Report and free highlights as goals from Libby Smith and Veatriki Sarri give Birmingham Women a 2-0 victory over Arsenal Women, ending the WSL leaders' unbeaten start; Birmingham win their first WSL game since November 2020 to move off the bottom of the table
Monday 10 January 2022 08:15, UK
Birmingham Women stunned WSL leaders Arsenal Women with a shock 2-0 win at St Andrew's earning them a first league victory in more than a year.
City had dropped to the bottom of the table following a 2-0 defeat to the side previously in 12th place - Leicester - in their last game before Christmas, but looked a different side from the first minute against Jonas Eidevall's team.
The Gunners had won eight and drawn one of their previous nine league matches this season but were out of sorts from the first to the last whistle in the West Midlands. That should not detract from Birmingham's sensational performance, which burst into life inside three minutes when Libby Smith raced onto a through ball and beat Manuela Zinsberger from the edge of the area.
There was little sign of an Arsenal fightback despite their sensational season to date, and instead Birmingham doubled their advantage on the stroke of half-time through Veatriki Sarri, who fired a fine strike into the top corner.
Arsenal threatened more after the break, and Gemma Lawley denied Kim Little with an excellent block after Vivianne Miedema had rounded goalkeeper Emily Ramsey.
There were celebrations - and tears - at the final whistle as Birmingham registered their first WSL win since November 2020 and jumped back above Leicester into 11th, while a shell-shocked Eidevall led his players back to the dressing room after their unbeaten start ended with little more than a whimper.
Leicester, meanwhile, suffered a 1-0 defeat at Reading with Natasha Dowie scoring the only goal of the game after 11 minutes when she caught goalkeeper Demi Lambourne off her line with a superb long-range lob.
Dowie had the chance to double the lead from the penalty spot on the half hour after being brought down in the area, but Lambourne pulled off a good save.
Birmingham Women interim manager Darren Carter told Sky Sports: "The players deserve all the plaudits. We asked them to be brave, to go toe to toe with an excellent Arsenal side, they're the best side in the league for a reason and all over the park they're such a threat.
"I couldn't be any prouder of them, to get the first win has been a long time coming. To see the smiles on their faces and their reaction is a priceless moment for me."
Arsenal Women manager Jonas Eidevall told Sky Sports: "I hadn't prepared the players well enough. We didn't play well enough under their pressure or break down their low block. I'm very disappointed.
"It's 100 per cent my responsibility. It's always that way as the head coach. We had the players in on January 2, we had a good week of training, you always think you're doing what's right but it's apparent we should have prepared in more detail."
Manchester City Women scored six unanswered second-half goals to demolish Brighton Women 6-0 and secure a third straight WSL victory.
Brighton were guilty of opening their own floodgates at the People's Pension Stadium, with Victoria Williams putting through her own net three minutes into the second half, before Lauren Hemp brilliantly chipped in City's second two minutes later.
Georgia Stanway struck in the next minute to take City's tally to three, and a fourth soon followed when Georgia Coombes punished a defensive mix-up.
Hayley Raso and Vicky Losada added further gloss to City's victory, which lifted Gareth Taylor's side above Brighton into fifth place in the Women's Super League.
