Lauren Hemp’s mazy run set up a Chloe Kelly strike in the eighty-sixth minute to continue City’s unstoppable form in the WSL and deny Reading a point from a resolute defensive performance.

Manchester City welcomed Reading to the Academy Stadium coming off of a three-nil first leg loss to Barcelona Women in the Women’s Champions League quarter finals in midweek.

The hosts will have looked towards this game as a golden opportunity to regain their confidence as they face a Reading side that is winless in their last three with the prospect of overtaking Chelsea at the top of the WSL with a win.

City were without captain Steph Houghton with an injury that will reportedly keep her out for another two to three weeks and Gareth Taylor chose to rest his side’s two top scorers in Ellen White and Sam Mewis for this tie.

Conversely, Reading would have been bolstered by the return of Rachel Rowe after being suspended for their last game against Tottenham, but this would be Jess Fishlock’s penultimate game for the Royals after being recalled from her loan spell in Berkshire by OL Reign.

City would start the game subjecting the visitors to wave after wave of pressure, dispossessing their opponents high up the field routinely but their attempts were consistently thwarted by a spirited performance from Reading ‘keeper Grace Moloney.

The first twenty minutes of the game would feature a host of chances for the Manchester outfit but soon after Reading would almost take the lead entirely against the run of play as Fishlock was able to thread a ball in between the City centre half and full back to meet the run of Amalie Eikeland.

Ellie Roebuck in the Manchester City goal was able to deny the Norwegian striker with her outstretched foot, but Kelly Chambers would have likely been hoping for more from Eikeland after finding herself one-on-one with the ‘keeper.

Manchester City would leave another chance begging after the half hour mark as Chloe Kelly made a surging run down the right wing, where City found most of their success in the first half and fired a pass across goal.

Her cross would find Georgia Stanway who couldn’t find the net from close distance as her effort trickled out for a goal kick at the far post.

The hosts would carve out their best chance at breaking the deadlock with five minutes left in the half as another Chloe Kelly cross would find Lauren Hemp at the far post. Hemp would beat Moloney with her strike, but her shot would rattle the woodwork and come out.

City would have been aggrieved to come away from that passage of play without a goal as Stanway was also brought down in the box by Tash Harding as the cross came in but her appeals for a penalty were waved away from referee Stacey Pearson.

The Royals would end the half with a positive spell of play from multiple set pieces but were not able to steal the lead going into the break as the first half ended goalless for both sides.

The second half would begin in an almost mirror image of the first as the home side would have a continued spell of possession and would press the Royals deep into their own half.

Just after the hour mark, City manager Gareth Taylor clearly found that his side needed an injection of quality as Sam Mewis would be substituted on for her U.S Women’s National Team compatriot Rose Lavelle, and Ellen White would replace Stanway soon after.

Manchester City would leave yet another chance empty with under a quarter of an hour to play as Chloe Kelly found Caroline Weir inside the area, but the Scottish midfielder was unable to keep her shot down and could only watch as her effort flew over the bar.

As the game crept closer to the fulltime whistle, the hosts’ attacks got more desperate as it looked as if their run of ten consecutive wins in the WSL was coming to an end.

As both sides fatigued, City would finally find the breakthrough on the eighty-sixth minute after a weaving run from Lauren Hemp.

Hemp would skip past multiple defenders and play the ball across the face of goal, into the path of Chloe Kelly. Kelly was left with a straightforward finish to put the home side ahead and send the Manchester players into jubilation.

City would simply see the rest of the game out for a hard-fought one-nil victory where they were most certainly tested to secure their eleventh WSL victory in a row.

The result takes Manchester City to the top of the WSL for at least twenty-four hours before Chelsea play Aston Villa on Sunday, while Reading remain in seventh, a point behind sixth-placed Brighton, albeit with the Seagulls boasting a game in hand.

City’s next game will be the second leg of their Champions League quarter final clash with Barcelona on Wednesday, while the Royals will look to mark a new month with a win when they host West Ham on the third of April.

A ninety-third minute strike from centre half Ruby Mace broke the hearts of the Hammers, who led after goals from Emily van Egmond and Katerina Svitkova in a clash between two sides separated by three points at the bottom of the WSL.

