Matchday 16 of the FA Women's Super League kicked off on Sunday morning with Manchester United taking down Aston Villa 3-0 at Leigh Sports Village at 7 a.m. ET.
Three 9 a.m. ET fixtures followed the early morning game. Arsenal stomped on Birmingham City 4-0 away from home. Brighton & Hove Albion dealt Tottenham Hotspur its fourth consecutive loss by a scoreline of 2-0. And to finish the 9 a.m. ET games, Manchester City got away with a 1-0 win against Everton.
Despite Man City climbing to the top of the table after their win, Chelsea kept its cool and defeated London rivals West Ham United 2-0 in the 10 a.m. ET game to reclaim first place.
Lastly, the lone Monday game saw Bristol City exit relegation zone with a 2-2 away draw at Reading.
Top five teams in the FA WSL until March 8
FA WSL top 3 scorers
Arsenal's Vivianne Miedema scored her fourteenth goal of the season against Birmingham City on Sunday to create separation in the scoring charts as she looks for her third consecutive FA WSL golden boot award. Miedema's goal also meant that she overtook forward Ellen White in the race for all-time FA WSL leading scorer with 56 goals.
Just Miedema doing Miedema things pic.twitter.com/M3hc45bhI9
— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) March 7, 2021
Chelsea's Samantha Kerr and Fran Kirby are still in the race for the golden boot. Kerr scored the opener on Sunday against West Ham to take her tally up to 12. On the other hand, Kirby only played 22 minutes after coming on as a substitute and was denied by the crossbar in her closest chance.
FA WSL top headlines
- Manchester City captain Steph Houghton made her 200th appearance for the club on Sunday's 1-0 win over Everton.
- Brighton & Hove Albion made it three FA WSL wins in a row for the first time thanks to a brace from attacking midfielder Inessa Kaagman against Spurs on Sunday morning.
- Australian forward Caitlin Foord scored two goals inspiring Arsenal's 4-0 away victory over Birmingham City on Sunday. Foord is now the league's fourth top scorer with nine goals.
- Icelandic international Dagny Brynjarsdottir made her debut for West Ham United on Sunday morning. The 29-year-old midfielder played the entirety of the match.
- A game between Tottenham Hotspurs and Bristol City that was supposed to unfold on Feb. 10, was rescheduled for Sunday, March 21, at 9 a.m. ET.
- A Matchday 9 postponed fixture between Birmingham City and Everton will go down on Thursday, March 11, at 2 p.m. ET.
Top FA WSL games to watch, March 14-19
Matchday 17 of the Women's Super League will stretch from Sunday, March 14, through Friday, March 19. The following two games are the most exciting out of the six fixtures. Keep track of all the activity in the league by following this link: https://www.livesoccertv.com/competitions/england/fa-wsl/
Everton vs. Chelsea – Wednesday, March 17, at 3 p.m. ET
Manchester City was able to overcome Everton last weekend by one late goal, and now it is Chelsea's turn to be tested by Willie Kirk's Toffees. Everton will arrive at the match with one win in its last five games. With Man. City chasing Chelsea, Emma Hayes' Blues cannot afford to drop points against an Everton side running on poor form.
Arsenal vs. Manchester United – Friday, March 19, at 2:30 p.m. ET
Manchester United would need a flawless end to its FA WSL season to have a chance at winning the title. The Red Devils are six points behind first-place Chelsea with six games left in the campaign. More importantly, their upcoming game against Arsenal will be their toughest challenge with West Ham, Brighton, Tottenham, Bristol City and Everton left to play in the remainder of the campaign. A win at Meadow Park is a must for Casey Stoney and her women. It will not be an easy challenge by any means as they will face the third most explosive attacking side in the league led by Miedema, Foord and Jill Roord.
