The Barclays Women's Super League returned with a bang after a four-week break.
WSL record signing Beth England made her debut for new club Tottenham Hotspur and marked the occasion the only way she knows how - by scoring a goal.
More debuts came for Jordan Nobbs and Lucy Staniforth, who helped Aston Villa climb the table following their win against Tottenham.
Arsenal took on Chelsea in a vital title-challenging game, with a penalty from Kim Little and a last-minute header from Sam Kerr unable to separate the teams.
However, a draw for Arsenal meant that should Manchester United beat Liverpool, the Red Devils would move to second place, above the Gunners.
And that's exactly what happened.
Hosting Liverpool, Manchester United were without Player of the Month and prolific goalscorer, Leah Galton. But United are not short of goalscorers. The Red Devils set the Kop on fire, showing no mercy in their pursuit of the title.
Everton continued their pursuit of a top-five position after beating a battling Reading side, and Leicester City picked up their first win, and first points, of the season.
In Sunday's late game, Manchester City struggled to dominate West Ham United but came away with the three points thanks to a first-half goal from prolific scorer, Bunny Shaw.
Here is the rundown of all the WSL games played this week.
Player of the Match: Jordan Nobbs
To kick off the WSL's return, Aston Villa hosted Tottenham Hotspur at the Bescot Stadium.
Spurs got off to a flying start thanks to a firing volley from debutant Bethany England, in the 28th minute. This lead only lasted six minutes, after Nobbs found Kenza Dali who struck the ball into the bottom corner. Just four minutes after Villa opened their account, WSL's joint top scorer Rachel Daly threaded the ball past Spurs goalkeeper, Tinja-Riikka Korpela.
Tottenham approached the second half looking to find that equalizer, but Villa was too defensively stable to allow for attacking penetration.
The game concluded with a big three points for Villa, and a chance to climb up the table. All new signings put their mark on the game terrifically, and both clubs will be excited at what they can go on to achieve.
Aston Villa now moves to 7th in the WSL, level on points with West Ham and Everton. Tottenham remains in 8th position, and sits 6 points behind Villa.
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Arsenal 1 - 1 Chelsea
Player of the Match: Laura Wienroither
Arsenal hosted Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium, looking to pull themselves further into the title race. An impressive 46,500 spectators came to watch the match of the weekend.
The Gunners appeared well and truly up for the occasion in the first half, asserting dominance in possession and chances. However, a controversial penalty was awarded to the home side after Chelsea's Niamh Charles fouled Caitlin Foord, just before the hour mark.
Captain Kim Little stepped up, and calmly converted to put Arsenal in front.
Chelsea pushed for an equalizer for the remainder of the game, with Lauren James creating chance after chance for the visitors. Arsenal right-back Laura Wienroither put in a serious shift for the Gunners in an attempt to adulterate the impact of Guro Reiten.
However, in the 89th minute, Sam Kerr escaped the line of defence and levelled her team with a bullet header; breaking the hearts of Arsenal fans, players and staff after a dominant performance.
Chelsea remains top of the league after securing a point, whereas Arsenal sits three points behind, in 3rd position.
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Everton 3 - 2 Reading
Player of the Match: Jess Park
Everton had a flying start to the second half of the season, as they hosted Reading at Walton Hall Park. A fiesty five-goal-thriller, both teams needing a win to avoid dropping further down an already competitive league.
The hosts took just 9 minutes to kick off the scoring, as Katja Snoeijs opened her account at home as an Everton player - sliding the ball past Reading's Jacqueline Burns.
Manchester City loanee Jess Park doubled the Toffees' lead in the 32nd minute; with many believing that Everton may run away with the game.
However, Reading came out fighting in the second half; Justine Vanhaevermaet headed past Emily Ramsey in the 60th minute to bring the scoreline down to 2-1. Despite the glimpse of hope this initially gave Reading, just a minute later, Gabby George restored Everton's advantage with a long-range strike.
Still, Reading refused to roll over. Deanna Cooper found herself in a position to once again head the ball past goalkeeper Ramsey for the second time in the game, reducing the goalscoring deficit to just one.
Everton came away with the three points, pushing them up to 5th place. Reading, however, sits in 10th place and faces a potential relegation battle.
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Manchester United 6 - 0 Liverpool
Player of the Match: Nikita Parris
Manchester United once again demonstrated their squad's world-class ability on Sunday, as they welcomed North West neighbours Liverpool to Leigh Sports Village, with a record attendance.
The scoring was opened in just five minutes by Lucia Garcia, whose selection came through Leah Galton's unfortunate injury. Fellow Spaniard Ona Batlle crossed a pinpoint ball that Garcia buried into the back of the net.
At the end of the first half, United was up by 3-0 - thanks to Alessia Russo and Hayley Ladd's contributions.
Liverpool entered the second half a different side - pressing, attacking, and testing the United defence. However, Emma Koivisto’s own goal in the 63rd minute set the Red Devils on another goalscoring spree. United manager Marc Skinner made a handful of changes, two of which being Martha Thomas and Rachel Williams.
By 90 minutes, both aforementioned substitutes had scored, pushing United up to 2nd in the WSL. Liverpool, however, will want to forget this game as soon as possible, as they sit 9th.
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Leicester City 3 - 0 Brighton & Hove Albion
Player of the Match: CJ Bott
Leicester City put in a memorable performance as they hosted Brighton and Hove Albion at the King Power Stadium. New manager Jens Scheuer took charge of his first Brighton game, looking to start his reign positively.
The Foxes came into the game off the back of a win against Sunderland in the Continental Tyres League Cup. Confident, City attacked the wings in search of the first goal of the game. Although the host dominated the majority of the first half, their first goal came in the final minutes before the break.
A fantastic run of football from Leicester was topped off as Aileen Whelan converted to put the hosts ahead.
Brighton picked themselves up in the second half, producing a slightly more hard-working approach to the game. However, the force of Leicester City was too strong. Sam Tierney doubled the host's lead after two minutes, thanks to a well-organised free-kick.
The Foxes managed to bag one more goal, coming from Monique Robinson in the 69th minute.
This win was momentous for Leicester, as they picked up their first points of the season. They still sit bottom of the table but will be very proud of this performance. Brighton sits just above in 11th place but remains four points clear of Leicester.
Player of the Match: Alanna Kennedy
West Ham United looked to welcome a dangerous Manchester City side to the Chigwell Construction Stadium in the late Sunday game, and the last of the first WSL weekend of 2023.
City dominated possession at the start of the game, but there were no clear-cut chances for either side. Chloe Kelly, who celebrated her 25th birthday in the capital, caused a great nuisance on the wing and linked with Alanna Kennedy to create the first goalscoring chance of the game.
The Hammers responded, growing in confidence with each minute. A scramble in City's 6-yard box led to an opportunity for Viviane Asseyi, whose poking effort somehow avoided the back of the net.
The goal came five minutes into the second half, through a neat passage of play from City. Former Hammer Yui Hasegawa and Deyna Castellanos combined to slide an enticing ball into the path of Bunny Shaw, who took the ball around goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold and fired it into the vacant net.
The win for City keeps them in 4th place, three points behind 3rd place Arsenal. West Ham, although gutted about the result, sits in a competitive 6th place.