West Ham United came into this game on the back of a five-game losing streak in all competitions, their last victory coming in a Continental Cup quarter final clash with Championship high-fliers Durham.

That run of form has left them at the bottom of the WSL and they welcomed Birmingham City to Victoria Road knowing that this midweek fixture would be a crucial one for their survival hopes against a side only three points above them in the league table.

The Hammers would have fancied their chances going into this game as the visitors also came into this game on a poor run of form, having played eight games without a win and with the knowledge that they were travelling to a team that has already beaten them in the reverse fixture in November.

Both sides showed signs of promise early on, but West Ham were unable to challenge Hannah Hampton in the Birmingham goal, with the English shot stopper coming off of a difficult game in the Blues’ previous outing at home to Everton where she was informed just over an hour before kick-off that she was not going to be invited to be part of the upcoming Great British Olympic team, an incident for which the FA subsequently apologised.

Birmingham would carve out the more threatening chances and would take the lead with nine minutes played as the first corner of the game for the West Midlands side was played across the ground towards top scorer Claudia Walker.

Walker would fire towards goal but could not direct the ball through the crowd of players in the box, the ball would bounce back out to Emily Murphy however and the 17-year-old on loan from Chelsea made no mistake and tucked in the rebound to open the scoring for the visitors.

Despite the fact that neither side was able to put together a dangerous chance for the remainder of the half, the tie was still hotly contested, with players from both sides ending up with yellow cards and the gritty nature of the game was made clear on the stroke of halftime after a hard clash of heads between West Ham captain Gilly Flaherty and Claudia Walker as the two leapt to attack a cross.

The two players would be left bloodied from the collision and would continue after a lengthy stoppage with heavy bandaging, with the two sides going into the break soon after with the score still one-nil to Birmingham.

Walker did not immediately come out for the second half with the striker likely receiving further treatment for the cut she sustained and West Ham would take full advantage of the Blues being momentarily down to ten.

The East London outfit would play the ball out to Flaherty on the right wing and the captain would then swing in a cross that Hampton would fail to punch out.

The ball would drop behind the Birmingham goalkeeper right into the path of Emily Van Egmond, the Aussie would be presented with one of the easier goals of her career as she simply had to poke the ball into the empty net to level the tie at one-one with just over a minute gone in the second half.

Walker would race out onto the pitch soon after, but the Hammers were galvanised by their equaliser and would press for another, with Hampton being forced to parry away a powerful effort at her near post by Martha Thomas.

Thomas would challenge Hampton further just after the hour mark as she would head a lofted ball down and race ahead of the Birmingham centre-halves to find herself one on one with the ‘keeper but Hampton was able to deny the Scottish striker.

With the Londoners clearly in the ascendancy and with Birmingham having a run of six winless games in the capital, it was no surprise to see West Ham complete the turnaround with just over a quarter of an hour to play.

Van Egmond would receive the ball on the edge of the area and then laid the ball off to her left to meet the surging run of Katerina Svitkova, the Czech winger would strike the ball powerfully with her left foot and send the ball across goal with it rattling the far post before finding the back of the net to give the league’s bottom side a deserved lead.

It was clear how valuable this lead was to the Hammers as the hosts would begin to start holding the ball up in an attempt to eat away at the clock and prevent Birmingham from finding an equaliser.

Their efforts were in vain, however as Birmingham would find an equaliser in the dying embers of the game from the unlikeliest of sources. As West Ham failed to clear their lines, the ball fell to Sarah Mayling on the wing. The wing back would whip in a cross that found centre half Ruby Mace at the back post, who side-footed her effort in at the ninety-third minute to steal away a point for the Blues, leaving the West Ham players devastated and ending the game at two goals apiece.

The result does lift West Ham off of the bottom of the WSL, albeit on goal difference, as they are now level on points with Bristol City after the Robins lost 3-0 to Manchester City. The Hammers will take comfort in knowing that they have a game in hand, but Bristol have looked in much better form recently.  

West Ham’s next game won’t be an easy task as they face Manchester United in the first WSL game to be played at Old Trafford, while Birmingham will look to yet again avoid being dragged into a relegation dogfight when they host Bristol City.

