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Women's football talking points: Super League title race is on but FA await details of Championship abandonment
After a weekend which saw Chelsea put a dent in Arsenal's title ambitions with a 2-1 win over the Gunners at Borehamwood, and some concerning scenes in the Championship, Katie Whyatt wraps up the biggest talking points...
Abandonment at Manchester United raises concerns about medical standards
As more details surface on the circumstances that led to the abandonment of Manchester United’s Championship visit to Charlton on medical grounds, the findings may set new precedents for medical care in the women’s game.
In the build-up to Charlie Devlin’s opener for United, Charlton’s Charlotte Kerr was injured in a collision that left both medical teams administering oxygen while an ambulance was called. With no ambulance on site, Kerr waited in excess of 20 minutes for one to arrive before the referee abandoned play.
Charlton said in a statement last night that Kerr’s condition is “improving” and she was, reassuringly, active on social media to respond to the messages of well-wishers. But in a game where medical care can often feel like an afterthought - to the point the PFA is funding operations for players without private medical insurance - the absence of an on-site ambulance is doubly disconcerting. The FA have confirmed they are awaiting the referee’s report but pressure is building on the governing body to implement more stringent medical standards.
Emma Hayes plays down Chelsea's title prospects
Chelsea boss Emma Hayes is so reluctant to entertain thoughts of winning the title race that she sidestepped the questions by giving chocolate to reporters and cracking jokes about her son, Harry. But her side’s deserved 2-1 win over a depleted Arsenal has blown wide open a contest that, for months, ran the risk of turning into a procession.
Despite their uncharacteristically slow start to the season that saw them go three league games without scoring, Chelsea are now just three points behind leaders Manchester City, who they visit on February 10, and have not conceded in the league since their 5-0 defeat to Arsenal in October. Arsenal no longer look like a side destined to be champions.
Marc Skinner departs
A 1-0 defeat was an unfittingly limp end to Marc Skinner’s Birmingham City reign, as the Blues came unstuck against the wily Bristol City side that held Manchester City to a point last week.
Skinner, 35, is expected to take up the vacant managerial position at Orlando Pride, one of the biggest clubs in women’s football, but at Birmingham he had created a team greater than the sum of its parts, inflating the top three to a top four on a fraction of the funding. Their challenge will be to maintain that progress in his absence.
Bristol's excellent fortnight
Bristol City may prove unlikely kingmakers in the WSL’s late, scrambling title race. Although they have since moved top, Manchester City’s title hopes looked to have taken a dent when they failed, no matter how hard they tried, to break down Tanya Oxtoby’s stubborn side and had to settle for a point last Sunday.
Bristol were more adventurous to wound Birmingham yesterday but they are a pragmatic, well-coached side and are still to visit Chelsea and Arsenal before the end of the season. The prospect of two upsets feels unlikely but stranger things have happened.
Good week for...
Unbeaten Manchester City, who capitalised on Arsenal’s defeat to Chelsea to beat West Ham 3-1 and move top of the Super League for the first time this season - a point clear of their nearest rivals. Arsenal boast a game in hand but are also hampered by an increasingly lengthy injury list that, at the last count, comprised seven first-team players.
The Gunners previously looked like a side sleepwalking to the title but now they are faltering for the first time: they will hope to be back in control before they host Manchester City in the final game of the season.
Bad week for...
Yeovil, whose survival hopes took a further blow in the 93rd minute as Courtney Sweetman-Kirk scored her second to end Liverpool’s seven-game winless streak. The Lady Glovers are three points behind their nearest rivals Everton.
Performance of the week:
Erin Cuthbert, whose double against Arsenal earned effusive praise from Chelsea boss Emma Hayes, who said of the Scot: “she is in my heart, because you dream about players like this coming around: full of heart, desire and determination”.