Arsenal cover up the cracks

Arsenal shot back to the top of the league with a 4-2 win over West Ham, but this was a far from perfect performance. The teams went into half-time at 2-2, and the leaders were then given what their usually mild-mannered manager, Joe Montemurro, described as their biggest telling-off of the season. He spent much of the last two weeks training against long balls and set pieces, only to watch his side twice fail to deal with long kicks from the West Ham goalkeeper, Becky Spencer, which released the Swiss forward Alisha Lehmann to set up Scotland’s Jane Ross for two sublime finishes. Arsenal have strengthened their defence with the Danish international Janni Arnth, who scored the side’s second goal on her debut, but despite conceding only nine goals in their 11 WSL games there is work to do at the back.

• Match report: West Ham 2-4 Arsenal

Signings show Hammers mean business

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West Ham have also been active in the transfer window, bringing in the 30-year-old South Korean midfielder Cho So-hyun and the 26-year-old Canadian forward Adriana Leon. These show the club’s ambition – of the other WSL teams only Arsenal and Chelsea have made moves so far this January window. West Ham know they can attract players from around the world because of the appeal of living in London, but to make it happen involves a significant commitment in terms of wages and accommodation. West Ham are at the same stage Manchester City were seven years ago: in their first fully professional season, a spine of experienced players they have brought in complement their own young players, and they are now strategically adding others to improve the squad. They play their home games at the club’s training ground, and I’ve been impressed with the set-up there. They’re sixth at the moment, and will be looking to push on next season.

Chelsea on a winning run

After a slow start to the season Chelsea have gained momentum, and have won six of their seven WSL matches since being thrashed 5-0 by Arsenal in October. In all competitions they’ve won 10 of their last 11 and drawn the other. In their 3-0 win against Everton Beth England, Drew Spence and Hannah Blundell were on the scoresheet, and it looks like the movement and link-up play that so efficiently sliced opposition defences apart last season has clicked back into gear. This week Chelsea signed Birmingham’s Ann-Katrin Berger, probably the best goalkeeper in the division, and they now have three senior international goalkeepers who will all hope to be their country’s first choice at this summer’s World Cup – Sweden’s Hedvig Lindahl, who started on Sunday, England’s Carly Telford and Berger, a German international. The move for Berger might have been motivated by a desire to stop Arsenal getting her, but surely one of their keepers will now leave this month. Meanwhile Everton are still adapting to Willie Kirk, appointed as manager at the start of last month, but bottom club Yeovil’s form is so poor that, with five points, they are only a win away from safety.

The FA Women's Super League (@FAWSL) Make that ✌️ for @ChelseaFCW!@karenjcarney swings in a corner for @23Spence who makes no mistake 🔵#FAWSL pic.twitter.com/i2vlmtIh9p

Old habits die hard for Birmingham

Birmingham might not be able to rely on Berger anymore, but they were still their same old selves against Reading, coming away with a 2-1 victory thanks to Meaghan Sargeant’s 89th-minute winner. Birmingham remain difficult to break down and tend to score scrappy or unspectacular goals to hold on for victory. This was a big win for them: had they lost Reading would have been a point behind them, but now they are fourth with a seven-point cushion. They need to stabilise after Berger’s departure – they can perhaps cope with losing one key player, but cannot start haemorrhaging important team-members. If they were to lose even one more, or perhaps their manager, things could unravel quickly – and the job Marc Skinner has done in the Midlands could see other clubs, perhaps in America, take an interest in him. Something like the exodus from Liverpool at the end of last season is the nightmare scenario: they need to keep things tight over the next few weeks.

Sloppy City get punished

Manchester City’s run of four successive WSL wins – with Arsenal among the scalps – and their leadership of the league came to a frustrating end with a 1-1 draw at Bristol City. Nick Cushing’s side had 22 shots to Bristol’s three, 10 corners to Bristol’s 1, and 69% of possession, but Lucy Graham’s second-half penalty denied them victory. This must have been horribly frustrating for Manchester City, who in their home game against the same opponents in September had an incredible 34 shots (to Bristol’s 7), 19 corners (to zero) and 76% of possession, but not only did they fail to win that one, they needed a last-minute goal from Steph Houghton to even get a point. For all Bristol’s resolute defendingon Sunday the visitors were sloppy at both ends of the pitch, and a lax pass inside their own box led to the concession of the penalty. They are two points behind Arsenal, who have a game in hand, and can’t let that kind of wastefulness become a habit.

The FA Women's Super League (@FAWSL) Prepare to be amazed.



How have @ManCityWomen not scored their second against Bristol City here? 😳#FAWSL pic.twitter.com/KSiOKtdXsE

BT Sport has coverage of women’s football all season. Watch Arsenal v Chelsea on BT Sport 1 and 4K UHD (ko 12.30pm) this Sunday, January 13.