Goals from Guro Reiten, Fran Kirby and a hattrick from Sam Kerr ensured a straightforward retention of the Continental League Cup for Chelsea, who triumphed with the largest margin of victory in a final in the competition’s history.

The tenth Continental League Cup final pitted Bristol City up against defending champions Chelsea at Vicarage Road, a matchup that if not for Bristol’s victory over Reading earlier in the week would have pitted the WSL’s bottom side against the league leaders.

Despite the morale boost that the aforementioned victory would have given them, it did not take long for Bristol’s defence to succumb to the overwhelming quality of Chelsea’s attackers.

It took less than ninety seconds for Fran Kirby, fresh off of signing a new contract with the Blues to run in behind and thread a pass across goal for Sam Kerr, who simply poked the ball into the empty net to put Chelsea one-nil ahead.

The goal left Matt Beard’s side reeling and Chelsea would smell blood, doubling their lead inside ten minutes as Bristol gave the ball away deep in their own half and were left outnumbered, Kirby again would provide the assist to Kerr, who finished across goal and marked her double with an impressive acrobatic celebration.

The Londoners looked a step ahead for the majority of the first half as the underdogs were unable to get out of their half for large spells, with star player Ebony Salmon left playing with her back to goal, a product of Chelsea’s smothering press cutting out any through balls for Salmon to run on to.

After playing the facilitator for the opening two goals, Kirby would notch her own, albeit after an unfortunate error from Bristol ‘keeper Sophie Baggaley.

Baggaley would try to clear the ball but it would fall directly to Kirby with the shot stopper left off of her line. Kirby would fire the ball towards goal from long range and Baggaley was unable to correct her position despite her quality performances throughout the season, giving Chelsea a three-nil lead.

Kirby would find her second just after the half hour mark as Kerr threaded a ball forward and Kirby would again skip behind the Bristol back line and fire. Baggaley was able to get a foot to it but could not keep it out as Chelsea blasted ahead to a four-nil lead, which would break the record for the largest margin of victory in a Continental Cup final.

With five minutes to go in the first half, Kirby had her chance to secure her hattrick but was denied by a strong save from Baggaley to end the half with some dignity for the underdogs.

Any questions on which Chelsea player would be the one to secure their hattrick would be answered inside three minutes of the second half as Kirby was played in behind once again and unselfishly squared the ball across to Kerr who was left with a simple finish to make it five for the Blues.

Kirby’s final contribution to the game would be her fourth assist of the afternoon, a pass across to Guro Reiten before both Kirby and Kerr would be subbed off, Chelsea manager Emma Hayes clearly assured in her side’s victory, adding on to the three changes made for the Blues at the break.

Bristol would subsequently have chances to reduce the deficit, predictably through Salmon as she powered ahead of Millie Bright and the Chelsea defence and forced a point blank save from Ann-Katrin Berger. Salmon would then be the provider, chipping in a pass to Charlie Wellings who could not get on the end of it.

With less than a quarter of an hour to play, an almost perfect afternoon for the Londoners would be stained with a sour note as Maren Mjelde went down screaming following a challenge that appeared to badly injure her knee.

Mjelde was put on oxygen and stretchered off with the commentary team later confirming that she had been immediately placed into an ambulance so her injury could be evaluated further at a nearby hospital.

The closing stages of the game would take place under almost a sombre tone and even after the final whistle, Chelsea’s celebrations were understandably muted, with Emma Hayes delivering a speech to her players before a round of applause and embraces amongst the victors. Fran Kirby would take home Player of the Match honours after contributing to all six goals of the afternoon.

Reading Women narrowly avoided back-to-back defeats thanks to a composed performance from ‘keeper Grace Moloney but the stalemate is their eighth in seventeen games in this WSL campaign, leaving the Royals with plenty of what ifs for the season.

Reading welcomed Tottenham to the Madejski Stadium eager to bounce back from a disappointing yet enthralling loss to a struggling Bristol City side in their previous outing.

This game against Tottenham would be a great opportunity on paper as the visitors came into this game on the back of four straight losses but still sat within striking distance of the Royals thanks to boasting two games in hand; a victory over an out of form rival in the league standings would have been an ideal way for the hosts to rebound.

