LONDON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Striker Bunny Shaw struck a late winner for Manchester City as they beat London City Lionesses 2-1 on Sunday to surge to a nine-point lead at the top of the Women's Super League standings.
The Manchester side top the table on 36 points with champions Chelsea second on 27 points and Arsenal a point further back in third.
Chelsea, who have won the last six league titles, lost 2-0 at home to Arsenal on Saturday, handing Man City a golden opportunity to strengthen their grip on top spot, but they were pushed all the way by a fast-improving London City side.
The leaders went ahead in the 11th minute when Vivianne Miedema picked out Kerolin's perfectly-timed run, and the Brazilian rattled the ball home confidently for her third league goal of the season.
Comfortably mid-table in their first top-flight season, the Lionesses battled hard and Isobel Godwin struck the woodwork twice before they levelled in the 68th minute when Freya Godfrey fired a rocket of a shot into the top corner of the net.
City struggled for much of the second half, but finally came good late on as their hosts failed to clear a corner, and Shaw lashed the ball into the net for her 13th of the season to wrap up the three points.
At the other end of the table, Liverpool registered their first victory of the season as Mia Enderby scored twice in second-half stoppage time to secure a 2-0 home win over Tottenham Hotspur, but they remained bottom thanks to West Ham United's 2-1 away win over Leicester City.
Manchester United scored three goals in seven second-half minutes to secure a 4-1 away win over Aston Villa that moved them up to fourth in the table, a point behind Arsenal.
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor)
