Plus: Arsenal thrash Spurs in north London derby as Vivianne Miedema breaks WSL record; Brighton earn late draw at Everton, Manchester City and Chelsea finishes 1-1 and Birmingham thump Bristol City 4-0
Tuesday 10 November 2020 13:08, UK
Alessia Russo scored twice as Manchester United beat West Ham 4-2 to continue their unbeaten start to the season and leave their opponents still searching for a first win.
United started on the front foot, with England international Russo shooting just wide twice in the opening three minutes.
Russo and fellow summer signing Tobin Heath were continually causing West Ham problems and it was the USA international's looping cross in the 20th minute that found Leah Galton at the far post and she squared for Russo to tap home.
Just three minutes later, Heath doubled the visitors' lead when she drove unchallenged into the box, lashing the ball into the left-hand corner for her first United goal.
West Ham struggled to keep possession in midfield but managed to claw a goal back with their first shot on target in the 39th minute when Kenza Dali hooked a ball into the box from the right-hand side and Emily van Egmond rose to head home.
United restored their two-goal advantage shortly afterwards when Galton crossed superbly from the left flank for Russo to glance the ball into the net.
West Ham stayed patient in the second half and cranked up the pressure in the last 10 minutes.
Rachel Daly drove down the right-hand side in the 83rd minute, looping a cross to the far post that squirmed its way over Mary Earps and into the net to halve the deficit.
Manchester United's strength in depth paid dividends in the 87th minute, though, when Lucy Staniforth's pinpoint set piece found fellow substitute and two-time World Cup-winner Christen Press at the back post and she side-footed home to secure the points.
Vivianne Miedema set a new Women's Super League scoring record with a hat-trick in Arsenal's 6-1 thrashing of north London rivals Tottenham.
The Dutch striker's three goals took her to 52, breaking the mark she previously shared with England and Lyon forward Nikita Parris.
Arsenal were three up inside 15 minutes through goals from Katie McCabe, Miedema and Caitlin Foord.
Miedema, who was making just her 50th Super League appearance, completed her hat-trick before half-time, and Foord added a sixth after the break to maintain the Gunners' perfect start to the season.
Spurs, who also missed a penalty, had to wait until the 76th minute for a consolation, when Lucia Leon was on target.
Arsenal are now clear at the top after Everton's 100 per cent record was ended by a 2-2 draw with Brighton.
Everton had started the day level on points with Arsenal at the top but it was visitors Brighton who went ahead against the run of play. Inessa Kaagman's free-kick from the left was headed into her own net by Rikke Sevecke.
Everton's equaliser also came from a freekick. Izzy Christiansen's effort deflected off the Brighton wall and into the top right-hand corner.
Everton went ahead for the first time on 71 minutes with a header from France striker Valerie Gauvin from a corner. But Brighton were not to be beaten and, with 12 minutes remaining, Whelan's shot made it 2-2.
Manchester City were unable to bounce back from last week's defeat to Chelsea as they were held to a 1-1 Women's Super League draw by Reading.
The home side took an early lead at the Madejski Stadium when Amalie Eikeland managed to head home after three minutes, connecting with Brooke Chaplen's whipped in ball from the left-hand-side.
The visitors had to wait until the 56th minute to make their breakthrough, with USA World Cup winner and summer signing Mewis levelling with a cool finish after skipping past the Reading back-line.
Elsewhere, Claudia Walker's stunning long-range effort helped Birmingham to a thumping 4-0 win at Bristol City at Twerton Park.
