Manchester City 7-0 Aston Villa
Manchester City scored six first-half goals as they thrashed Aston Villa to equal their biggest WSL winning margin.
The hosts were without several players and boss Gareth Taylor – who is isolating – but Lauren Hemp slid in Chloe Kelly’s cross to put them ahead.
Jill Scott and Hemp headed in either side of Georgia Stanway’s calm finish before a Natalie Haigh own goal and an Ellen White tap-in made it 6-0.
Villa improved in the second half but Kelly showed grit to add a seventh.
In their first game in more than a month, the seven-goal margin equalled City’s record Women’s Super League victory – their 8-1 demolition of Bristol City in November – and moves them to within a point of third place before the completion of Sunday’s games.
For Villa it was their heaviest defeat of their debut season in the top flight, all the more disappointing as Gemma Davies’ side had only lost 2-0 to the same opponents in the opening match of the campaign.
Assistant manager Alan Mahon led the home side in the absence of Taylor, while regular keeper Ellie Roebuck and influential midfielder Caroline Weir were among those missing – with American trio Sam Mewis, Rose Lavelle and Abby Dahlkemper all on international duty.
Second-bottom Villa may have spotted an opportunity to pick up an unexpected result at the Academy Stadium but they conceded a regular flow of goals in the first 45 minutes as Hemp, Kelly and Lucy Bronze – who set up two goals before coming off at the break – showed a ruthless streak.
The visitors had a big chance to make it 1-1 but Nadine Hanssen dragged her shot just wide after England captain Steph Houghton had sloppily misplaced a pass, but otherwise it was attack versus defence.
Davies brought on World Cup-winning forward Mana Iwabuchi at the interval for her WSL debut as Villa moved to a more rigid five at the back, while City gave academy players Millie Davies and Alicia Window their professional debuts off the bench either side of Kelly’s richly-deserved goal, coming after she had hit the woodwork in each half.
