The weekends action got underway at the Emirates with Arsenal hosting Chelsea. So far the Gunners had, had a pretty average start to the season, they sat on five points after drawing with Everton and Manchester City and beating Leicester. Chelsea on the other hand had played two games and won them both against Crystal Palace and Aston Villa.
The Blues won the game 2-1 thanks to two early goals from Mayra Ramirez and new signing Sandy Baltimore. Caitlin Foord pulled one back just before half-time but Arsenal looked pretty poor overall and couldn't level up the game. Therefore, Jonas Eidevall remains under much pressure as results don't seem to be going the Gunner's way. Meanwhile, Sonia Bompastor's Chelsea side is looking ruthless and impossible to beat. Could they be on their way to another title?
Bunny Shaw proves why she is the best striker in the league as Man City come back from behind to beat Liverpool at Anfield.
At the beginning of the season, City have looked in great form, and their summer signings Vivianne Miedema, Naomi Layzell, and Aoba Fujino all looked impressive and of course, they beat world champions Barcelona mid week in the Champions League.
But, it was Liverpool who looked the better of the sides in the first half and took the lead late on thanks to their new Canadian summer signing Olivia Smith.
Second half though City upped the intensity, England international Lauren Hemp was brilliant and set up Bunny Shaw for the equaliser after 58 minutes. The Reds hung in there and looked destined for a good point against Gareth Taylor's City side but Bunny Shaw proved once again why she is the best striker in the world by scoring the winner in the 92nd minute with a thunderous effort. City sit top of the table on ten points in four games, Liverpool sit 5th, level on points with Arsenal (5).
Manchester United continued quietly going about their business as they win again, while, Spurs struggle.
Despite a lot of comments from fans at the beginning of the season, Marc Skinner and his united side have looked really good so far, with a 3-0 victory over Spurs on Sunday they have won three out of three games, conceded 0 goals and have scored seven. Against Spurs their new summer signing Elisabeth Terland scored her first two goals for the club and showed that she can be vital in United's potential success this season.
Spurs looked poor against United, and the beginning of their season has been way off by their standards. Their only victory came against newly promoted Crystal Palace and their only other point was against Villa where they drew 2-2, and it doesn't get any easier for them as they are away at Chelsea next week.
Brighton continued their good start to the season with a victory over newly promoted side Crystal Palace.
Brighton have been the side to watch at the beginning of this new season, their only loss came against City in round two. Other than the loss they have looked decent, have played some good football and could be pushing for a Champions League spot come May... They impressed once again against Palace with a 1-0 victory away from home thanks to Bruna Vilamala. Lioness star Fran Kirby impressed yet again for the Seagulls after signing from Chelsea in the summer.
Palace may have lost again, but in their opening four games they have faced top sides including Chelsea and Spurs. They did win 2-0 last weekend against Leicester and as long as they continue to beat the teams around them then they will more than likely stay up. Whatever happens come May if Palace keep playing the way they have been then Laura Kaminski can be proud of her players.
Villa and Leicester, Everton and West Ham play out draws keeping them occupying the bottom four places.
Starting with Aston Villa and Leicester, the game at Villa Park looked an exciting one on paper however, it didn't pan out that way, it ended in a 0-0 draw. Villa dominated possession, created more clear-cut chances, and looked the better side overall they just couldn't find the back of the net causing frustration for Robert de Pauw, Villa looked good in their opening games they just couldn't find a way to win. Meanwhile, it's worrying times for Leicester, yet again they have been lacklustre. They are struggling to create chances and, therefore score goals. They have scored one in four games and sit on two points. Their next few games see them face Everton, Brighton, and West Ham, some points are desperately needed otherwise they could be the favourites for relegation.
Everton and West Ham drew 1-1 moving both of them onto two points as well. Anouk Denton opened the scoring for The Hammers after just ten minutes, they held on for a long time despite Everton having more shots on target, however, in the 71st minute that resilient backline was broken, an own goal from Camila Saez saw the Toffees pull level.
Round 5 fixtures are below:
Saturday 19th October:
- Brighton vs Man United - 12:30pm KO
Sunday 20th October:
- Man City vs Aston Villa - 12:15pm KO
- Liverpool vs Crystal Palace - 2pm KO
- Leicester vs Everton - 3pm KO
- West Ham vs Arsenal - 3pm KO
- Chelsea vs Tottenham - 6:45pm KO
