WSL round-up: Arsenal held 1-1 at home as Goodwin scores twice for London City

Arsenal were held to a 1-1 home draw by Manchester United in the Women's Super League on Saturday, with Smilla Holmberg making it 1-1 in the 95th minute.

Just over a week before Sarina Wiegman names her Lionesses squad for the October World Cup play-off tie against Greece, Arsenal’s draw represented their second home stalemate in two weeks and continued a sequence of matches in which they have struggled to convert possession into goals. Renée Slegers addressed those attacking shortcomings after the match: "It’s not one thing, it’s a combination of things," Slegers said. "It’s a cocktail of things, there are some details in decision making, some details in the technical execution. It’s also the ruthlessness in front of goal but I know the players want it and they want to do that, they want to execute for Arsenal."

Isobel Goodwin, an England Under-23 international, scored twice as London City Lionesses beat Charlton 4-1, a performance noted in the context of the imminent senior squad selection. Goodwin linked up with Alexia Putellas during the win; she scored five times in the WSL last term and the report noted Chelsea’s Aggie Beever-Jones was out with a minor ankle injury and Arsenal’s Michelle Agyemang was still returning from her ACL. The piece added that Wiegman may be considering alternative options for a backup striker to Alessia Russo for those fixtures.

Lauren Hemp scored twice for Manchester City in their 4-2 win over Liverpool, ending a WSL goal drought that had lasted since last November; she had been the league’s leading assist-provider in 2023-24 and 2024-25 and supplied the joint-second highest number of assists last season. Manchester City boss Andrée Jeglertz told Sky Sports: "She’s an amazing player. I don’t know what she’s made of, because she just loves to be on the field and looks like she has so much energy. She’s a game-changer." Hemp nearly completed a hat-trick before an early, rising strike was tipped over the bar by Khiara Keating.

At Chelsea, 20-year-old Lexi Potter started for a second successive match in the 2-0 win over Birmingham City and opened the scoring at Stamford Bridge by reacting to the second ball in the area. The report praised her calmness in tight spaces and the developing relationship with Keira Walsh; Sonia Bompastor told Chelsea media: "They understand each other, and even when they are on the pitch and they close their eyes, they know where each other is."

Everton secured a late 1-0 win at West Ham courtesy of an own goal from defender Laia Codina, giving them six points from two matches without their opponents scoring for them; it was the second time in as many weeks that a touch from their opponent handed Everton victory. The match in Dagenham was described as even, with both sides sharing possession, similar xGs and registering three shots on target each, and Scott Phelan’s substitutions produced pressure that led to Yuka Momiki providing the delivery for the decisive touch.

Olivia Holdt marked her first start of the season with a hat-trick as Spurs turned a goalless first half into a 7-0 victory at Crystal Palace. Palace were reduced to 10 players when Fuka Tsunoda was sent off in the seventh minute for a reckless challenge on Cathinka Tandberg; Holdt said: "When they got the red card, I was thinking this could actually be tougher for us," and she completed her treble by the 73rd minute after manager Martin Ho urged players at half-time to get more bodies into the box.

Brighton had 25 shots, eight on target and an xG of 3.17 but were held to a 1-1 draw by Aston Villa after Gabby George scored her first goal for the club in the 31st minute and Villa equalised from a corner in the 89th. The result left new manager Arturo Ruiz still searching for his first win of the season; he said: "Here in our stadium, in these kinds of games we cannot lose two points. We need to get three points in 100% of these games."

Wiegman is due to name her Lionesses squad just over a week from now for the October World Cup play-off tie against Greece, with recent performances from players such as Goodwin and Potter arriving ahead of that selection.