Arsenal 1-0 Manchester City: Smith dents leaders' title push

Olivia Smith secured Arsenal a 1-0 win over Women's Super League leaders Manchester City, who lost for the first time since the opening day of the season.

City had the chance to open up an 11-point lead at the top of the table, but instead remain just eight points ahead of Manchester United in second.

Vivianne Miedema almost got City off to the perfect start but failed to hit the back of the net just 11 seconds in against her former club.

And Arsenal grew into the game after that, with Smith latching onto a lovely throughball from Mariona Caldentey as she raced in behind before rounding Ayaka Yamashita and rolling the ball into an empty net.

The Gunners should have doubled their lead before the break. Alessia Russo's low drive, after some poor defending by City, was tipped wide by Yamashita, who then parried the forward’s header shortly after.

City had a penalty appeal turned down as Lauren Hemp tumbled over in the box under pressure before Kim Little unlocked the visitors' defence on the counter to slide in Caitlin Foord, but she dragged her shot into the side netting.

And Miedema saw a late goal disallowed after she slotted home from near the penalty spot, but she had pulled back Katie McCabe to get the ball in the build-up.

Elsewhere in the WSL, Liverpool climbed out of the relegation spot with a thumping 4-1 win over Aston Villa, dropping Leicester City into danger.

West Ham also got a big win in their fight to stay in the top-flight, coming from behind to beat Brighton 3-2, while Everton triumphed 1-0 away to London City Lionesses.

Data Debrief: City falter in title push

City had won each of their previous 13 matches in the WSL, and fell just short of equalling the longest winning run in the competition's history.

The league's best attack did not click into gear at the Emirates, though, as City accumulated just 0.39 expected goals (xG) from eight shots, with only one of those hitting the target.

Arsenal, meanwhile, created 1.55 xG from their 12 attempts and also kept a clean sheet for the third consecutive game (first time since a run of five in January 2025).