Women’s Super League: talking points from the weekend’s action

Palace show they have quality to fight for survival

West Ham may have got the better of Crystal Palace at Victoria Road but the WSL newcomers look far from destined for the drop. Palace took an early two-goal lead in the fierce wind before the Hammers rallied. By the break it was 3-2 to the home team and at the final whistle 5-2. Rehanne Skinner said afterwards that she does not think Palace will go down, comments Laura Kaminski took heart from. The south London side may sit bottom but they are in the mix, separated from Leicester only on goal difference and just five points from sixth place. “The team that went up last year [Bristol City] showed how difficult the gap is,” said Kaminski. “We’re in and around, before Christmas, the number of points they got on the board for all of last season.” She is right, Palace have five points, one away from the six accrued by Bristol across the course of last season. The gap between the WSL and Championship may be big but Palace have the foundation of a side capable of bridging it. SW

• Match report: West Ham 5-2 Crystal Palace

England helps Spurs bounce back

Bethany England rediscovered her form in front of goal to guide Tottenham to their first league win in a month. The Spurs captain led from the front and should have scored more than two as her side earned a much needed 2-1 victory over a stubborn Everton to move up to sixth. England sent a series of trademark headers wide before opening the scoring for the hosts as she returned to her more traditional and more effective centre-forward role. Tottenham registered 26 shots across the 90 minutes, with eight on target and 12 blocked – a sign of a creativity that has been lacking at times this season. They were denied a more comfortable victory by the shot-stopping of Courtney Brosnan who once again put in a fine performance in the Everton goal. SD

• WSL roundup: Chelsea equal record as Russo inspires Arsenal

Liverpool’s punt backfires against rivals

The Liverpool manager, Matt Beard, admitted to taking a gamble on his team’s formation that backfired, after his injury-hit side lost 4-0 away at Manchester United. Beard’s team deployed a back four rather than their more usual setup of five defenders, and he said: “We’ve gone to the 4-3-3 today, we just felt with the personnel we had available, that would be the best way to go. [In a] 5-3-2, we dominate defensively, but I just don’t think we’ve been creating enough going forward this year, so it was a bit of a gamble today and it’s backfired. We need to sort it out because we can’t be shipping goals like we’ve been doing.” Beard also lamented having “one of the smallest squads in the division” and said “we can only work with the resources that we have, budget-wise”, while revealing that the Austria midfielder Marie Höbinger has joined his absentee list for “four to six weeks” after suffering a groin tear. TG

Taylor praises ‘complete’ Shaw

Gareth Taylor hailed Khadija Shaw as a “complete” striker after Manchester City’s 4-0 win over Leicester. Shaw scored twice at the Joie Stadium to extend her lead to three ahead of Chelsea’s Guro Reiten in the WSL golden boot race. The first was a well-placed header into the bottom-right corner and the second another header on the half-hour mark. Goals from Jess Park and Mary Fowler sealed the win for City, but Shaw was the key name on Taylor’s lips at full-time. “Bunny does what she does,” the manager said. “She’s the complete striker really. She gives us so much without goals, and then her goals are the cherry on the cake.” EH

Russo keeps resurgent Gunners firing

The form of central strikers was one of the themes of the weekend and Alessia Russo was part of that discussion. Having failed to score in her first five WSL games this season, the Arsenal forward now sits fourth in the goalscoring charts having registered four in her last four league games. Her double in the Gunners’ comfortable 4-0 victory over Aston Villa on Sunday showed the England international at her instinctive best – a looping header followed by a sweetly struck finish in the final 30 seconds of the match. Her goals, accompanied by strikes from Beth Mead and Stina Blackstenius, helped Arsenal move up to third in the table as they continue their unbeaten run under the interim manager, Renée Slegers. SD

Bompastor breaks Hayes record

Sonia Bompastor has only been at the Chelsea helm for five months, but she is already breaking records set by her predecessor, Emma Hayes. Chelsea’s perfect season continued with a thrilling 4-2 win over Brighton on Sunday. Goals from Sjoeke Nüsken (2), Aggie Beever-Jones and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd extended the Blues’ winning streak to 13 across all competitions under the new manager, surpassing the club record of 12 previously set by Hayes during the 2021-22 campaign. Bompastor said: “Sometimes we have to focus on the win, but in terms of performance, having the good energy to win the games. There are three games to go until the end of the year. We really need to make sure everyone is available in the squad and we have that energy.” EH