It was a dramatic afternoon in the Women’s Super League relegation battle, as four of the bottom five teams were in action, with two of them playing each other. Unpredictably, the lead changed hands multiple times throughout the afternoon, and none of the teams who went ahead first finished with three points.
Reading looked to be on their way to a win after taking a two-goal lead against Everton within 17 minutes, which would have moved them up to ninth in the table on 14 points, ahead of Brighton and Tottenham. However, their lead was halved in the 41st minute, and they eventually dropped back down to second bottom. Meanwhile, Tottenham had trailed to Aston Villa after only nine minutes, and their afternoon deteriorated after Rachel Daly doubled Villa’s advantage. But then Eveliina Summanen pulled one back to give Spurs a glimmer of hope, and Summanen equalised two minutes after the restart. Spurs’ position improved further when Ceri Holland levelled for Liverpool against Brighton, moving Tottenham up to 10th, while Brighton had dropped down to 11th. Bethany England then scored to give Tottenham a 3-2 lead, and they moved up to 15 points, leading fifth-placed Villa. However, their joy was short-lived as Daly scored her 15th goal of the season to make it 3-3. Tottenham’s tally dropped to 13 points, but they held on to their league position. For Brighton, what could have become one point between them and Liverpool ended up as a difference of seven points.
The relegation battle is still far from over, with five weekends of WSL action left. Even after Sunday’s games, the situation at the bottom of the table is still unclear, although Liverpool look to have pulled themselves clear. On Saturday, Tottenham play Brighton and Leicester play Liverpool. Later in the campaign, Tottenham host Reading on 21 May. Then, on the final day of the season on 27 May, Brighton take on Leicester. It promises to be an exciting few weeks as teams fight for survival.