The City forward hit a WSL hat-trick for the ninth time while Eva Olid’s United have found defensive stability

Not only did Khadija “Bunny” Shaw score a record-extending ninth WSL hat-trick, she scored a “perfect hat-trick” for the fourth time in the competition, something nobody else has managed more than once. Against West Ham the Jamaica striker opened the scoring with her left foot, headed home her second off the underside of the crossbar and tucked in her third with her right foot late on. It helped her side towards a 5-0 win that opened up a two-point gap at the top of the table and stretched Shaw’s lead in the race to be the top division’s top scorer to a five-goal advantage over her nearest challenger, Océane Hurtré. Can anybody stop her relentless pursuit of another Golden Boot? It would appear not. Tom Garry

Match report: Liverpool 1-2 Arsenal

Alessia Russo wrote herself into the history books once more as she became the highest English goalscorer in the Women’s Champions League. Her hat-trick gave Arsenal a vital 3-0 win against Benfica to send the Gunners up to second in the league phase table.

“I’m so happy. I think we’ve found a nice dynamic as well with the last two games,” Russo’s manager, Renée Slegers, said. “She’s one of the leaders and she does it her way. She cares for everyone around her and connects well with her teammates. She leads the way as a role model, doing the right things consistently.”

Gunners edged north London derby while new United manager put the brakes on Manchester City’s winning start

The penalty that allowed Arsenal to come from a goal behind to take the lead may have come with a healthy helping of luck, with the ball having come off Ella Morris’s raised arm as her teammate attempted to clear it, but it could prove to be the turning point Arsenal needed. “It’s been tough. We haven’t got the results we wanted,” penalty scorer Alessia Russo told the BBC afterwards. “This was an important win as far as north London derbies goes. It was really important and this was a great opportunity to try and turn it around.” It has taken seven games for the Gunners to secure their second league win of the season despite high hopes ahead of the new campaign and, while the result was a significant one, there is still a long way to go if Arsenal are to salvage anything from the most disappointing of starts. The performance against Tottenham was far from perfect and, in the first half in particular, sloppy and lacking fight. Tightening up their passing and harnessing the grit they found as they clung onto their lead towards the end of the match will be critical if they are to really kick on from this result. Suzanne Wrack

Another round of games and another disappointing draw for Arsenal while Manchester City sit top of the table with a 100% record

There would have been hope that the international break could offer the Arsenal players and staff a reset but the same problems reared their head at the Emirates on Sunday in a 1-1 draw with Birmingham. As they have done so often this season, the Gunners dominated most attacking and possession-based metrics – they registered 76% possession, a 2.73 xG and 43 touches in the opposition box – but their profligacy in front of goal and lack of urgency in their play once again came to the fore. Of their 27 chances, they managed just four on target as they toiled against a resilient opposition who understood the playbook. Birmingham set up in a strong defensive structure, protecting their box admirably with numbers to frustrate Renée Slegers’s side, who famously struggle to break down low blocks. In contrast, Birmingham scored with their one shot on target as Océane Hurtré took her impressive tally to six in six. Sophie Downey

Match report: Arsenal 1-1 Birmingham

A famous name and record attendances have given FCK a platform but a difficult start in Denmark’s top-flight shows success on the pitch is not guaranteed

On an August day in 2024, 5,165 fans gathered at Vanløse Idrætspark to watch FC Copenhagen (FCK) take on B73 Slagelse in their first league match. For Denmark’s most successful men’s club, with 16 league titles, it marked the realisation of their desire to establish a women’s team, through collaboration with the existing FC Damsø, and an ambitious project with aims of having a wide-reaching impact on and off the pitch.

The 26 months since have brought a whirlwind of success, the club securing back-to-back promotions to reach the A-Liga. Now they are in the top division and “playing with the big dogs”, as their head of women’s football, Romaney Pinnock, coins it, and they must adapt to stay there.

Gunners lacked cutting edge again at Stamford Bridge while the former Barcelona star dominated against Brighton

How to solve the problem of an inability to take your chances? That is the question that will haunt the Arsenal head coach, Renée Slegers, over the coming days. In their 1-0 defeat by Chelsea, Arsenal applied more than enough pressure to make a difference, but in registering two of their 18 shots on target, a fundamental lack of ruthlessness remains. They dominated the opening stages at Stamford Bridge, but, as has often been the case this season, they were made to pay for their wastefulness. None of their nine first-half attempts troubled the goalkeeper, Hannah Hampton. Chelsea, however, had five of eight on target and scored just before half-time through Alyssa Thompson. “I wanted to keep it away from the players because they can score goals and they can finish and they will get the rewards for their work,” Slegers said. Solutions need to be found quickly. Sophie Downey

WSL roundup: Putellas scores first London City goal, Man City maintain perfect start

Arsenal’s title chances were dealt a significant blow after a narrow defeat at the hands of Chelsea. Alyssa Thompson’s first-half finish was the difference on a competitive afternoon at Stamford Bridge but one that ultimately left Renée Slegers with more questions than answers about how to save their season.

