Manchester City maintained a perfect start to their Women’s Super League campaign but were made to sweat after holding off a Brighton fightback.
Andree Jeglertz’s side were three goals in front after 17 minutes thanks to a double from Khadjia Shaw and a first goal for summer signing Niamh Charles. Brighton, however, fought back through goals from Olivia Garcia and Caitlin Hayes.
And Jeglertz was not overly impressed by how his team took their foot of the gas.
“I don’t think the players did it on purpose, becoming more comfortable. As a team, we just became more comfortable,” he said. “It wasn’t the same speed on our passes or supporting each other in the same way. We let them in by going down a couple of percent.
“They scored two goals which was unnecessary. I was a little bit annoyed [at half-time]. There was no yelling. They don’t do it on purpose. It becomes a little bit automatic. It was more a reminder to go back to everything we did in the beginning and do everything 100%. We bounced back.”
City remain two points ahead of Chelsea, who turned on the style in the second half to defeat Tottenham 6-2 at Stamford Bridge.
Lauren James and Ellie Carpenter both notched braces for Sonia Bompastor’s side. Spurs were level at the break thanks to Matilda Vinberg but three goals in nine blistering second-half minutes swung the game Chelsea’s way. Substitutes Maika Hamano and Sjoeke Nusken also found the net.
“I'm pleased with the performance and the result,” said Bompastor, who was taking charge of her 50th WSL game. “I was convinced coming into this game, we would need players who would come in and bring a big impact and fresh legs.
“On the back of the international break, we can talk about the tactical aspects, but it was probably the most important thing to have players who impacted the game the way they did today. So it's good when you have depth in the squad, a lot of players available, and the quality of the players who are coming in.”
London City Lionesses made it a full house for the top three, beating Everton 2-1.
First-half goals from Delphine Cascarino and England winger Freya Godfrey had seemingly put the Lionesses in control. Everton, though, set up a tense finish after substitute Holly McNamara headed in with 20 minutes left.
Manchester United climbed to fifth after a third successive win, seeing off bottom side Charlton 3-1. Three goals in the opening quarter of an hour saw Ella Toone and Andrea Medina put United two up before Leah Davidson pulled one back. Julia Zigioitti Olme completed the scoring just after the half-hour mark.
Aston Villa stunned Liverpool, coming from behind to secure a 2-1 win for their first league win of the season. Natalia Ramos scored a spectacular early opener, but Villa improved after half-time, with Chasity Grant firing in an equaliser before a Grace Fisk own goal.
Kelly Gago scored the only goal in the first half as West Ham defeated Crystal Palace 1-0.