WSL Round-up: Manchester City come from behind to beat Aston Villa and leapfrog into first

Manchester City came back from a goal down to beat Aston Villa in the Women's Super League on Sunday.

Second-half goals from Lauren Hemp and Jill Roord saw City claim all three points at Joie Stadium after a defiant first-half performance from Villa.

Hemp assisted Roord for her strike, and was at the heart of everything good that City did in attack and possession.

The title contenders sit top of the table with 13 points and have now won four of their five matches, drawing one and staying unbeaten.

Gabi Nunes opened the scoring for the visitors in the 20th minute, netting her first WSL goal since joining the club for a record fee in the summer.

It was Villa's first shot on goal and they were ruthlessly clinical. Kirsty Hanson got the best of Kerstin Casparij on the edge of the box and her cross found the right foot of Nunes, who sliced it past City keeper Ayaka Yamashita.

City were dominant in possession, with Hemp pulling the strings and involving herself in everything positive for the side.

Regardless, Villa were organised and able to keep the hosts out and forced City to be wary of their counter-attacking prowess.

City began to up their tempo in the second half and while Villa continued to frustrate them, they finally found an equaliser shortly after 60 minutes.

Unsurprisingly it was Hemp who found the net with a clever finish that caught Sabrina D'Angelo out of position

Mary Fowler's cross dragged the keeper into the middle of the box and her save fell to Hemp who controlled it with her head before hooking it over her shoulder and past a wayward D'Angelo.

Eight minutes later City's dominance fully broke Villa and the hosts had their second of the day to take the lead, this time through Roord.

Once again it was all Hemp as she danced through three Aston Villa players before cutting the ball inside Roord, whose right-footed shot flew past D'Angelo and clinch the win.

Liverpool were held to a 1-1 draw by Crystal Palace after coming from one goal behind to settle for one point at the Totally Wicked Stadium.

Palace took the lead within the opening 15 minutes through Katie Stengel following a scramble in Liverpool’s penalty area. 

The American got a shot away which Rachael Laws was able to save, but she quickly followed up with a second attempt and fired it into the roof of the net.

Palace continued to keep the home crowd quiet until there was a penalty shout for Liverpool in the latter stages of the first half. 

While it was waved away, Liverpool soon equalised when Cornelia Kapocs pounced a poor Palace clearance and whipped a shot past Shae Yanez.

The visitors continued to defend and withstand pressure from Liverpool, who were unable to muster up any attacking creativity as the clock ticked down.

Liverpool are still searching for a second win of the season, while Palace pick up a vital point to keep them hovering above the relegation zone.

At Kingsmeadow in the late kick-off, Chelsea beat Tottenham Hotspur 5-2 to continue their perfect start to the WSL season under new manager Sonia Bompastor.

Maika Hamano opened the scoring inside 10 minutes for the hosts, before left-back Amanda Nilden levelled with an overhit cross that Hannah Hampton, the Chelsea goalkeeper, misjudged, with the ball crossing the line in bizarre circumstances.

Nilden would quickly become the villain as she put through her own net from a Guro Reiten cross on the stroke of half time, before Johanna Rytting Kaneryd made it 3-1 with 20 minutes to play.

Sandy Baltimore followed in the rebound to Reiten's missed penalty four minutes later, but Evaliina Summanen's delicious free-kick halved the deficit for Spurs.

Kaneryd capped off the scoring in the first minute of stoppage time with a sublime run and finish, smashing the ball into the roof of the net to beat Rebecca Spencer at her near post.

Arsenal's first game since Jonas Eidevall's departure resulted in victory as they beat West Ham United 2-0.

Renee Slegers took interim charge for the first time since Eidevall's resignation earlier this week, and Mariona Caldentey's penalty in the 71st minute had the visitors on their way to a narrow victory.

Rosa Kafaji's first goal in Arsenal colours added a late element of gloss to an otherwise underwhelming performance.

Elsewhere, Leicester City earned their first win of the season as Yuki Momiki's strike on eight minutes gave the Foxes a 1-0 victory over Everton at King Power Stadium.

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