Roundup of the final six rounds of 2021-22 Women’s Super League as the title race went to the wire.
Arsenal entered the final two months of the campaign as league leaders but a series of twists and turns led to a final day title decider, where Chelsea had a third consecutive crown in their own hands whilst Arsenal had the advantage of goal difference if their rivals slipped up.
Manchester City and Manchester United meanwhile engaged in a scrap for third place and the final qualification spot for 2022-23 UEFA Women’s Champions League.
Down at the foot of the table, Birmingham City mounted the bravest fight of their lives to avoid relegation after two decades in the top women’s league of English Football.
Now here is a full roundup of the all the drama across the final six rounds of the 2021-22 WSL season.
Week 16
Vivianne Miedema found the net as Arsenal extended their lead over Chelsea in the title race to eight points with victories over Reading and Birmingham City, in which the Gunners netted four goals in both matches.
Katie Zelem netted twice as Man United thrashed Leicester 4-0 to move up to third, albeit on goal difference after Tottenham were held to a goalless away draw at Reading.
Aston Villa suffered narrow 1-0 defeats at home to Everton and Brighton which left the Villains sat ninth.
Week 17
Stina Blackstenius’ first-half brace coupled with a 34th minute effort from Beth Mead saw Arsenal win 3-0 away at Brighton to stay top.
Chelsea reduced their deficit to Jonas Eidevall’s Gunners down to five points after defeating West Ham 4-1 in East London, before scraping a home win over Aston Villa through Sam Kerr’s injury-time winner.
Leah Galton’s first-half double helped Man Utd stay third following a 3-1 away win at Reading, in which Alessio Russo completed victory despite Deanne Rose briefly pulling the Royals level either side of Galton’s goals.
Manchester City moved to within two points of fourth-placed Tottenham, following a 1-0 away win over Spurs after Caroline Weir flicked in a scrappy 64th minute winner.
Anna Anvegard’s double saw Everton battle to a 3-2 home victory over Leicester in which both teams netted twice in the first-half alone, before Anvegard struck a 52nd minute winner to settle the match.
Adriana Leon bundled in a 41st minute winner as West Ham defeated rock-bottom Birmingham 1-0 at St Andrew’s Stadium.
Week 18
Midweek
First half goals from Kerr, Guro Reiten and Erin Cuthbert saw Chelsea snatch a 3-0 victory at Everton to further reduce Arsenal’s lead back down to two points.
Late second-half goals from Demi Stokes and Lauren Hemp saw Man City edge past Reading in a 2-0 home win to improve to fourth place.
Man Utd’s top-three hopes took a dent after Ella Toone’s 54th minute opener was cancelled out by an injury-time equaliser from Grace Fisk, as West Ham fought back to snatch a 1-1 draw at home against Marc Skinner’s Red Devils.
Man City then thrashed Everton 4-0 in the following midweek to move level on points with Man Utd, as Ellen White, Alex Greenwood and Lauren Coombs found the net after Simone Magill’s 25th minute own goal opened the scoring.
Weekend
Reiten, Kerr and Bethany England all struck twice as Chelsea thrashed Leicester 9-0 at the King Power Stadium to move onto the summit of the WSL, following the postponement of Arsenal’s North London derby against Tottenham.
Russo’s brace and Zelem’s 54th minute penalty saw Man Utd come from behind to defeat Everton 3-1 at Old Trafford, after the Toffees had claimed a fourth-minute lead through Claire Emslie.
Aileen Whelan and Inessa Kaagman both found the net as Brighton claimed a routine 2-0 away win at West Ham to improve to sixth place.
Ramona Petzelberger cancelled out Justine Vanhaevermaet’s penalty opener as Aston Villa recovered to snatch a 1-1 draw at home to Reading.
Manchester City’s clash against Birmingham City was postponed due to a Coronavirus outbreak within the visitors’ squad.
Week 19
Second-half braces from England and Kerr saw Chelsea cruise to a 5-0 home victory over Reading to stay top, despite the Royals mounting a stubborn first-half display until Jessie Fleming broke the deadlock in the 40th minute.
Miedema struck twice as Arsenal thrashed Leicester 5-0 at the King Power Stadium to stay a single point behind Chelsea in the title race.
Galton squeezed in a 68th minute winner as Man Utd scraped a home win over Brighton, which kept Marc Skinner’s players third in the table.
Georgia Stanway and Khadija Shaw both netted for fourth-placed Man City in a hard-fought 2-0 away win at West Ham.
Tottenham suffered a surprise home defeat to Aston Villa as Petzelberger headed in a 87th minute winner for the visitors, as she met Rachel Corsie’s flicked pass.
Birmingham City held Everton to a goalless draw at home in a rare Friday evening clash.