“Worried? No,” Slegers said. “Confidence is something that fluctuates. They know who they are and they know what they can bring. What’s important is that there’s always phases in the season and there’s different things you need to work on or focus on.

Manchester City produced a gutsy performance to fight back and earn a valuable 2-2 draw away at Bayern Munich on their return to the Champions League. José Barcala’s side took the lead through Giulia Gwinn and an unfortunate Kerstin Casparij own goal but Beth Mead and Carlotta Wamser earned the visitors a hard-earned point.

City’s head coach, Andrée Jeglertz, was pleased with the resolve of his side after a difficult first half. “It [a comeback] has happened before because we know the quality is there,” he said. “The mentality of ­winning and the belief is there. It shows ­something about this group again.

With an incredible array of talent on show we select half a dozen players who could make the step up to the senior World Cup next year

The 2026 Under-20 Women’s World Cup is entering the knockout stage in Poland and, after an intriguing group stage, we pick some of the young stars who have stood out.

Celia Segura (Spain and Barcelona)
Segura is no stranger to knockout football, having helped Spain to silver at the Under-17 World Cup two years ago and finishing with the Bronze Ball and Bronze Boot. She has picked up the mantle again as La Roja eased through their group. Her four goals against New Caledonia were an illustration of her pure scoring instinct and she has also played a key role with her high technical skills and instinctive ability to both make space for and find her teammates. Her back-heel assist to set up Pau Comendador against China was a memorable one. A product of the Barcelona academy, the 19-year-old forward made her debut for the senior side in February and will return to Atlético Madrid for a season-long loan at the conclusion of this tournament.

This is an extract from our free email about women’s football, Moving the Goalposts. To get the full edition, visit this page and follow the instructions. Moving the Goalposts is delivered to your inboxes every Tuesday and Thursday.

Promoted side’s thrilling win may be overturned after they used four substitutions windows while Georgia Stanway show the way for Gunners

Kirsty Howat’s 60-second cameo deep into injury time could ruin what was a memorable day for Crystal Palace on their return to the top flight. An impressive 1-0 victory over Everton was celebrated emphatically by Jo Potter and her players but that joy would have been replaced by concern and frustration not long after. On Sunday evening WSL Football revealed that there had been a breach of the rules – the Eagles used four different substitute windows rather than the regulated three – which had not been picked up by either the coaching staff or the match officials. An investigation has now been launched with punishment to be decided (there is a potential for the result to be overturned). The needless error has put a dampener on what should have been a positive afternoon thanks to England Under-23s forward Lexi Lloyd-Smith’s winner on her WSL debut. Sophie Downey

This week’s newsletter spends a day with the Italy midfielder as she continues to battle her way back to a peak physical condition

“It was accepting that I couldn’t play football because it was my life. It was everything that I knew.” For Everton’s Aurora Galli, the past 20 months have been anything but straightforward. Her return from a serious knee injury has been difficult, one beset with obstacles before, ultimately, a long-awaited comeback.

It was September 2024, 83 minutes and three seconds into the first game of the Women’s Super League season to be exact, when Galli went down in agony. Everton were losing 4-0 to Brighton and, in her eagerness to salvage something for her team, the midfielder attempted to challenge for the ball when her standing leg buckled. As expected, it was confirmed that she had ruptured an anterior cruciate ligament.

This is an extract from our free email about women’s football, Moving the Goalposts. To get the full edition, visit this page and follow the instructions. Moving the Goalposts will be sent out once a week, on Wednesdays, in the close season but will be back on Tuesdays and Thursdays from September.

Sarina Wiegman’s side followed up Euro 2025 final glory with another defensively minded win over biggest rivals

As the seconds ran down, the tension was palpable around Wembley. Hearts were in mouths as Hannah Hampton made a world-class save from point-blank range to keep out Edna Imade’s header. Every sinew was stretched by Keira Walsh as she stuck out a head and then a boot to scramble away yet another delivery into the box, every single ounce of energy eked out to protect Lauren Hemp’s third-minute goal, a moment that felt like it belonged to another era of time.

Despite the apparent commotion on the field and the anxiety of the spectators in the stands, there was, however, very little panic evident on the faces of the 11 Lionesses on the field. Instead there was an aura of confidence about them, a true belief that they would get the job done. They cut an image of a team that had been there and done it all before and completed the task at hand on a far more stressful stage than the hallowed Wembley turf.

