Laia Aleixandri earned Manchester City a spot in the Women’s FA Cup quarter-finals with a second-half winner against Arsenal.
The Gunners came into the fifth-round contest hoping to bounce back from a first-ever Women’s Super League loss to West Ham, but could not find the finishing touch at Meadow Park as they crashed out 1-0.
A scrappy first half gave way to a more open second period with chances for both sides, WSL leading goalscorer Khadija Shaw seeing two headed efforts kept out, first by Arsenal keeper Sabrina D’Angelo then by defender Leah Williamson in her second start since returning from a long-term anterior cruciate ligament recovery.
Shaw, in a worrying sight for City boss Gareth Taylor, was forced off and replaced by Mary Fowler in the 67th minute, shortly before Gunners substitute Steph Catley failed to clear Chloe Kelly’s free-kick and Spain international Aleixandri pounced, poking in the 74th-minute winner.
Khiara Keating’s stunning series of saves against a late Arsenal surge preserved the visiting side’s lead, and while the Gunners felt the City keeper had not saved a last-ditch effort from a scramble before it crossed the line, the officials disagreed.
Holders Chelsea took one step closer to securing a fourth straight FA Cup crown with a 1-0 victory over Championship side Crystal Palace at Kingsmeadow thanks a superb maiden goal from January signing Mayra Ramirez.
Emma Hayes had initially changed all 11 players from the side that beat Sunderland 5-0 in their midweek Conti Cup clash, but Fran Kirby returned as a replacement for Lauren James, who was a late withdrawal from the line-up.
It was a valiant performance from Palace, who held the hosts to a goalless draw for 81 minutes, when Ramirez opened her Blues account with a brilliant backheeled flick to book her side another trip into the last eight.
There were wild scenes at Wolverhampton when Beth Merrick’s 67th-minute penalty for Wolves – one of two third-tier sides remaining – cancelled out Katie Robinson’s first-half opener for relegation-threatened WSL side Brighton.
The teams remained on level terms until Emma Kullberg’s first-ever goal for Brighton fired the Seagulls into an 88th-minute lead, before the Sweden international then completed her hat-trick inside a stunning eight minutes.
Manchester United, last season’s runners-up, claimed a 3-1 victory over Championship outfit Southampton, with Rachel Williams heading home twice after Lexi Lloyd-Smith had cancelled out Ella Toone’s eighth-minute opener.
Kit Graham’s low, long-range effort in the 76th minute of Tottenham’s 1-0 victory over Charlton spelled the end of the Championship leaders’ cup run, while goals from Sophie Roman Haug and Melissa Lawley secured Liverpool a 2-0 win over London City Lionesses.
Real Madrid hit Twente for seven, five-star Wolfsburg also win big
Real Madrid had six different goalscorers as they trounced Twente 7-0 in the Women's Champions League on Wednesday, while Wolfsburg beat Galatasaray 5-0.
Signe Bruun opened the scoring three minutes into the Group B encounter at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, then Maria Mendez's header gave Madrid a 2-0 half-time lead.
Madrid, who had won one and lost one of their opening two games in the tournament, got a third through Naomie Feller five minutes into the second half, then Caroline Weir made it 4-0 with a brilliant free-kick.
Mendez headed home her second of the encounter shortly after the hour mark, while Oihane Hernandez and Carla Camacho got on the scoresheet late on to complete the rout.
The victory took Madrid second in the Group B standings ahead of Chelsea's trip to Celtic.
Wolfsburg were also convincing victors in Group A, getting off the mark for this season's competition as Rebecka Blomqvist scored a hat-trick in their 5-0 thrashing of Galatasaray.
The Bundesliga side – who failed to pick up a point or score a goal in their opening two matches – had a narrow 1-0 lead at half-time through Joelle Wedemeyer, before Blomqvist took centre-stage in the second period.
She tapped home after Janina Minge struck the crossbar, then added her second goal in the 77th minute and her third six minutes into stoppage time.
Vivien Endemann powered home a fifth for Wolfsburg one minute later, as they provisionally moved within three points of Lyon and Roma ahead of their meeting.
Taylor pleased with City's physical test during Hammarby win
Manchester City head coach Gareth Taylor was pleased with how his team stood up to the physical challenge of Hammarby in their 2-0 Champions League victory on Tuesday.
City's win extended their unbeaten start to the season, having won every game in all competitions following a 2-2 draw against Arsenal on opening day.
“Difficult game for us, physical challenge, a physical team in Hammarby. I think they outnumber us a little bit in terms of size, considering when you look at our midfield. But I thought the girls handled it really well," Taylor said after the game
“I thought we dominated the game. In the early parts we were just a little bit off in our final action. We just needed to speed up a little bit in terms of being on the end of it, and we spoke about that at half-time, and we score with Laura getting into that type of position we’d been talking about.
“[The physicality was something] we were prepared for, but dealing with it is a different thing. Having Bunny [Khadija Shaw] and Alanna [Kennedy] on the pitch, two of our more physical players, is really important, particularly for set-plays.
“At 1-0 we were defending a couple of scenarios like that, Yama [Ayaka Yamashita] making a really good save at one point. Then Aoba [Fujino] got the goal that maybe allowed us to change things up a little bit more, get some people off that we’d like to manage.
“I think the girls have dealt with it really well tonight. We expected it, we thought it would be difficult, and they rose to the challenge.”
The victory leaves City top of their Champions League group with a 100% record after three matches, three points above second-placed Barcelona.
Taylor had made changes to City's starting XI, with Lauren Hemp among the trio to drop out from the weekend and she did not feature in the squad. Ahead of their weekend game against Chelsea, who are second in the WSL, Taylor explained the reasoning behind Hemp's absence.
“We’ve just got an issue with Lauren that we just need to analyse a little bit further, that’s all," he said.
“It’s something that potentially happened in the Palace game [on 3 November]. She was able to play in the Tottenham game [last Friday] but wasn’t able to tonight, so we’ll just take a little bit longer to assess and find out more.
“Hopefully [she can play against Chelsea]. There’s an opportunity there, we’ll just have to take a moment tomorrow, have a good conversation and find out where we’re at with the medical staff.”
Al-Riyadh 0-1 Al-Nassr: Mane hands visitors bragging rights
Sadio Mane's first-half strike ensured Al-Nassr maintained their unbeaten start to the Saudi Pro League season with a 1-0 win over rivals Al-Riyadh.
He smartly finished from close range in the 41st minute, with his goal enough to seal the three points and move Al-Nassr up to third in the table.
Al-Nassr's threat grew as the first half went on, with Milan Borjan making a fine double stop to deny Ronaldo and Talisca once again before Mohamed Simakan struck the post on the rebound.
Mane would eventually break the deadlock in the 41st minute though, darting in front of his marker to meet Abdulrahman Ghareeb's low cross and rifle it into the roof of the net.
The Senegalese striker arguably should have doubled his tally before the break, but was denied by Borjan's stretching save when one-on-one with the Canadian.
Talisca should have wrapped up the points in the final three minutes, but he blazed over an empty net from close range, before having a late goal disallowed for offside.
Data Debrief: Derby delight for Al-Nassr
After drawing their last two matches, this win was a welcome result for Al-Nassr as they racked up their sixth victory of the season to close the gap at the top of the table to six points.
It is just the second time Al-Nassr have avoided defeat in their first 10 matches of a Pro League campaign, last doing so in 2013-14, when they won the league title.
They are now unbeaten in their last seven Pro League derbies (W4 D3), their longest such streak since a run of nine between 2018 and 2020.
This is the first time in eight such games that they have kept a clean sheet though, and limited their opponents to just five shots throughout.
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