Roundup of the latest five rounds of 2021-22 Women’s Super League action as Arsenal continue to march towards a fourth title.
Arsenal continued to set the pace up front in the title fight ahead of Chelsea, Tottenham, Manchester United, Manchester City, Reading, West Ham and Brighton as the top eight were split by only 12 points upon completion of the first five matchweeks of 2022.
Down in the relegation zone, Birmingham City endured a difficult month as the battle for survival began to finally take shape, barring an unexpected comeback throughout the rest of this season.
Now, here is a full roundup of matchweeks 11-15 which initially featured fixture disruption in early January.
Week 11
Arsenal remained top in a depleted matchweek despite suffering a shock 2-0 loss at Birmingham City, as first-half goals from Libby Smith and Veatriki Sarri lifted the Blues off the foot of the table.
Leicester consequently slipped to rock-bottom following Birmingham’s win as the Foxes suffered a 1-0 defeat at Reading, in which Natasha Dowie lobbed in a 11th minute winner for the Royals.
Manchester City ran riot in a 6-0 away win at Brighton as Victoria Williams’ 48th minute own goal opened the floodgates, which led to Lauren Hemp, Georgia Stanway, Laura Coombs, Hayley Raso and Vicky Losada also finding the net in a 28 minute clinical spell.
Chelsea, Aston Villa and West Ham’s home matches against Tottenham, Everton and Manchester United respectively were all postponed, due to various Coronavirus outbreaks at individual clubs.
Week 12
Manchester United climbed to third as Leah Galton provided two goals plus assisted in Katie Zelem’s opener in a 5-0 home victory over Birmingham City, in which Emily Ramsey deflected the Red Devils’ fourth goal into her own net before Alessio Russo completed the win in 71st minute.
Kate Longhurst’s 92nd minute headed equaliser saw ten-women West Ham snatch a vital point in a 1-1 draw at Tottenham, which denied Spurs the opportunity to retain third after initially taking the lead through Rosella Ayane’s 54th minute penalty.
Georgia Stanway scored twice for fifth placed Manchester City in a 3-0 away win at Aston Villa, as she found the net either side of Losada’s 41st minute effort.
Shannon O’Brien’s 54th minute strike from Jessica Sigsworth’s pass saw Leicester scrape a 1-0 home win over Brighton, in turn lifting them back off the bottom of the table at Birmingham’s expense.
League leaders, Arsenal and Chelsea were both not in action due to their respective fixtures against Reading and Everton being postponed, due to continued Coronavirus outbreaks.
Week 13
Tobin Heath’s 92nd minute rifled equaliser saw league leaders – Arsenal claim a point from their first competitive game of 2022, as Jonas Eidevall’s Gunners fought back for a controversial 1-1 draw at Manchester City after Khadija Shaw put the hosts ahead.
Goals from Vivianne Miedema and Beth Mead then saw Arsenal come from behind to defeat Brighton 2-1 in a rearranged midweek match and open up a four-point lead in the title race, after Emma Koivisto’s header had fired the Seagulls into a 15th minute lead.
Chelsea meanwhile endured a tough return to action after finding themselves held to a scrappy goalless draw at Brighton, before second-half goals from Bethany England and Erin Cuthbert lifted the Blues up to second in a rearranged midweek win against West Ham.
Manchester United consequently leapfrogged Emma Hayes’ Blues into second with a 3-0 home victory over Tottenham, with Vilde Boe Risa, Hayley Ladd and Leah Galton all clinically finding the net.
Goals from Justine Vanhaevermaet, Natasha Dowie and Emma Harries inspired Reading to a dramatic comeback 3-2 win at home against rock-bottom Birmingham City, after the visitors had taken a two-goal lead through Gemma Lawley and Jade Pennock in the first 36 minutes.
Alisha Lehmann’s 93rd minute strike saw Aston Villa snatch a 2-1 win in a competitive away clash at Leicester, after Hannah Hampton’s own goal pulled the Foxes level – having initially put the Villains ahead in the fourth minute from Jemma Purfield’s own goal.
West Ham cruised to a 3-0 home win over Everton as Katerina Svitkova, Dagny Brynjarsdottir and Claudia Walker all found the net.
Week 14
Stina Blackstenius’ 79th minute strike cancelled out Alessio Russo’s 10th minute headed opener as Arsenal fought back to snatch a 1-1 draw against Manchester United, despite seeing Katie McCabe red carded just minutes before Blackstenius’ equaliser.
Guro Reiten’s 14th-minute header saw Chelsea defeat Manchester City 1-0 and consequently cut their deficit to Arsenal in the title race down to just two points.
Kyah Simon’s brace plus a goal and assist from Ashleigh Neville saw Tottenham thrash Brighton 4-0, with Shelina Zadorsky completing the rout ahead of Simon’s second goal.
Comeback goals from Natasha Dowie and Tia Primmer saw Reading fight back to a 2-1 win away at Everton which lifted the Royals up to fifth, after Anna Anvegard had put the Toffees in front in their first match following Jean-Luc Vasseur’s sacking.
Jessica Sigsworth’s 29th minute penalty and Jemma Purfield’s 37th minute strike saw Leicester clinch an eventual 2-1 away win at ten-women Birmingham City, which meant that the Foxes opened up a five-point gap to their rock-bottom Midlands rivals.
Katerina Svitkova’s 52nd minute effort fired West Ham to a 2-1 win at Aston Villa after Abbey-Leigh Stringer’s debut opening goal was cancelled out by ex Hammer, Alisha Lehmann.
Week 15
Arsenal clung onto top spot after fighting their way to a goalless draw at second-placed Chelsea in a scrappy contest, as the Gunners had late efforts cleared off the line whilst Jessie Fleming saw an injury-time winner for the hosts disallowed due to an offside position.
Second-half strikes from Ashleigh Neville and Ria Percival fired Tottenham up to third in a nervy 2-0 away win at rock-bottom Birmingham City.
Caroline Weir’s stunning 81st minute bullet curler saw Manchester City edge past cross-city rivals, Manchester United in the Manchester derby, with Utd consequently slipping to fourth as a result of Spurs’ win elsewhere.
Natasha Flint, Ashleigh Plumptre and Freya Gregory all found the net as Leicester thrashed West Ham 3-0 to climb to tenth, which in turn moved the Foxes eight points clear of relegation.
Everton therefore now sit second-bottom and just seven points ahead of Birmingham City after losing 2-0 at home to Aston Villa, as Emily Gielnik and Ramona Petzelberger both netted in a six minute spell midway through the first half.
Finally, Kayleigh Green netted a hat-trick as Brighton comfortably dispatched Reading 4-1 to put a huge dent in the Royals’ hopes of fighting for a top five finish.
| Position | Team | Played | Win | Draw | Loss | Points |
| 1 | Arsenal | 14 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 31 |
| 2 | Chelsea | 13 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 29 |
| 3 | Tottenham | 14 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 27 |
| 4 | Manchester United | 14 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 25 |
| 5 | Manchester City | 14 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 23 |
| 6 | Reading | 13 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 22 |
| 7 | West Ham | 14 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 20 |
| 8 | Brighton | 15 | 6 | 1 | 8 | 19 |
| 9 | Aston Villa | 14 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 16 |
| 10 | Leicester City | 15 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 12 |
| 11 | Everton | 13 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 11 |
| 12 | Birmingham City | 15 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 4 |
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