Man Utd draw against Reading and Brighton beat Everton in Sunday's WSL fixtures
Monday 3 February 2020 22:27, UK
Chelsea thrashed West Ham 8-0 at Kingsmeadow to maintain their unbeaten run in the Women's Super League, while Manchester City manager Nick Cushing signed off with a 2-1 win against Arsenal.
Chelsea dominated from start to finish, Maren Mjelde scoring the first goal in the seventh minute, slotting into the bottom left of the goal after West Ham failed to clear an Erin Cuthbert corner.
The second came in the 12th minute when Bethany England got on the end of a perfectly-timed ball from Cuthbert, and went beyond West Ham goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan for a calm finish. Sophie Ingle then made it 3-0 in the 44th minute as she managed to get her head on the ball in the middle of a goalmouth scramble following a corner.
The thrashing continued from the start of the second half, Cuthbert making it 4-0 in the 52nd minute. She was lucky to be onside as she received the ball on the run, taking it past defender Grace Fisk and firing it in from outside the box. Matt Beard's protests about the lack of offside ruling against Cuthbert earned him a yellow card.
Chelsea's fifth goal came as England scored her second of the game in the 56th minute with a headed goal from a corner.
In the 61st minute, Mjelde stormed into the six-yard box to fire a cross into the back of the net just as the Brosnan thought it was coming safely into her hands, making it 6-0.
Next, it was substitute Ramona Bachmann putting the ball in the back of the net after West Ham failed to clear a Jess Carter cross in the 87th minute. Finally, Chelsea's eighth goal came again from a substitute as Emily Murphy headed home in the 90th minute.
Manager Emma Hayes praised Chelsea's team performance, saying: "The fact that everyone is willing to do something or everything for each other is one of the hardest things to achieve within the team so the fact the team are challenging each other to find higher levels every week shows they buy into the concept of the team and that it is a selfless task they take part in."
After six years in charge, Cushing signed off from Man City with a 2-1 victory over Arsenal before heading to Major League Soccer to work under new New York City FC head coach Ronny Deila.
Quick thinking from Pauline Bremer gave WSL leaders City the lead in the 43rd minute, netting from close range after a free-kick from Caroline Weir.
Four minutes into the second half, Lauren Hemp's looping header went past goalkeeper Manuela Zinsberger into the top corner of the net.
Danielle van de Donk put Arsenal back in the game in the 58th minute but City held on to stay top of the standings.
Fara Williams scored from the penalty spot at the second time of asking as Reading drew 1-1 with Manchester United at Adams Park.
The visitors took the lead on the half-hour when highly-rated teenager Lauren James punished the Royals defence for failing to deal with Katie Zelem's long ball upfield. The striker cut in from the left and slotted the ball past goalkeeper Rachael Laws.
A number of yellow cards were shown, one for Manchester United manager Casey Stoney, as frustrations mounted.
Reading were denied an equaliser from the penalty spot in the 65th minute after a brilliant save from England goalkeeper Mary Earps denied Williams.
Zelem was booked for a handball in the box, providing Reading with a second penalty 10 minutes from time. Williams made no mistake this time, placing the ball into the top left-hand corner.
Manchester United are still fourth in the Women's Super League, with Reading a point behind in sixth.
Aileen Whelan ensured Brighton beat Everton 1-0 at home despite being four places below them in the Women's Super League table.
The first half was rather slow, but there was some excellent defending by Brighton. Their tactic of consistently pressing high forced Everton to routinely play back to goalkeeper Sandy MacIver.
Seagulls forward Whelan, who briefly played for Everton in 2017, finally managed to turn Albion's dominance into a goal in the 39th minute, striking the ball into the bottom right corner from Amanda Nilden's assist.
Willie Kirk's Everton team came close to scoring in the 76th minute when Hannah Cain shot on target after making a long run down the left wing, however, she was denied by Megan Walsh.
Everton and Albion remain in the same positions in the table: fifth and ninth respectively.
