Aston Villa’s problems deepened significantly as they sunk to a 6-0 defeat against Chelsea on a miserable afternoon in Walsall. First half strikes from Millie Bright and Fran Kirby set the current champions on their way. Johanna Rytting Kaneryd, Ashley Lawrence, Aggie Beever-Jones and Niamh Charles added goals in the second to secure an emphatic victory.
“It’s not just me; it’s every single manager and every single player and every fan wanting the [refereeing] standards to go up,” stated a frustrated Carla Ward after Aston Villa were held by Brighton on Saturday afternoon.
A combination of Brighton’s resilience, a drop off in the home side’s levels, and sub-standard officiating saw the points shared at the Poundland Bescot Stadium after Julia Zigiotti’s strike cancelled out a first half own goal from Kayleigh Green.
“It feels great because the players have worked so hard. They’ve had a tough year. I don’t think there’s any hiding from that – the league table certainly doesn’t lie. I feel like they’ve really tried to come together, and they’ve done so well.”
There was a big sigh of relief from Everton’s Chris Roberts as his side earned their first league win since the end of November. It was a vital victory as they edged past Aston Villa on Wednesday night, leap-frogging Leicester City and extending the gap from the bottom to ten points.