MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) – Two goals in the opening four minutes set Manchester City up for a 5-0 thrashing of West Ham United that sent them back to the top of the Women’s Super League on Sunday, with top scorer Khadija Shaw netting twice to take her season tally to 21.
With three league games left to play, City top the standings on 49 points, three ahead of Chelsea who have a game in hand, and six ahead of third-placed Arsenal, with Sunday’s result giving City a three-goal advantage in terms of goal difference over the Blues.
Fullback Leila Ouhabi got the proceedings underway quickly by netting in the first minute against West Ham, with Shaw adding the first of her brace three minutes later.
Shaw struck again in the 24th minute before being replaced at the break by Chloe Kelly, and City added two more goals in the second half through Laura Blindkilde and Jess Park to round off a dominant display.
In London, Beth Mead scored twice for Arsenal as they beat Leicester City 3-0 to ensure that they will finish no worse than third this season, qualifying them for next season’s Champions League.
The second half saw two notable returns for Arsenal as Norwegian midfielder Frida Maanum made her first appearance since collapsing during the League Cup final against Chelsea on March 31, and striker Viviane Miedema made her return following a long layoff with a knee injury.
Earlier in the afternoon, Manchester United’s Maya Le Tissier scored in the second minute of second-half stoppage time to grab a 2-2 draw at home to Tottenham Hotspur.
On Friday Everton benefited from a Guro Bergsvand own goal as they won 2-1 away to Brighton & Hove Albion, and Merseyside rivals Liverpool beat bottom side Bristol City 1-0 on Saturday.
(Reporting by Philip O’Connor, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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