Manchester City went third in the Barclays Women’s Super League with victory at Leicester City, Brighton drew at Aston Villa.
Leicester City 0-2 Manchester City
Aston Villa 1-1 Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton took a point from a second-half equaliser away to Aston Villa, lifting them up to tenth and only goal-difference behind Liverpool.
Villa were ahead just after the half-hour, a Sarah Mayling cross beat keeper Megan Walsh and was deflected into her own net by Kayleigh Green.
Rachel Daly missed a good chance to double the lead, volleying over from close-range.
Then on 73 minutes, Veatriki Sarri’s effort was parried by Hannah Hampton but Julia Olme fired home after Villa were unable to clear.
Oh @Chloe_Kelly98 that is beautiful 🤩#BarclaysWSL @ManCityWomen pic.twitter.com/rFdT30hjLC
— Barclays Women’s Super League (@BarclaysWSL) February 4, 2023
Manchester City moved up to third place, but from more games than the rest of the top four, with a dominant performance at lowly Leicester.
The Foxes’ Hannah Cain had her header well saved by Ellie Roebuck early on, for the visitors Khadija Shaw and Lauren Hemp were both denied by Janina Leitzig, Deyna Castellanos hit a close-range effort over the top and failed to find the target from two other presentable opportunities.
Castellanos was replaced at half-time by Grace Coombs, who set up the breakthrough on the hour, crossing for Shaw to net with a looping header.
Chloe Kelly came inside to fizz a shot into the far corner, doubling the lead with 17 minutes to go.
Leitzig made an acrobatic save from Coombs and also kept out a Filippa Angeldahl strike, while Roebuck prevented Cain from getting an injury-time consolation.
