WSL Matchday 14 round-up: Taylor hails landmark City win

Manchester City boss Gareth Taylor hailed a landmark win for his side as they moved level on points with leaders Chelsea.

A 14th-minute goal from Women's Super League top scorer Khadjia Shaw secured a 1-0 victory for the Citizens at Kingsmeadow.

City are the first WSL team to stop Emma Hayes' Blues from scoring in the top flight this season and will now believe they can establish dominance in the title race.

Taylor, 50, said: "It's a big step for us.

"In the past we've been a bit soft defensively in these moments. I knew the margins were going to be tight but confidence was high.

"We've added a bit of steeliness to our defending. We've worked on our set-pieces a lot and the spirit in the club is very good.

"Sometimes it's hard for players to play the game and not the occasion."

City's victory at Kingsmeadow was their first at the ground since a 2-0 win in May 2016 — and they went on to lift their first and only WSL title four months later.

Taylor added: "They [Chelsea] made it a bit of a fortress. We've broken that record now and we deserved it.

"We played some good stuff in the first half and in the latter stages it was a really good show of defending from the entire team."

Jonas fires back

Arsenal boss Jonas Eidevall fired back at critics after the Gunners bolstered their own title chances with a 3-1 victory over Manchester United.

An own goal by Red Devils forward Geyse along with strikes from Cloe Lacasse and Kim Little ensured the North Londoners collected three points in front of a record WSL crowd of 60,160 at the Emirates.

Arsenal's shock 2-1 defeat to West Ham in their previous league fixture had many doubting their title credentials but they are now just three points behind Chelsea and City.

Swedish boss Eidevall, 41, said: "People were saying after the West Ham game it was impossible for us to reach the top spot.

"But if I'm not reading it wrongly here it's three points with eight games to play. It's very much a race.

"The way I see it, we've never been in or out of it. We've played one game at a time, we've still got to play both teams ahead of us and that would give us a good opportunity.

"You need a lot of results like this [against United] to achieve what I and the club want to achieve. It was great today but there's a lot of football left to be played."

Deserved victory

Aston Villa boss Carla Ward praised her side's performance at Tottenham as they earned a 2-1 victory.

Goals from Adriana Leon and Jordan Nobbs saw the Villans close the gap to Spurs in sixth to just three points.

Ward, 40, said: "I think it was a deserved win.

"I think the way we set up to hurt them hurt them. We found there were spaces because of the way they adapted their press, it was a bit of cat and mouse at times.

"But I think over the course of 90 minutes, the way that we executed and the way they've dug in, I thought we deserved all three points."

WSL Matchday 14 results

Chelsea 0-1 Manchester City

Arsenal 3-1 Manchester United

Brighton 0-1 Liverpool

Everton 2-0 West Ham

Tottenham 1-2 Aston Villa

Leicester 5-2 Bristol City