WSL roundup: West Ham's Martinez snatches point as Chelsea's lead is cut
Chelsea's lead at the Women's Super League summit was cut to six points after West Ham ended the Blues' season-long winning streak at Kingsmeadow in thrilling fashion.
Sonia Bompastor's side looked to be cruising to victory when Maika Hamano's volley and Aggie Beever-Jones's delicate finish put them two up after 21 minutes.
But Shekiera Martinez turned the game on its head, halving the lead just before the interval and striking again in stoppage time to make it 2-2. Only two other sides have denied the reigning champions maximum points this term, but the Hammers are the first to do so on Chelsea turf.
Manchester United inched closer to locking down their Champions League spot next season with a 2-0 home win against Everton.
The visiting keeper Courtney Brosnan was culpable for the opener, with Dominique Janssen swooping in to finish in the 22nd minute. Grace Clinton added the second in the opening moments of the second half, with Everton managing nothing in response having seen their best effort ruled out early on for handball.
Fourth-placed Manchester City bounced back from their midweek Champions League exit at the hands of Chelsea with a 2-1 win at Brighton.
Kerstin Casparij appeared to have won it for the visitors with a first-half effort from close range before the sides traded goals in a flurry of late activity. The City substitute Vivianne Miedema made it 2-0 but Charlize Rule hit back in a frantic finish.
The second-bottom side, Aston Villa, bounced back from five defeats on the trot in all competitions to snatch a 2-1 win at Liverpool, extending their lead over Palace to four points.
Sign up to Moving the Goalposts
No topic is too small or too big for us to cover as we deliver a twice-weekly roundup of the wonderful world of women's football
after newsletter promotion
After a goalless first half the Reds went ahead through Marie Höbinger's penalty, but Kirsty Hanson restored parity with a smooth run and finish. That looked enough to secure a point for Villa but it got better late on, Ebony Salmon firing in a cross that Liverpool's Jenna Clark deflected in.
Tottenham halted a run of five defeats with a 1-1 draw at Leicester. An own goal from Josefine Rybrink put Spurs in trouble but they banked a first point since January when Drew Spence levelled.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Club World Cup 2025: How to watch the WHOLE tournament for FREE
THE Club World Cup will be the talk of the summer - with fans in the UK able to watch all the action for FREE. The tournament will take place over a month between June and July. 3 3 3 Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi, Cole Palmer and possibly Cristiano Ronaldo will be on show in USA this summer. Messi, alongside Luis Suarez and Co, will kick-off the tournament, as Inter Miami host Al Ahly FC at the Hard Rock Stadium in the tournament opener. The Premier League will be represented by Chelsea and Man City, with the Blues having won the competition in 2021, and the Citizens two years later in 2023. Pep Guardiola's side also come into the tournament as defending champions, as Real Madrid won the inaugural FIFA International Cup, which replaced the Club World Cup on the footballing calendar. How to watch the Club World Cup for FREE in the UK The Club World Cup will stream LIVE in DAZN for FREE in the UK. 23 matches from the tournament can also be watched on free-to-air Channel 5 and My5. The tournament will take place between Saturday, June 14 and Sunday, July 13. The first game between Inter Miami and Al Ahly FC will take place at 1am BST on Sunday, June 15 in the UK. The tournament will be live from the USA, ahead of the World Cup being held there in 2026. When is the Club World Cup 2025? The Club World Cup will take place over the course of a month between June and July. The tournament is set to kick-off on Saturday, June 14 from the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, As Inter Miami take on Al Ahly FC. The clash will be at 1am BST on Sunday, June 15 in the UK. The final of the tournament will be on Sunday, July 13 at 8pm BST from the MetLife Stadium in New York.
Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Daily Mirror
Florian Wirtz idolised Chelsea flop as Liverpool close in on £116m transfer
Incoming Liverpool star Florian Wirtz will have a lot of pressure to succeed after arriving as the most expensive Premier League player for £116.5m and his former ex-team-mates have been discussing when he burst onto the scene Florian Wirtz will be hoping to have a bigger impact on the Premier League in Liverpool red than his boyhood hero Marko Marin did wearing Chelsea blue. The champions' British record signing grew up idolising Marin when he first started showing his potential playing alongside older boys at Grun-Weiss Brauweiler, the junior club on the outskirts of Cologne where his dad Hans-Joachim acts as both the chairman and his youngest son's agent. When the Bosnia-born German international moved to Stamford Bridge from Werder Bremen in the summer of 2012 in a deal worth £6.5million, big things were expected of him. But he played just two Premier League starts for the Londoners and was loaned out to Sevilla, Fiorentina, Anderlecht and Trabzonspor before joining Olympiakos three years later. Marin was a hugely-talented attacking midfielder playing his best football with Bremen when Bundesliga rivals FC Koln launched a charm offensive to sign the precocious seven-year-old Wirtz in 2010. Club officials wanted to present him with a shirt bearing the name of his favourite player - and were stunned when the youngster name-checked Marin rather than Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi or German star Mesut Ozil. He still treasures the jersey. Liverpool have agreed a deal with Bayer Leverkusen that will see them pay £100million plus another £16million in add-ons to bring Wirtz to Anfield in a bid to improve a team that cruised to the title under Arne Slot in the Dutchman's first season. The 22-year-old is a team player who isn't afraid to push against the grain. Former team-mates at Brauweiler describe a personality who was always ready to sacrifice himself for the good of the collective. Benjamin Schwarz recalled: "Flo always gave his best for the team and always encouraged the other boys. Even at a young age that was very noticeable. He also always passed the ball to his team-mates even though he knew he was so much better than the rest of us." Bilal Ksiouar added: "When you played in the same team as Flo it was like you had one or two players more than the opposition. Even against older boys and better teams, he always stood out." Yet Wirtz caused a storm in the local area when he left Koln after 10 years in January 2020 to join Bayer Leverkusen. The two rivals had struck a pact not to poach each other's youth players, but Leverkusen felt that the outstanding promise being shown by the 16-year-old was something they just couldn't ignore. Rudi Voller, the legendary German striker who won the World Cup in 1990, was Leverkusen's technical director. He explained: "Failing to sign Wirtz at that age would have been negligent - and he was going to leave them when his contract expired that summer anyway." Wirtz continued his studies at his new club, getting top marks in advanced maths, advanced geography, German and biology. But within five months of moving to Leverkusen, at the age of just 17 years and 15 days, he made his Bundesliga debut against Werder Bremen and in doing so overtook Kai Havertz as the club's youngest-ever player. Even then he had a talent for producing the unexpected both on and off the pitch. Fans were shocked when he admitted that he always opted to play as rivals Bayern Munich during games of FIFA. And when asked who he admired most amongst his contemporaries, he named Joao Felix, the Portuguese striker who is now famous for being another big-money Chelsea misfit. "Joao Felix is a similar type of player to me," said Wirtz. "He's very creative and I learn a lot from him." Yet it was that same bloody-minded attitude that drove Wirtz into returning to fitness just 272 days after rupturing a cruciate ligament against old foes Koln in 2022, an injury that would force him to miss the World Cup. Club medics were constantly urging the midfielder to slow down, but Wirtz would turn up for rehabilitation sessions even when ordered to have a day off. With an attitude like that, he will fit straight in at Anfield. Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Florian Wirtz's huge salary at Liverpool and where he ranks among new team-mates
Liverpool are closing in on a record £116million transfer for Florian Wirtz with the Bayer Leverkusen star expected to complete a dream move to Anfield imminently Florian Wirtz will immediately become one of the top earners at Liverpool once he completes a British record transfer to Anfield, according to a new report. The Germany star, 22, is finally closing in on a dream move to the Premier League after weeks of talks between Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen. An agreement worth £116million in total has now been struck: a sum which which shatters the current British transfer record. Wirtz 's capture is a real signal of intent from Liverpool, who won the title at a canter during Arne Slot 's maiden season at the helm. And the sought-after attacking midfielder will stand to pocket a handsome sum once he has officially put pen to paper on the move, per Sky Sports. They claim that Wirtz will bank €12m (£10.21m) per year at his new club, which equates to around £195,000-a-week. That figure could rise to a mammoth £245,000 a week if the threshold for individual and team bonuses are met. While Wirtz will be among the upper echelon of the club's salary standings, he will be some way off their two highest paid players. It's said that Virgil van Dijk is Liverpool's top earner, with the Dutchman earning a reported £400,000-a-week. Mohamed Salah is next in line with £380,000-a-week after the pair signed new contracts recently. With a club-to-club agreement now in place the expectation is that Wirtz will undergo a medical and complete his switch from Leverkusen to Liverpool once he returns from holiday. Join the debate! How good a signing is Wirtz for Liverpool? Let us know here Wirtz established himself as one of Bayer Leverkusen's most influential players under former Kop favourite, Xabi Alonso, including during the club's stellar 2023-24 season where they won the German title for the first time in their history. It was expected that Wirtz would stay in Germany with either Leverkusen or Bayern Munich, who were courting the talented midfielder before he was wooed during talks with Liverpool. A move to Real Madrid, where Alonso is now in charge, was also mooted more recently. But it is the Reds who have won the race for one of Europe's most coveted stars and will line up with Wirtz in their ranks next season as they bid to retain their domestic crown and challenge for honours in Europe. Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