Reading coach Kelly Chambers would bring Jess Fishlock back into the starting eleven after being restricted to only making a late substitute appearance last time out. The hosts were also without in-form Rachel Rowe due to suspension after her red card in added time against Bristol.

The first half was somewhat short on clear-cut chances but was nonetheless entertaining. The visitors would have likely been grateful for the performance of Shelina Zadorsky, who was able to win multiple aerial battles and deal with many threatening passes by the Berkshire-based side.

Conversely, the hosts would have been bolstered by their ever-reliable goalkeeper Grace Moloney, who was constantly denying the Londoners’ attempts at passing the ball in behind their back line with charging runs out of her goal to collect the loose passes with composure.

Reading would end the first half on top with waves of pressure being put on Tottenham, leaving the visitors often resorting to clearing the ball rather than building up their play from the back, the best chance of the first forty-five undoubtedly came with two minutes left in the half as a piercing through ball found Fishlock.

The Welsh midfielder would shrug off one defender before firing towards goal; her effort would beat Aurora Mikalsen in the Tottenham goal but would rattle the woodwork, denying her of her third goal of the season.

The second half was much more of a cagey affair between the two sides as Reading began the second half much like they ended the first but Eikeland and Fishlock could not find the target from respective efforts.

As the game wore on, it became apparent that Reading’s formation choice was not one to last the full ninety minutes as the 3-5-2 formation that the Royals lined up in provided plentiful attacking options but often left them short-handed at the back, with Lily Woodham and the versatile captain Tash Harding forced to provide defensive cover from the wings.

With the two sides still deadlocked going into the final ten minutes, Reading’s defence began to show weakness as the lack of support and the growing fatigue setting in among the players led to Tottenham heavily threatening through the counterattack and the Royals struggling to clear their lines.

Moloney would put in another spirited performance under immense pressure, with the pick of Tottenham’s chances coming with eight minutes to play, substitute Kit Graham putting in a dangerous cross to Allana Kennedy, who met it with a powerful header that Moloney was able to parry away at the near post.

The game would end with neither side able to find the breakthrough, a result that the visitors would likely be much more pleased with than the hosts as Tottenham now sit five points above the leagues bottom side West Ham, albeit having played a game more. Conversely, Reading are now five points behind fifth-placed Everton with the Merseyside outfit also having a game in hand.

Goals from Jill Scott, Alisha Lehmann, Claire Emslie and Simone Magill were enough for the Toffees to recover from a rough patch of form and keep pace with the ‘big four’ near the top of the WSL against an offensively staggered Birmingham side.

Both sides came into this game at St. George’s Park looking to improve their current form as after decent spells earlier in the season, both teams have looked out of sorts. Birmingham have been without a win in their last six WSL games while Everton have taken only five points from their last five games.

After a scrappy start to the game, the visitors were dealt a significant blow as Toffees goalkeeper Sandy MacIver stormed out of her goal to close down the run of Claudia Walker. The two would heavily collide and after a ten-minute delay, MacIver was forced off with what looked to be a concussion and replaced with Everton’s back up ‘keeper in Tinja-Riikka Korpela.

Birmingham would spend the majority of the half frustrating Everton with their relentless press as the Merseyside outfit struggled to find a pass to break through but with 35 minutes played, Hayley Raso made an inspired overlapping run from the right back position and slid the ball across the eighteen-yard box to Jill Scott. Scott would find the bottom left corner of the net first time to give the visitors the breakthrough.

Everton were able to double their lead just ten minutes later as West Ham loanee Alisha Lehmann struck a powerful header past Hannah Hampton in the Birmingham goal to give the Blues plenty of work to do to salvage a result as Birmingham came into this game as the WSL’s lowest scorers, only managing 10 goals through 14 games.

Any optimism for a spirited fightback from the hosts was dashed quickly in the second half as Lehmann forced Hampton out of her goal and left the Birmingham defence scattered. Lehmann would lay the ball off to Claire Emslie who chipped the ball over the top and as the ball bounced into the net, the Toffees found themselves three-nil up.

With the game surely decided, Birmingham were left trying to avoid a third consecutive four-nil defeat after being beaten by the same score line by Manchester City and then Arsenal in their last two games.

