Manchester City 2-1 Everton: The hosts go top of the WSL with victory

Manchester City have moved to the top of the Women's Super League, maintaining their momentum for the title with a win over Everton.

City were in perfect control from start to finish, moving the ball around with fluid passing as Everton tried to fall back and prevent their lead from increasing.

However, the Toffees were unable to do so and after the break Lauren Hemp slotted past Courtney Brosnan to double City's lead.

However, Hannah Bennison quickly reduced City's lead with a superb shot from distance, the ball hitting the crossbar and into the net.

But the hosts prevented that from becoming a counterattack and quickly regained momentum and won a resounding victory.

The victory means Gareth Taylor's side are now three points behind title rivals Chelsea, who have more games remaining, although they still have a game in hand.

Chelsea travel to Leicester City on Sunday at 18:00 GMT.

Strengthen title push with convincing performance

This was not supposed to be one of City's more embarrassing tests, but it was still a convincing victory and another positive move towards lifting Chelsea to the title.

Despite conceding a goal, City were dominant and outscored Everton in every area of ​​the pitch.

The hosts finished with 70.8% of possession and had 22 shots on goal compared to Everton's five.

They enjoyed freedom in the visitors' third, switching the ball from left to right, looking for opportunities for Shaw to exploit.

Jess Park, who spent last season on loan at the Toffees, was more of a direct threat, using clean dribbles to penetrate defenses and create chances for his team-mates.

Everton spent much of the game enduring City's tireless pressure, and when they did get forward they were often thwarted by Yui Hasegawa, who picked up stray balls at the base of City's midfield and prevented them from retaining possession. It was done.

Goalkeeper Brosnan was lucky not to be sent off in the first half, as the referee did not notice that she deflected outside the box as she tried to stop Shaw's shot with her left hand.

It wasn't necessarily the most exciting game, but City's careful approach, sticking to a possession-based style and not rushing in the final third, was the difference as they calmly defeated Everton.

After Bennison's goal there was every chance of nerves heading into the end of the game, but they held onto the ball brilliantly and prevented Everton from gaining any further momentum.

With seven games remaining, City are level on points with Chelsea at the weekend, but more wins like this will be vital if they are to stop Chelsea from winning their fifth straight title.