Chelsea extend their perfect run, Arsenal’s improvement continues: Women’s Super League matchday 9 round-up

There were 28 goals from six matches in this week’s WSL as Chelsea’s perfect start to the season continued while Arsenal won again under Renee Slegers.

Plenty of heavy defeats across the board along with a record broken along the way. Chelsea continue to lead the way by five points with Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United all scoring four in big wins.

Here is everything you need to know about the Women’s Super League from matchday nine…

Bompastor breaks Hayes’ record with narrow Brighton win [Chelsea 3-2 Brighton & Hove Albion]

Since Sonia Bompastor was signed to replace Emma Hayes at Chelsea, most of the conversation around the club was whether she would be able to do what her predecessor never could and win the Champions League. But she broke a different record of Hayes’ at Kingsmeadow on Sunday, winning 13 consecutive matches in all competitions where the coach she replaced only ever managed 12. That extra win sees Chelsea move five points clear at the top of the WSL table, with nine wins from nine.

Bunny Shaw gains ground in Golden Boot race [Manchester City 4-0 Leicester City]

A brace against Leicester saw Bunny Shaw extend her lead on top of the goalscoring charts, taking her to a total of nine goals this campaign, three ahead of Chelsea’s Guro Reiten. Now boasting a ratio of one goal every 78 minutes played, she is among the most efficient forwards in the league. One loss and one draw are all that separate second-placed City from Chelsea in the title race, and the Citizens will have another chance to cut the deficit when they travel to Everton next week.

Can Arsenal catch Chelsea? Stranger things have happened [Arsenal 4-0 Aston Villa]

In her post-match press conference, Renee Slegers was asked whether there was any chance of catching Chelsea or Manchester City. Her response? “Yeah, I think so.” And why not? Arsenal remain unbeaten since she took over from Jonas Eidevall in October. The Gunners sit second in their Champions League group, and have climbed from sixth to third in the WSL. Who is to say where they might end up Their win over Aston Villa only put more credibility behind Slegers’ claim to the permanent job, and fans seem to be coming around to the idea of her sticking around.

Skinner’s side make a statement against Liverpool [Manchester United 4-0 Liverpool]

There has been a lot of noise around Manchester United this week after chairman Jim Ratcliffe hinted that his focus was on the men’s squad alone, but a statement victory from Skinner over close rivals Liverpool put the women firmly in his line of sight. Two goals in quick succession from Elisabeth Terland and Leah Galton had the Red Devils two ahead at half, before another pair of goals from Dominique Janssen and Melvine Malard put the tie to bed, moving United up into the WSL top four.

Hammers climb food chain after crushing Crystal Palace [West Ham 5-2 Crystal Palace]

This season’s relegation battle will be among the closest in recent memory, with positions six through 12 separated by just 5 points. Crystal Palace are embracing the role of the plucky underdog but took a hugely demoralising loss away to fellow relegation candidates West Ham on Saturday. After heading into an early 0-2 lead through Mille Gejl and Indiah-Paige Riley, the Eagles found themselves 3-2 down by the break, conceding two second half goals to rub salt into the wound.

Back to winning ways and boosted confidence for Spurs [Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Everton]

Tottenham’s season has been far from perfect. With just three wins from nine, Robert Vilahman’s side are not quite in crisis, but not far off it either, still mired in the awkward midfield position of being too good to be a relegation candidate but not good enough to challenge title contenders. A win against Everton was just the medicine they needed, though. At full time, Vilahamn seemed relieved as he explained: “Coming from those tough losses, to get a win, we can now build some self-confidence. The three points are important. I am really proud of our performance, especially in the first half where I thought we dominated.”