Océane Hurtré, who had already impressed and scored during Birmingham’s opening-week defeat against Manchester City, struck again after just eight minutes to give Amy Merricks’ side the lead. Brighton enjoyed plenty of possession, but Birmingham managed the first half effectively. Fran Kirby came close to marking her 150th league appearance with a goal, although the hosts reached the interval still in front. Birmingham then doubled their advantage after half-time through Lily Crosthwaite. Last season’s WSL 2 Player of the Season produced a clinical finish beyond Chiamaka Nnadozie to score her first top-flight goal and seemingly put Birmingham in command. But Brighton increased the pressure. Sophie Baggaley was again required to perform some heavy lifting in the Birmingham goal. Having made seven saves against Manchester City last weekend, she made another seven here. For most of the afternoon, that looked sufficient. Olivia Garcia eventually pulled one back, opening her WSL account for the campaign and setting up a nervous finish. Then came the final act. With Brighton throwing almost everything forward, Kiko Seike collected possession, found a pocket of space and scored with virtually the final kick of the match. From 2-0 down to 2-2. Cruel for Birmingham, huge for Brighton, and probably not particularly helpful for the blood pressure of anybody involved. The equaliser earned Arturo Ruiz his first WSL point as Brighton manager. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Everton 1-0 Charlton Athletic Everton have their first victory of the season, although this was hardly straightforward. An own goal ultimately separated the sides in a match that Charlton finished with nine players. Clear chances were scarce during the opening half, which was reflected in the xG: Everton produced 0.26 compared with Charlton’s 0.52. The best opportunity belonged to Ashleigh Neville, whose spectacular half-volley from around 30 yards crashed against the crossbar. It would have been some way to mark her 127th WSL appearance. Her afternoon instead took a rather different turn. Neville was sent off in the 58th minute after a high challenge on Ruby Mace, leaving Charlton with ten players after she had been one of their strongest performers. Everton gradually took control from there. They finished with 78% possession and eventually made their numerical advantage count when summer signing Holly McNamara delivered into the middle and the ball found its way into the net via Leighanne Robe. Not necessarily one for the Goal of the Month reel, but they all count the same. Everton kept Charlton pinned back afterwards and the visitors' problems deepened when debutant Hawa Cissoko received a second yellow card during her second-half cameo. Charlton finished with nine. For Scott Phelan’s Everton, it represents an immediate response after last weekend’s defeat against promoted side Crystal Palace. Ruby Mace was another standout performer, creating a match-high three chances while completing 91% of her passes. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Liverpool 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur Two teams who won on opening weekend remain unbeaten after cancelling each other out at Liverpool. The hosts controlled substantial periods without creating many clear openings, while both teams recorded six first-half attempts. Only Liverpool managed a shot on target during that period. Naturally, Tottenham were the team who scored. Signe Gaupset delivered from the left and the ball took a considerable deflection off Liverpool’s Sam Kerr, looping beyond Khiara Keating and into the net. Sometimes football does not require permission from the shot-on-target column. Liverpool responded after the interval. Gareth Taylor’s side began producing opportunities, although initially without seriously testing Lize Kop. Half-time substitute Aurélie Csillag eventually changed that. Having replaced Beata Olsson, Csillag headed Liverpool level and went on to make a substantial impact. She finished with the joint-most touches inside the opposition penalty area, with five, and the joint-most shots, with four. Neither side could find another breakthrough. After victories last weekend, Liverpool and Tottenham therefore move to four points apiece and remain unbeaten after two matches. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Arsenal 0-0 Crystal Palace Thirty shots. Seventy-nine per cent possession. Seventy-four touches inside the opposition penalty area. Zero goals. Football, everybody. Arsenal completely dominated their first WSL match of the season at the Emirates but could not find a way through an exceptional Crystal Palace defensive performance. Renée Slegers’ side attempted 30 shots compared with Palace’s two, yet Jo Potter’s newly promoted visitors survived everything thrown at them. A lot of the credit belongs to Pauline Peyraud-Magnin. The former Arsenal goalkeeper, who played for the club between 2018 and 2020, made eight saves against her old side, including six from attempts inside the penalty area. Palace spent much of the afternoon defending deep inside their own half, but their organisation remained remarkably disciplined. Arsenal still had opportunities. Mariona Caldentey and Lisa Baum both struck the crossbar, while Alessia Russo continues to wait for her first league goal of the season. The Gunners at least extended their unbeaten WSL run to 19 matches, equalling the club record previously established between August 2011 and October 2012. For Palace, though, this was another significant statement. They now have four points from their opening two matches without conceding a single goal. That is particularly notable considering Palace managed only one clean sheet across 22 games during last season’s WSL 2 promotion campaign. They have also avoided defeat in a WSL all-London fixture for the first time and become the first newly promoted side in WSL history to keep an away clean sheet against a team who finished in the top two the previous season. The Great Wall of South London appears to be under construction. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Aston Villa 1-4 Manchester City Two games. Two wins. Manchester City are the last remaining team with a perfect record after continuing their title defence with a convincing 4-1 victory at Villa Park. City started quickly. Aston Villa goalkeeper Akane Okuma failed to properly clear with a punch and Jade Rose capitalised from around six yards to give the champions the lead. Fifteen minutes later, Mary Fowler doubled it with a strike from outside the penalty area. Villa did respond through Amalie Vangsgaard, who scored her first WSL goal since joining Natalia Arroyo’s side this summer. But City could easily have scored more even before that. Khadija Shaw headed against the post and Lauren Hemp saw a close-range effort denied by Okuma. Shaw eventually got her goal, moving onto three for the season already. The assist also produced a significant milestone for Hemp, who became only the seventh player in WSL history to reach 100 career goal contributions. Hemp was excellent throughout, operating relentlessly down City's left side and finishing joint-top for chances created with four and shots attempted with six. She almost added a goal of her own during stoppage time, although the final touch was credited as a Mathilde Harviken own goal to complete the 4-1 scoreline. Manchester City therefore finish Matchweek Two as the only side with six points from six. Remarkably, it is the first time since 2015 that only one team has won both of its opening two matches in a WSL season. It is extremely early, of course. But the defending champions are already occupying familiar territory at the front of the queue.   submitted by   /u/MonthRemarkable9919 [link]   [comments]