up: Olivia Smith strike helps Arsenal stun Manchester City, Madonna watches Chelsea beat Tottenham

Women's Super League round-up: Olivia Smith strike helps Arsenal stun Manchester City, Madonna watches Chelsea beat Tottenham

In this week's Women's Super League round-up, an excellent Olivia Smith finish helped Arsenal stun league leaders Manchester City, and West Ham United battled back from 2-0 down to overcome Brighton & Hove Albion. Liverpool boosted their survival hopes with a 3-1 triumph over Aston Villa, and Everton impressed in a 1-0 win against London City Lionesses.

Smith strike helps Arsenal stun league leaders

Olivia Smith’s first-half finish meant Manchester City missed the chance to extend their lead at the top of the Women's Super League table as they suffered a 1-0 defeat against Arsenal.

Smith scored the game's only goal in the 17th minute when she was sent through on goal by a superb pass from Mariona Caldentey.

Smith showed excellent composure to dribble the ball around City goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita before tapping it into an empty net.

Vivianne Miedema thought she had City back on level terms in the closing stages of the clash against her former club, but the referee judged that she fouled Katie McCabe in the build-up.

The result leaves The Gunners in third, 10 points behind City, who will finish the weekend eight points clear of Manchester United in second.

Madonna watches Chelsea ease to win at Spurs

Chelsea rediscovered their winning touch in the Women's Super League as Madonna was in the stands to see their composed 2-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur.

After a heavy defeat to Manchester City and a loss against Arsenal in their previous two outings, the Blues responded with purpose at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Keira Walsh opened the scoring to give Chelsea control, before Alyssa Thompson extended the lead early in the second half.

The result keeps Chelsea third in the league table and moves them four points clear of Spurs, who remain in fifth place.

Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor - who signed a new contract this week - told BBC Sport: "Because we are Chelsea, people expect us to win every game - but we are human. After some tough days, we showed on the pitch that we deserved to win.

"The pressure is always high when you’re not winning, especially at this club, but I’m proud of how the players bounced back. You can have all the technical and tactical quality in the world, but if you struggle mentally, it changes everything.

"I liked the reaction in training this week - that’s what we can control."

West Ham battle back against Brighton

Relegation-threatened West Ham United fought back from 2-0 down to record a crucial 3-2 win over Brighton & Hove Albion.

After a quiet first 40 minutes, Kiko Seike showed great awareness to spot Kinga Szemik off her line and even better skill to lob the Polish shot-stopper from outside the box.

It was 2-0 in the 63rd minute after Manuela Vargas nutmegged Eva Nystrom before slotting the ball past Szemik.

Brighton looked set to take all three points back to the South Coast until Ffion Morgan scored to give the hosts hope.

A stunning finish to the match saw Shekiera Martinez equalise in the 86th minute, before Viviane Asseyi tapped the ball in from close range to secure a remarkable comeback for The Hammers.

The victory sees West Ham move out of the relegation zone and up into 10th, while Brighton are seventh.

Liverpool boost survival hopes

Liverpool avoided dropping into the relegation zone themselves after beating Aston Villa 4-1 at St Helens Stadium.

The Reds made an excellent start to proceedings, taking a 1-0 lead in the ninth minute after Mia Enderby fired Ceri Holland’s cross into the back of the net.

It was 2-0 five minutes later, and Holland was at the heart of it once again.

Her delivery was deflected into the path of Martha Thomas, who instinctively stuck a leg out and flicked the ball past Sabrina D'Angelo.

Just as the game appeared to be slipping away from Villa, Miri Taylor found the top corner to get her side back in the contest.

However, Grace Fisk wrapped up the win with a tidy finish after some excellent link-up play with Jenna Clark before Aurelie Csillag made it 4-1 in stoppage time.

The result means The Reds are 11th, one point clear of bottom-of-the-table Leicester City.

Toffees beat Lionesses

Everton moved five points clear of the relegation zone after beating London City Lionesses 1-0.

The Lionesses had the better chances during an action-packed opening 45 minutes, with the best opportunity falling to Grace Geyoro, whose header hit the post.

The Toffees responded with an impressive start to the second half, which saw Inma Gabarro force an excellent save from Elene Lete.

Gabarro got her goal in the 62nd minute after Everton capitalised on a loose pass from Wassa Sangare.

Everton are now ninth, five points clear of Leicester, who have a game in hand.

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