6 thing learned from the WSL weekend as Earps hits milestone and Mead returns
If anyone predicted Leicester City would sit above Chelsea in the Women’s Super League table after three weekends of unpredictable carnage, kudos.
For all the pre-season chatter of evolved competition levels and the (mooted) vulnerabilities of the Chelsea regime, the opening throes of the WSL campaign has been refreshingly manic and exciting.
Manchester City, who made only one summer signing in Jill Roord, sit top of the table on goal difference after pummelling five past Bristol City but the talking points are far more nuanced.
Below, Mirror Sport walks you through the key takeaways from another WSL weekend.
1. Kerr returns in typical Kerr style
A first start of the season arrived on Saturday against West Ham for Sam Kerr, whose absence due to recovering from her summer shin injury has given the reigning champions a different look indeed.
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USWNT striker Mia Fishel was tasked with offering something in the way of a replacement, but can anyone really deputise for the 30-year-old goal glutton? In typical Kerr style, the Matildas star had an early goal chalked off for offside before grabbing the opener 10 minutes before the interval.
There was a symmetry about finding the net against West Ham. Last season, Kerr opened her WSL account three matches into the season in a 3-1 victory over the Hammers, though her 12 goals across the campaign were considered tame compared to her usual exploits.
And after a summer forced to miss most of her home World Cup through injury, many have tipped Kerr to stake a vengeful claim for the Golden Boot. One goal down, plenty more to go.
Sam Kerr scored the opener against West Ham for Chelsea (Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)2. Earps earns 100th cap for Man Utd after tempestuous summer
The Mary Earps saga turned into the summer transfer window’s biggest women’s football story, but United, after digging in their heels, managed to keep the World No 1 at Leigh Sports Village at least until the expiry of her contract next summer.
What the future holds remains to be seen, particularly as United’s Champions League campaign hinges on victory away to two-time European finalists Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday, though United once again owe a big thank you to Earps for keeping United’s hopes in tact after producing two important saves to deny PSG early on.
The loss of defender Gabby George to injury on Sunday means United's defence, which a frustrated Marc Skinner took no pity on in his post-match comments, will rely ever more on Earps in goal.
The 30-year-old was recognised ahead of her side’s 1-1 draw with Leicester for reaching centurion status at the club. Regardless of where the England keeper winds up next season, her legacy at United will be a difficult one to tarnish.
Mary Earps of Manchester United receives an award for 100 appearances (Photo by Charlotte Tattersall - MUFC/Manchester United via Getty Images)3. Triumphant Mead goes full circle
Football loves a narrative, especially a multi-layered one. So when Beth Mead stepped out onto the Emirates pitch on Sunday for the first time since the dramatic 3-2 loss to Manchester United on 19 November, a storybook ending was inevitably on the cards.
Mead not only marked her long-awaited return from rupturing her ACL last season with a game-winning assist ( Arsenal ’s first win of the season).
But the 28-year-old did so 1) on the pitch she’d originally suffered the injury and 2) supplied the injury-time assist to Alessia Russo, who had scored the game-winner against Arsenal for Manchester United.
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"I got a bit emotional running on the pitch but it is amazing to be back, so amazing," said Mead in her post-match reflection.
"It's been obviously a long, tough injury, but the fans here were incredible."
Beth Mead returned to the pitch for Arsenal on Sunday (Photo by Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)4. Toffees go three for three at Anfield but Liverpool bemoan VAR
The post-match scenes of the Merseyside derby were conspicuous given the location of the travelling and cavorting Everton supporters in the famous Kop end after their 1-0 victory over the Reds.
A first victory of the new season for Brian Sorensen side was more than deserved after a comprehensive and cogent performance, punctuated by Megan Finnigan’s first-half goal.
But delivering the display against none other than Liverpool at Anfield supplies a certain type of glee that’s difficult to describe. The Toffees have now defeated their Merseyside rivals on all three occasions the teams have played at Anfield, a shivering fact for those of a Liverpool persuasion.
Megan Finnigan celebrates scoring against LiverpoolThe loss puts a grinding halt to Liverpool’s otherwise sensational start to the season, in which Matt Beard’s team delivered a shock upset to Arsenal at the Emirates on opening day while dispatching Aston Villa as a follow-up.
Though Beard had room to feel aggrieved for Missy Bo Kearns controversially disallowed goal for offside, the latest instalment of a VAR-less WSL.
"We had a perfectly good goal disallowed, which is frustrating because it completely changed the dynamic of the game," Liverpool manager Matt Beard said afterwards.
"The frustrating thing is it's two different blades of grass colour-wise. I'm just sick to death of it to be honest and it's not just me is it? I think everyone says it. I've just been in [to see the officials]. They'll review it - that's it. I just think it's embarrassing really.”
5. Man City sit pretty at the top
Manchester City boss Gareth Taylor warned at the start of the season his side were bidding to upset the status quo. So far, so good. After dramatically drawing 1-1 with Chelsea, City returned to WSL action by thrashing newcomers Bristol City 5-0 at home.
The five goals, all arriving in the first half, marked a new record in the WSL, with all five arriving from headers courtesy of Jill Roord, Laia Aleixandri and Khadija Shaw.
New signing Roord is now the leading goalscorer for City with three goals since the start of the season. Their 5-0 new victory was also conspicuously lacking any red cards, the first so far in the team’s league campaign.
For the Vixens, it's another loss and a poor one at that. With zero points to show for with three matches gone, a relegation scrap looks imminent.
6. A screamer down south means happy Spurs
Is there a revolution going on at Tottenham or just a merry manager bounce that would eventually abate? That threatened to be the question after Elisabeth Terland fired Brighton into an early lead on Sunday.
But Spurs mounted a dogged comeback, deservedly taking all three points in a 3-1 victory that sees them sitting fourth in the table with six points from a possible nine.
The victory was made all the more thrilling given Grace Clinton’s goal to put Spurs into the ascendency. The 20-year-old, on loan from Manchester United, opened her north London account with a sensational looping strike from distance.
Clinton was a name touted around in pre-season discourse amongst Spurs fans but had yet to show off a moment of magic. Whether her first goal will kickstart more remains to be seen.
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