Marc Skinner laments City’s advantage after Vivianne Miedema shines and Brighton welcome back Kiko Seike

With her hat-trick in Arsenal’s 5-2 win over Tottenham, Alessia Russo took her tally to 25 goal contributions in 31 games this campaign. It is a notable return from a player in her prime, not just in her buildup play, but also her finishing. Arsenal’s attacking dominance – they have scored 18 goals in their past five games – is down to the fact that many of their attacking players are in form. Stina Blackstenius has three goals in her past four games while Caitlin Foord also scored on Saturday, her first appearance since returning from the Asian Cup. Renée Slegers has spoken about the versatility in the type of goals her side produces and the need to be ruthless in both penalty areas. Spurs’ two goals meant an end to Arsenal’s 106-day streak of not conceding in the WSL. While all runs must come to an end, Arsenal still boast the meanest defence in the league. Sophie Downey

Arsenal secured their 11th consecutive victory in all competitions with a confident win against Tottenham at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday evening. Alessia Russo scored a 22-minute hat-trick to put her side in firm control while Caitlin Foord and Stina Blackstenius added more in the second half.

It was a devastating first-half performance from Russo. Her three in the latest edition of the north London derby took her tally to five in the last eight days, a week in which Arsenal extended their unbeaten run in all competitions.

Sonia Bompastor ‘a bit sad’ at League Cup changes while Andrée Jeglertz steels Manchester City for season’s climax

Sonia Bompastor said losing the opportunity to play in the League Cup was a “bit sad,” but she understood the reason for excluding teams that qualify for the Champions League next season. With Chelsea rarely outside the European places the Blues’ 2-0 League Cup final victory over Manchester United on Sunday may well be their last foray in the competition for some time. “I think I understand the reason why the decision is made,” she said after goals from Lauren James and Aggie Beever-Jones secured the win. “For a club like Chelsea, we are playing a lot of games, our schedule is busy, so I understand the reason behind the decision. As much as we want to be competing in every competition and going as far as possible and grabbing as many titles and trophies as possible, I understand. Of course, when you have one competition that is probably going away from you it’s a bit sad.” Suzanne Wrack

A 99th-minute winner from Naomi Girma sent holders Chelsea through to the Women’s FA Cup quarter-finals as they saw off a stubborn Manchester United 2-1. In a competitive encounter at Kingsmeadow, Sonia Bompastor’s side needed extra time to keep their Cup defence alive after Simi Awujo had cancelled out Sam Kerr’s opener in normal time.

“I am really pleased because this competition is really special for us,” Bompastor said. “We want to go as far as possible. It was a tight game because Man United are a great team. I am really pleased with the result and the performance.”

A hard-fought victory over OH Leuven at Meadow Park sent Arsenal through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, where they will face Chelsea next month. The visitors tested Renée Slegers’s side when Sára Pusztai cancelled out Alessia Russo’s goal but a penalty from Mariona Caldentey and second from Russo secured the win, earning them a comfortable 7-1 aggregate score.

This was a disjointed performance from the hosts but it will have done little to dampen the high spirits in north London.

Chelsea continued to steady the ship as they secured a crucial win against Liverpool in the Women’s Super League. Lauren James inspired Sonia Bompastor’s side to victory at Kingsmeadow, setting up Sjoeke Nüsken’s opener before making sure of the result with a goal in the second half.

It has been a turbulent month for the Blues on and off the pitch. Back-to-back defeats against Arsenal and Manchester City all but ended their title defence and it was announced last week that the club had parted ways with Paul Green, their long-term head of women’s football.

Manchester United took a big step towards the quarter-finals of the Women’s Champions League by sealing a comfortable lead in the first leg of their playoff against Atlético Madrid after goals from Elisabeth Terland, Melvine Malard and Julia Zigiotti Olme.

“I think it was [a professional win],” a delighted Marc Skinner, the United manager, said. “It was ­difficult for both teams on the pitch. I can understand it with the number of storms they had ... but I did think it affected the football. I thought we were ruthless. The three goals were fantastic. I felt like our defending as a whole team was excellent.”

This newsletter looks at Fifa’s new competition, which takes place in London this week and has a $2.3m prize fund

This week London will take centre stage as the inaugural Women’s Champions Cup, the brand-new club competition in women’s football, comes to its conclusion. Four continental champions – Arsenal, Gotham FC, Corinthians and AS Far – will meet in Brentford on Wednesday for a place in the final, which will be held at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

With $2.3m (£1.68m) in prize money and a shiny new trophy on the line, it is far from insignificant for the teams involved. For the wider public, however, there remains a lack of understanding about what it really is and how it came to be introduced into an already crowded football space.