Clear margins of victory in the FAWSL were enjoyed by Chelsea, Arsenal, Birmingham City and Reading, with the latter being the day’s only winners to concede a goal.
FAWSL results for Sunday 18 November
Everton 0-4 Arsenal (Att: 367)
Birmingham City 3-0 West Ham United (Att: 663)
Brighton & Hove Albion 1-4 Reading (Att: 330)
Chelsea 5-0 Yeovil Town (Att: 1,484)
Arsenal break Everton resistance
The Gunners got an eighth win on the spin but had to wait until almost half-time for the opening goal at lowly Everton and then had Jordan Nobbs stretchered off in the latter stages.
Simone Magill and Hannah Cain did first-half chances for the hosts but the Gunners dominated and applied intense pressure approaching the interval.
Kirstie Levell pulled off some great saves, including turning a Vivianne Miedama effort onto the crossbar but she was eventually beaten when Danielle van de Donk whipped a loose ball into the roof of the net.
The first few minutes after the restart saw Joe Montemurro’s side seal the win with cool finishes from Nobbs and then Miedema after a defensive error.
The pair then combined for Miedema to net her second as the Gunners went six points clear at the top, however Everton still produced good chances for Cain and Elise Hughes who could not find the net.
Follis catching the scoring habit
Birmingham City stayed goal-difference behind Chelsea with a game on hand, following a 3-0 defeat of West Ham in which Emma Follis doubled her tally for the Blues.
They were ahead on 19 minutes from a Lucy Staniforth delivery which was met by Kerys Harrop and judged to have crossed the line, despite the efforts of goalkeeper Becky Spencer.
Follis followed up her first goal for City last time out by scoring again, latching onto a ball by Chloe Arthur.
Harriett Scott was denied her first Blues’ goal by a brilliant stop from Spencer, Julia Simic then kept out at the other end as Ann-Katrin Berger did well to deal with the danger.
In the last dozen minutes, Paige Williams and Charlie Wellings combined to set up Staniforth to slot home.
Chelsea hit five against Yeovil’s ten
Chelsea are within two points of second-placed Manchester City. after running out 5-0 winners over Yeovil Town who had Nicola Cousins sent off in the first half.
Millie Bright was the first of five different scorers, with a simple close-range finish on 20 minutes from Karen Carney’s cross.
Ji So-Yun drilled in to double the lead and the the Glovers were down to ten when Erin Cuthbert was taken out.
Cuthbert got the third with an acrobatic volley from a Ramona Bachmann delivery and the latter then made it 4-0 on 44 minutes as she turned inside the box to finish past Megan Walsh.
Bethany England came off the bench to complete the scoring 10 minutes from time, her strike cannoning into the back of the net via the woodwork.
Williams scores twice as Reading win on the road
Reading took the points 4-1 away to Brighton, in a game that brought three goals in a six-minute second-half spell.
The Royals led 1-0 at half time after Rachel Furness found Fara Williams and her shot hit the post off the back of goalkeeper Marie Hourihan before going in.
Furness was again involved at the start of the goal-rush on 58 minutes, sending another through ball this time to Brooke Chaplen to fire high into the net.
Aileen Whelan replied by heading home Ini Umotong’s cross at the near post but Williams restored the two-goal cushion as her shot from distance beat Hourihan.
Gemma Davison added a late fourth also from long-range, a slight deflection helping it past the keeper.
