The Women’s Super League (WSL) title race got even more interesting this weekend, as Manchester City made the most of their game in hand to pull within two points of Chelsea at the top of the table…
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Birmingham City 0-4 Manchester City
Sunday’s destruction of 9th-place Birmingham made it eight wins in a row (11 games without a loss) for Man City, who in recent weeks surged past rivals Manchester United as they mount a formidable challenge of the defending champion Blues. With each side having now played 15 of 22 games, both Chelsea and Manchester City possess an incredible +39 goal differential.
USWNT star Sam Mewis returned from injury on Sunday and bagged a brace, scoring first in the 40th minute and again in the 52nd, bringing her tally to five goals in 10 WSL appearances for Manchester City on the season.
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Lauren Hemp added Man City’s third goal a minute after Mewis made it 2-0, and Caroline Weir added a fourth for good measure — or, perhaps for the benefit of goal differential — in the 66th.
The WSL title contenders are set to meet for the second and final time this season on April 25 — matchday 20. Chelsea were 3-1 winners over Manchester City back in October.
Aston Villa 0-4 Arsenal
Elsewhere, Arsenal snapped a woeful run of just one win from their last five WSL games by hammering Aston Villa. While any early-season title hopes they had are long gone (12 points separate the Gunners and Chelsea), third-place Manchester United are now just six points ahead, and Arsenal have a game in hand.
Vivianne Miedema (13 goals) extended her lead in the Golden Boot race to two, ahead of Chelsea duo Sam Kerr and Fran Kirby, when she scored the opener after 58 minutes on Sunday. It took a bit of time to come (30 shots in total for Arsenal), but the first goal signaled the start of a scintillating 30-minute stretch featuring four goals. Jordan Nobbs (67th minute), Katie McCabe (73rd) and Lisa Evans (88th) rounded out the scoring.
Other WSL results
Tottenham Hotspur 2-3 Everton
Next weeks’ WSL schedule
Sunday
Manchester United v Aston Villa -- 7 am ET
Manchester City v Everton -- 9 am ET
Birmingham City v Arsenal -- 9 am ET
Brighton & Hove Albion v Tottenham Hotspur -- 9 am ET
West Ham United v Chelsea -- 10 am ET
Monday
Bristol City v Reading -- 3:15 pm ET