Week 20
Comeback goals from Reiten, Kerr and Fleming saw Chelsea recover to defeat Tottenham in a 3-1 away win following Sophie Ingle’s opening own goal, despite Ann-Katrin Berger being red carded for a 33rd minute foul on Rachel Williams.
England and Kerr then both netted as Emma Hayes’ Blues won 2-1 at home to Spurs in a rearranged clash four days later to open a four-point lead over Arsenal, with the Gunners having defeated Everton 3-0 on Merseyside in which Beth Mead provided a goal and assist.
Aston Villa held third-placed Man Utd to an unexpected goalless draw at home, which delivered a huge blow to the visitors’ Women’s Champions League qualification ambitions.
Man City consequently moved to within a point of their cross-city rivals after beating Leicester 4-0 at home with Hemp providing a goal and assist.
Second-half goals from Emma Snerle and Yui Hasegawa saw West Ham win 2-1 away at Reading, which lifted the Hammers up to sixth.
Louise Quinn’s second-half brace helped Birmingham City win 3-1 at Brighton to starve off their relegation fears for one further matchweek.
Week 21
Weekend
Pernille Harder’s 71st minute penalty saw Chelsea scrape a crucial victory at relegation-battling Birmingham City to put them onto the brink of the title with a four-point lead over Arsenal who had a game in hand which was played in the following midweek.
Miedema’s brace helped Arsenal to a dominant seven-goal home win over Aston Villa as Mead, Lotte Wubben-Moy, Blackstenius and Nikita Parris also found the net, whilst Villa’s Corsie had deflected the Gunners’ third goal into her own net.
Man Utd clung onto third as Martha Thomas and Galton found the net in a 3-0 home win over West Ham, either side of Fisk’s 20th minute own goal.
Shaw netted four goals for Man City in a crazy 7-2 home win over Brighton as Weir, Greenwood and Hemp also struck for the hosts to put them within a point of the final qualification spot for next season’s UEFA Women’s Champions League.
Everton twice came from behind twice to snatch a dramatic 2-2 draw at home to Tottenham as Danielle Turner and Megan Finnigan both struck late to cancel out goals from Asmita Ale and Josie Green.
Leicester moved closer towards safety after holding Reading to a goalless draw at home.
Midweek
Caitlin Foord’s second-half brace coupled with Mead’s fourth-minute opener saw Arsenal defeat Tottenham 3-0 in a fiery North London encounter, which meant that Jonas Eidevall’s Gunners kept their title dreams alive until the final day with an one-point deficit to Chelsea.
Birmingham City were officially relegated after losing 6-0 at Man City in which Georgia Stanway struck twice and Chloe Kelly provided two assists and one goal for the hosts, meaning that City moved onto the cusp of qualifying for next season’s UEFA Women’s Champions League.
Week 22
Having twice fallen behind to Man Utd either side of Erin Cuthbert’s equaliser in the first-half, Chelsea completed a second-half comeback through Kerr’s brace and a goal from Reiten to secure a 4-2 victory and in turn a third consecutive WSL title and sixth overall WSL crown.
Arsenal finished one point behind in second following a 2-0 win at West Ham through goals in the space of six second-half minutes from Blackstenius and Steph Catley, which came too late to apply any pressure onto Emma Hayes’ Blues.
Hemp, Shaw, White and Greenwood found the net as Man City thrashed Reading 4-0 to clinch third place and the final spot in next season’s UEFA Women’s Champions League.
Ashleigh Neville’s 49th minute header saw Tottenham scrape a narrow home win over Leicester in a closely-fought match in North London.
Whelan marked her final appearance for Brighton after five years with a goal to cancel out Nathalie Bjorn’s opener in a comeback 1-1 draw at home to Everton.
Veatriki Sarri’s looped 10th minute cross proved the difference for relegated Birmingham City as they scraped a win at Aston Villa in the Second City derby.
| Position | Team | Played | Win | Draw | Loss | Points |
| 1 | Chelsea | 22 | 18 | 2 | 2 | 56 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 22 | 17 | 4 | 1 | 55 |
| 3 | Manchester City | 22 | 15 | 2 | 5 | 47 |
| 4 | Manchester United | 22 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 42 |
| 5 | Tottenham | 22 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 32 |
| 6 | West Ham | 22 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 27 |
| 7 | Brighton | 22 | 8 | 2 | 12 | 26 |
| 8 | Reading | 22 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 25 |
| 9 | Aston Villa | 22 | 6 | 3 | 13 | 21 |
| 10 | Everton | 22 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 20 |
| 11 | Leicester City | 22 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 13 |
| 12 | Birmingham City | 22 | 3 | 2 | 17 | 11 |