The final round of the 2024 Women’s Super League (WSL) took place at the weekend and it did not disappoint.
It produced some shock results as the champions dropped points for the first time this season, while Everton and Aston Villa won again. A very exciting second half of the campaign is lined up as clubs fight for the title, European places and relegation safety.
The WSL He will now take an extended break with games resuming from January 17, starting with Brighton’s trip to face Liverpool. The Christmas period will also provide much-needed respite for clubs suffering from a significant number of injuries.
That being said, for the last time this year, 90 minutes we’ve looked at the six biggest results from gameweek 10…
Chelsea dropping points against Leicester City wouldn’t have been on most people’s bingo cards in 2024. Chelsea dropping points against anyone, after the start to the season they’ve had, seemed unimaginable.
It turns out that Sonia Bompastor’s side is human after all. Their 100 per cent record ended on Saturday when the hosts opened the scoring in the first half through Missy Goodwin, but Wieke Kaptein could at least keep their unbeaten run alive with a late draw at King’s Power.
Fortunately for Chelsea, their closest rival Manchester City they were unable to capitalize on the lost points as they suffered a shock defeat themselves. Arsenal and Manchester United are also starting to close the gap, but Chelsea still have a six-point lead, for now.
Speaking of City dropping points, they suffered a shock defeat at Everton on Sunday afternoon. They found themselves two goals down before half-time with two in quick succession from Lucy Hope and Honoka Hayashi, and Mary Fowler’s late penalty for the visitors was not enough to get the result back.
It was a monumental win for Brian Sorensen’s side, who have endured a horrendous start to the season injury-wise. A few weeks ago, the Toffees were staring down the barrel of a possible relegation fight, but they have now worked themselves into a strong position to start the second half of the season.
It’s still very tight at the bottom of the table with just four points separating 12th and seventh, but Everton fans can rest easy this Christmas with a renewed sense of belief that they can avoid any danger.
The second managerial sacking of the 2024/25 season came last week as Aston Villa boss Robert de Pauw was relieved of his duties in the park of the Villa. He was only appointed by the Midlands club in June as Carla Ward’s replacement, but things weren’t working out for the Dutchman and Villa acted quickly.
Shaun Goater took charge of their final WSL game of the year against West Ham as the search for a new head coach begins. Villa bounced back from last week’s defeat arsenal decisively with a 3-1 home win for the Hammers.
Adriana Leon opened the scoring in five minutes, but the visitors equalized with a goal from Viviane Asseyi. Leon put Villa back in front on the brink of half-time and Kenza Dali put the result beyond doubt with just under 10 minutes to play.
City’s defeat to Everton was a huge blow to their title hopes, but manager Gareth Taylor has been left sweating over the fitness of some of his key players. He will be without the likes of Lauren Hemp and Vivianne Miedema until the new year, and defender Alex Greenwood picked up a serious injury last week in the Champions League.
The 31-year-old immediately signaled for the bench after coming off worse in a challenge against the St. Polten Melanie Brunnthaler. As a result, he was bedridden, with the obvious concern of a potential ACL understandably at the forefront of everyone’s mind.
Taylor confirmed after Sunday’s loss that they are still awaiting the results of Greenwood’s scan and thankfully it doesn’t look as serious as first feared. That said, any period of time without their captain would be a serious blow to City.
Khadija Shaw, who leads the way in the Golden Boot chase, is also dealing with an injury as she missed both games last week. Taylor confirmed they are awaiting more information on the extent of the lower leg problem before setting a date for a possible return.
As mentioned, both Arsenal and Manchester United ended the year with a win. They secured 1-0 wins over Liverpool and Crystal Palace respectively, but three points is all that matters at this stage.
They have now closed the gap on City to just one point and are seven behind leaders Chelsea. With just over half the season to go, they won’t be counted out of the title race just yet.
The Gunners have one Champions League group game to play in midweek, but otherwise the focus now shifts to rest and recovery over Christmas ahead of a crucial second half of the campaign.
Brighton drew 1-1 against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday as they fell further below their top four rivals. It’s been a promising few months for the Seagulls under new manager Dario Vidosic, but the pace required to keep up with the top four is proving to be a little too much.
Bethany England put Spurs in front late on at Broadfield Stadium, but the hosts responded brilliantly to grab a point, thanks to a goal from Marisa Olislagers. They are now four points adrift of Arsenal and United in third and fourth, meaning European qualification is not entirely out of the question at this stage, but it will take an even greater effort in the remaining 12 games to achieve – it
 matchday of 2024 took place over the weekend and it didn’t disappoint.){kind=link}