Everton would put the stamp on their victory with three minutes left to play as the ball bounced towards substitute Simone Magill who turned and fired a wonderful volley from distance, giving Hampton no chance and inflicting the all-too-familiar defeat on the Blues for the third game running.

The victory puts Everton firmly in fifth place as they are now six points clear of Reading in sixth with both sides having played the same number of games, while Birmingham miss an opportunity to establish some daylight between themselves and bitter rivals Aston Villa towards the bottom of the table.

Blues fans will have to hope that their team is not dragged into a relegation dogfight at this point as their form has been worrying, Birmingham have scored only one goal in their last eight games in all competitions.

Both sides have another midweek assignment as their next WSL fixtures as they face teams on the complete opposite side of the table. On the 17^th, Birmingham travel to the league’s bottom side West Ham, while Everton host the WSL leaders Chelsea.

Goals from Charlie Wellings, Jemma Purfield and Ebony Salmon fired the Robins off of the foot of the WSL ahead of their Continental League Cup final on Sunday.

Bristol City Women came into this game knowing that a victory would take them off the bottom of the table while Reading travelled to Ashton Gate vying to continue a run of good form that has seen them go unbeaten in their last four games, taking points off of Arsenal and beating Manchester United.

The Royals were bolstered by the return of midfield wizard Fara Williams, but the hosts were almost left without their star player a minute into the game as Ebony Salmon collided heavily with Reading goalkeeper Grace Moloney and was slow to get to her feet. Robins fans would have been undoubtedly pleased to see her return to the game soon after.

While Bristol would not start the game looking like the side seemingly stuck to the foot of the WSL, pressing high and giving the visitors little time to string passes together, they would come undone at the back to gift Reading a 1-0 lead twelve minutes in.

After a miscommunication between Robins ‘keeper Sophie Baggaley and her back line, the ball ricocheted out to Emma Harries who slotted the ball into the empty net to give the 18-year-old academy graduate her first senior goal for the Berkshire outfit.

In the aftermath of the goal, Reading would immediately begin pushing for a second as just three minutes later, Harries would touch a chipped pass down for Danielle Carter who steered the ball away from the onrushing defenders and fired at goal. Her effort would be too close to Baggaley, who would parry it away.

After a sustained period of pressure by the visitors, Bristol City would find their equaliser against the run of play after a brilliant through ball by Salmon. Her pass would find Charlie Wellings, who would make no mistake and strike the ball through the legs of Moloney.

Reading would keep pushing forward with fluid passing sequences, a testament to their impressive form throughout last month, which saw captain Tash Harding and manager Kelly Chambers nominated for Player and Manager of the Month, respectively.

With less than ten minutes left in the half, the Royals looked to have taken the lead through Carter after another scramble in the box, but the goal was quickly ruled out for offside.

Bristol would end the half on top with a pair of chances by Salmon, but neither were able to trouble Moloney as the Bristol striker was denied both times by the visitors’ backline. Both sides would have likely gone to the dressing rooms believing that they deserved to be on top but as the whistle blew to signal the end of the first half, the score remained 1-1.

The visitors would come out of the break the livelier of the two sides but could not convert their chances as Rachel Rowe was unable to steer the ball across goal multiple times after being played in behind on the wing.

Bristol City would carve out the first big chance of the half as Yana Daniels would cut in onto her right foot just inside the 18-yard box and fired across goal but was denied by the outstretched Moloney.

That effort was a positive sign that the Robins would capitalise on almost instantly as Jemma Purfield was left unmarked on the wing following a corner and unleashed an audacious chip first time that dipped just over the top of Moloney and gave the league’s bottom side the lead again.

The hosts were clearly content with their work for the night as they were comfortable to get bodies behind the ball and defend their lead. Reading were not able to capitalise on the large spell of possession as they lacked creativity in the final third and were left taking wayward long-range efforts on multiple occasions.

The Royals would seemingly be handed a lifeline back into the match by the returning Fara Williams as a perfectly weighted chipped pass found Rachel Rowe, who continued her good run of form by firing the ball past Baggaley to level the scoring once again with under twenty minutes to play.

