After a short international hiatus, women’s club football returned over the weekend bringing all the usual thrills and spills with it.
In the Women’s Super League (WSL), Sonia Bompastor’s Chelsea put in a five-star performance to pile more misery on winless Everton, who stay at the foot of the table with West Ham, as the Hammers lost 2-1 to Tottenham Hotspur in stoppage time. Elsewhere, Aston Villa surrendered all three points to Liverpool, Nikita Parris’ lone strike against Leicester City lifted Brighton to third, leapfrogging Manchester United who drew 1-1 at home to Arsenal, before leaders Manchester City saw off Crystal Palace 3-0.
The impact of the fatal floods in Spain saw Valencia vs. Deportivo and Real Madrid vs. Levante postponed in Liga F, while leaders Barcelona beat Eibar 4-0. In Germany, a stoppage-time double from Giovanna Hoffmann gave RB Leipzig a 3-1 win over Hoffenheim who fall into seventh, with Wolfsburg’s 3-0 win over Freiburg taking them top. In Serie A, Juventus still lead but Fiorentina widened the gap to third-placed Inter Milan after coming from behind to win 2-1.
Chelsea and Manchester United continued their undefeated starts to the WSL season, but in two very different ways.
Man United were fortunate to escape with a point against Arsenal, preserving their streak despite an uncharacteristically lacklustre display given their fine start to the campaign. United managed just 10 touches in Arsenal’s box and only six shots; a stark contrast to Arsenal’s 50 touches and 19 attempts.
Arsenal’s Alessia Russo broke the deadlock against her old team just past the hour mark before Melvine Malard equalised in the 83rd minute with a looping header. In their first test against a top-four opponent, United conceded only their second goal of the season and did well to recover from an early misstep as Marc Skinner’s second-half substitutions paid off.
Meanwhile, Chelsea’s dominant start continued with a commanding 5-0 victory over Everton in a clinical, rambunctious performance. It marked the second time this season that the Blues have had more than four different players on the scoresheet, following their 7-0 rout of Crystal Palace.
They may be behind Manchester City at the top but with five wins from five games, a nine-goal lead in goal difference and a game in hand (set for Nov. 23 against Man United), Sonia Bompastor’s side are firmly establishing themselves as frontrunners in the league. — Keogh
Tottenham continue to benefit from own goals by their opponents this season. This time, in a 2-1 win over West Ham, the decisive effort came in the 92nd minute from an unusual and spectacular own goal by Camila Sáez. Under pressure from Lenna Gunning-Williams, Saez attempted a clearance but inadvertently lofted the ball over her own goalkeeper and into the net. Had it been scored at the other end, it could have been a Goal of the Month contender.
Beth England had cancelled out Riko Ueki’s opener but Spurs got lucky as they struggled for proficiency in the final third once again. With tough tests against Manchester City and Arsenal coming up, they won’t be able to rely on luck for much longer. – Keogh
Since he first took the Spurs job, manager Robert Vilahamn has alluded to his problem-solving abilities and willingness to find inventive ways of making the pieces fit together. But even if you like chocolate cake, mixing it with curry is probably not the best idea. Vilahamn is not short of attacking options, but for all the talent he has in his attack, the club seem to be going in the wrong direction. — Lawson
Sunday saw another edition of the somewhat one-sided Classique féminin: Lyon vs. Paris Saint-Germain. France’s perpetual winners up (Lyon) against France’s perpetual runners up (PSG) and, as has so often been the case over the years, it was Lyon who prevailed over their rivals with a 1-0 win.
Before the match Lyon had been the ones with a point to prove, having been held to a scoreless draw by Paris FC in their last outing, but were dominant from start to finish. Boasting around four times the possession of their opponents, the match could have been over quickly but — and not for the first time this season — sloppy finishing kept things finely poised, with Tabitha Chawinga’s goal just before the half hour ending up as the winner.
