Soccer-Chelsea thrash Everton 5-0, Man City stay top of WSL

LIVERPOOL, England (Reuters) – Chelsea thumped struggling Everton 5-0 at Goodison Park after a blistering display of finishing, but Manchester City still remain top of the Women’s Super League thanks to a 3-0 away win over Crystal Palace earlier on Sunday.

With all 12 teams in action following the international break, City top the standings on 16 points from six games, one ahead of second-placed Chelsea, who have a game in hand, and three ahead of Brighton & Hove Albion, who are third.

An unused substitute when England beat South Africa 2-1 on Tuesday, Chelsea striker Aggie Beever-Jones came back with a point to prove and she opened the scoring in the 14th minute, meeting Kadeisha Buchanan’s cross with a towering header.

Erin Cuthbert added a second just before the break, dispossessing Veatriki Sarri and advancing before firing a low drive into the corner, and three minutes later Norwegian winger Guro Reiten pulled off a superb sliding first-time finish to make it 3-0.

The Toffees continued to defend bravely but they gave the ball away too easily and too often in their own half, and substitute Wieke Kaptein added a fourth in the 82nd minute, with fullback Ashley Lawrence netting the fifth just over a minute later.

The goals conceded in the rout ensured that Everton dropped to bottom of the table on two points, behind West Ham United and Aston Villa, who lost 2-1 at home to Liverpool, on goal difference.

Earlier in the day, the Hammers looked set to pick up a valuable point in the London derby against Tottenham Hotspur, but a late own goal from West Ham defender Camila Saez gave Spurs a 2-1 win.

In the early kick-off, Manchester United came back from a goal down to draw 1-1 at home with Arsenal, while Brighton continued their positive run with a 1-0 home win over Leicester City.

(Reporting by Philip O’Connor)