Any hopes of a comeback for the visitors would be quickly extinguished as six minutes later, substitute Abigail Harrison fired a wonderful pass over the top of the Reading defence to the charging run of Salmon, who took a touch to control the ball and then poked it inside the far post to restore the Robins’ lead and deflate the Royals.

Bristol City would grind out the rest of the game and manage the clock well, clearly frustrating their opposition as Reading goal scorer Rowe would be issued her second yellow card and sent off with thirty seconds left of added time, the game finishing 3-2.

This victory is only Bristol’s second of the season and it could not come at a better time as it lifts them past West Ham United and out of the relegation zone and gives the players a much-needed morale boost towards their next game, the final of the Continental League Cup against a seemingly unstoppable Chelsea team on Sunday.

Reading, however, remain in sixth but are now just one point above Brighton Women and three points behind fifth-place Everton, with the Toffees also boasting a game in hand.

A brace from Jess Fishlock and a late chip from substitute Rachel Rowe helped the Royals to recover from the early loss of their captain Tash Harding and solidify their midtable status in the WSL.

Reading came into this game against Brighton with an unchanged side from the team that put up an encouraging performance against WSL leaders Manchester United, while Brighton were looking to avoid suffering a third successive defeat.

Neither side was able to challenge the opposing goalkeeper in the early stages but the Royals were able to get into the better positions, playing the ball out wide and looking to beat the Seagulls with crosses.

Just over a quarter of an hour into the game, Reading would capitalise on a mistake from the hosts as a wayward pass was intercepted by Jess Fishlock.

The Brighton defenders were slow to close her down and Fishlock was able to strike a powerful effort low into the bottom left corner to open the scoring for the Berkshire side.

The visitors’ lead would not last long however, as Reading defender Diana Cooper would make a questionable challenge in the penalty area and referee Abigail Bryne would point straight to the spot.

Inessa Kaagman would step up for the Seagulls and sent Grace Moloney the wrong way to level the tie at one-apiece.

Things would go from bad to worse for Reading over the next ten minutes as they would lose their captain Tash Harding to injury and it looked as if they would lose goalscorer Jess Fishlock as well after a clash with Lee Guem-Min.

Fishlock would return however and it would prove to be a significant decision as on the stroke of halftime, Reading would dispossess Brighton in their own half once again.

A cross was played into the hosts’ penalty area from the left wing and would find Fishlock again. The Welsh midfielder would control the ball with her chest before firing on the half-volley, through the defenders and past Cecilie Fiskerstrand in the Brighton net to send the Royals into the interval with a two-one lead.

Reading would continue to carve out the clearer chances after the restart. Fishlock came close to securing her hattrick in an almost identical fashion to how she opened the scoring, except her effort would bounce just past the post.

The 18 year-old attacker Emma Harries was also a threat for the Seagulls to deal with as she repeatedly was able to get down the wing and showcase her blistering speed.

Harries would have had one of the more impressive goals so far this season, as she was able to pick up the ball on the halfway line and carry the ball herself all the way into the penalty area but she would not be able to get a shot off as the ball was collected by Fiskerstrand.

The tempo of the match would slow considerably as the second half progressed, with both sides tiring and passes that would have been chased down earlier in the match being left to just roll out of play.

Any Reading fans that were fearing a nervy finish were calmed almost as soon as injury time started as Fishlock brought the ball up the field and slotted a pass through the Brighton backline to substitute Rachel Rowe, whose effort was chipped over Fiskerstrand and struck the post.

Thankfully for Royals fans, the linesman would signal that the ball had rolled just past the goal line before being cleared. Reading would be awarded with the late goal and that would put the game to bed, the Royals closing 2020 out with a 3-1 win.

The result leaves Reading in sixth but the Berkshire outfit are now only one point behind Everton, who were beaten by Arsenal earlier in the day. The Toffees do boast a game in hand over the Royals however.

Conversely, Brighton remain in ninth but the two sides below them, West Ham and Aston Villa would be able to overtake the Seagulls given that they win their respective games in hand, meaning that the position of Hope Powell’s team is looking much more precarious.

Both sides return to action on the tenth of January, facing sides on opposite ends of the table. Reading play host to Chelsea, looking to inflict the first WSL defeat on the Londoners, while Brighton travel to Bristol City in a tie in which they will expect to win.