It’s still early days for Lyon coach Joe Montemurro, but his side are lacking cohesion and good link-up play. There’s no question there is a lot of individual talent in the Lyon squad, but the attacking flow can be stunted by those individuals relying on solo brilliance rather than finding harmony with those around them. However, the win was enough to take Lyon back to the summit. — Lawson
SEVEN Toffees sink further vs. Chelsea. The prefix when any team get smashed 5-0 by Chelsea is that the Blues are very good, and when they decide to besiege an opponent there is little the opposition can do. But while Brian Sørensen’s team are still struggling with injuries, their resilience from last year has yet to make an appearance. Chelsea’s quick-fire double at the end the first half took the wind out of the hosts’ sails, with an inspired performance from Aggie Beever-Jones, and if the bottom-placed Toffees let their heads drop much further then they will struggle to recover this season.
SIX. Leicester luck runs out. Leicester’s squad, while not the best in the WSL, does have talent running through it and manager Amandine Miquel has proven her ability to build a competitive team. But, with just one win in six league games, it’s not been an easy start. Brighton might have only won 1-0 courtesy of Parris’ first-half strike, but Leicester were disappointingly insipid and now have injuries mounting as, following Noémie Mouchon’s ACL rupture and an unspecified but potentially lengthy layoff for midfield maestro Jutta Rantala, Sam Tierney was stretchered off in the second half.
FIVE. Adamczyk steals the show in defeat. A dream debut for a goalkeeper usually involves keeping a clean sheet, but Freiburg’s 19-year-old Rebecca Adamczyk managed to steal the show in her first Frauen-Bundesliga outing despite a 3-0 defeat to Wolfsburg. Getting better as the match went on, Adamczyk conceded three goals to Svenja Huth, Alex Popp and Lineth Beerensteyn, but that doesn’t tell the full story as she made a number of eye-catching saves at the AOK Stadion (from 13 shots on target) to keep the score respectable. In 90 short minutes, she has marked herself out as one to watch.
FOUR. Park sets up City win. Manchester City midfielder Jess Park has a habit of scoring spectacular goals and did so again to set the WSL leaders up for a 3-0 win over Crystal Palace, before Jill Roord and Bunny Shaw rounded out the scoring. Against a team gunning for the title, Palace were only going to have so many chances, but when those chances did present themselves, the hosts were left wanting for a better end product. Though four shots to City’s 23 tells its own story.
THREE. A point for Espanyol. When Espanyol clashed with Atletico Madrid on Saturday few were expecting fireworks, which is a good thing as 90 minutes of dour football followed. The hosts have been away from the top flight for three seasons, so safety is the priority and a third scoreless draw isn’t to be sniffed at. But Sara Monforte’s side barely offered anything going forward and that will be a growing concern. And as for the increasingly ponderous looking Atleti …
TWO. Fightback in Florence. Since their first and only Serie A title in 2017, Fiorentina have routinely flattered to deceive and have been left behind by Juventus and Roma. Yet we’ve seen a resurgence from the Viola in the past year and a 2-1 win over Inter on Sunday spoke to their growing resilience. Having fallen behind to a goal from Ivana Andrés, the hosts withstood the pressure, hit back through Veronica Boquete, and then snatched a late win via Lucia Pastrenge. The ability to pick up wins like this is something both Inter and Roma have lacked so far this season, so should stand Fiorentina in good stead.
ONE: RasenBallsport gives you wings. It’s only their second season in the Frauen-Bundesliga but RB Leipzig are flying this season and although they have an unfortunate habit of following a home win up with a loss on the road, the signs are positive. Outplayed by Freiburg last time, Leipzig were back to their offensive best against Hoffenheim, slicing around the visiting defence and attacking with real purpose. But they still needed a contentious penalty in stoppage time to take the lead as Giovanna Hoffmann, fresh off her Germany debut, stepped up before firing home a second two minutes later. Although the inconsistencies will need to be ironed out, 32-year-old Leipzig coach Jonas Stephan can only be happy with how his side are playing. — Lawson