Soccer Football - Women's Super League - Leicester City v Chelsea - King Power Stadium, Leicester, Britain - March 3, 2024 Chelsea's Mayra Ramirez in action with Leicester City's Julie Thibaud Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers
LONDON (Reuters) - Nathalie Bjorn, Mayra Ramirez and Catarina Macario all netted their first Women's Super League goals for Chelsea as they cruised to a 4-0 win over Leicester City on Sunday to go back to the top of the table, above Manchester City on goal difference.
Swedish defender Bjorn, who joined the Blues from Everton in January, broke the deadlock in the 38th minute after Leicester failed to clear a corner, hooking a shot back across the goal and over the head of keeper Lize Kop to make it 1-0.
Ramirez, another January arrival, added the second in the 44th minute with a brilliant solo effort, winning the ball in her own half and running half the length of the field before coolly rounding Kop and slotting the ball home.
Winger Johanna Rytting Kaneryd added a third and Brazil-born USA international Macario came off the bench to score on her debut as Chelsea moved back to the summit on 37 points thanks to a three-goal cushion over Manchester City, who beat Everton 2-1 on Saturday.
In Sunday's early kick-off, Arsenal kept their title challenge alive with a 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the North London derby at a sold-out Emirates Stadium thanks to a second-half strike from Alessia Russo.
Though Arsenal made hard work of beating Spurs, they remain three points behind the top two, and with away games against Chelsea and City still to come, they still have their fate in their own hands as the title race hots up.
Bottom side Bristol City and Brighton & Hove Albion combined to produce the most entertaining game of the day, with Bristol coming back from 2-0 down to trail 4-3 before suffering another defensive collapse and eventually losing 7-3.
With seven games left to play, that loss leaves Bristol six points adrift of a West Ham United side who drew 1-1 at home with Manchester United thanks to a late goal from Viviane Asseyi.
There were plenty of goals in Birmingham too, but unfortunately for Aston Villa most of them were scored by visitors Liverpool, who notched a 4-1 win in one of their best away performances of the season.
The win moves Liverpool up to fifth in the table on 25 points, level on points with fourth-placed Manchester United.
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
