Arsenal vs. Man City a great advert for WSL, Lyon win big
After a long summer off, top-flight women’s football returned to England and France at the weekend and there was plenty to talk about, from Arsenal‘s engaging 2-2 draw against Manchester City in the Women’s Super League (WSL), to Barcelona‘s less-than-comfortable win over Sevilla in Spain’s Liga F. There were debuts galore; some spectacular, like Kiko Seike‘s hat trick in Brighton & Hove Albion‘s drubbing of Everton; some not, like Crystal Palace‘s disaster in their first-ever WSL game against Tottenham Hotspur.
In France, Lyon‘s defence was left questioned after an all-too-exciting 6-2 win over Fleury, while Paris Saint-Germain recovered from a midweek Champions League loss to flex their muscles over Montpellier. Serie A’s third matchweek finally brought a win for champions Roma when they faced new-look Como, Juventus left it late against Lazio, and the Milan derby saw the spoils shared between Inter and AC.
Here, our experts react to the biggest moments in European women’s soccer.
Arsenal vs. Man City a great advert for WSL
Manchester City’s highly anticipated WSL opener against Arsenal was the perfect showcase for the league (which you can stream live on ESPN+ in the U.S. this season) as the 2024-25 season kicked off. Two teams who will likely be battling for the title at the end of the season attracted fans in large numbers — 40,818 at the Emirates — while Vivianne Miedema‘s return to face her former club for the first time added extra drama to an already tense encounter.
The game lived up to the hype, finishing 2-2, with both teams displaying why the WSL is considered one of the most competitive leagues in the world. Arsenal took 16 shots, while City responded with 15, and it was end-to-end entertainment at times, with the Gunners missing three clear-cut chances when through on goal.
Arsenal took the lead through Frida Maanum‘s early effort and could have gone 2-0 up as Stina Blackstenius missed after rounding the goalkeeper, but Miedema cancelled that out with a deflected shot that went in just before half-time. Then, following Jessica Park‘s stunning goal for City, Beth Mead equalised for Arsenal to share the points. But fans were kept on their toes until the final whistle as Laia Codina needed to make a last-ditch tackle to stop Bunny Shaw from grabbing a late winner.
With intense, title-defining games like this expected throughout the season, fans can anticipate eight months of thrilling football in the WSL. While the draw was a fair result, the high-stakes clash set the tone for an exciting campaign and served as a fantastic advert for the league. — Emily Keogh
Chelsea start new era with a win, but need time
All eyes were on Sonia Bompastor as she took charge of Chelsea for her first WSL game against Aston Villa on Friday night.
There has been a sense of expectation that Bompastor, with her impressive managerial pedigree at Lyon, would smoothly step into Emma Hayes’ shoes and continue Chelsea’s dominant reign without missing a beat. Indeed, many have predicted that she would seamlessly pick up from where Hayes left off, given her experience in winning domestic titles in France and the Champions League both as a player and manager.
However, the reality has proved more complex. Despite securing a 1-0 win, the narrow scoreline and unsteady second-half performance indicated that they are a team in transition. While Bompastor’s expertise is unquestionable, it is evident that Chelsea need time to fully adjust to her leadership.
Transitioning from one manager to another can present challenges, and it may take a while for Chelsea to recapture the consistent dominance they displayed last season. Nonetheless, with a manager of Bompastor’s calibre at the helm, fans can remain optimistic about the future, even if the road to reclaiming their peak form is not as straightforward as initially expected. — EK
After his first Premiére Ligue (the new name for Division 1 Féminine) outing with France’s perennial league winners, a 6-2 win away to Fleury, Lyon’s new boss Joe Montemurro said: “The start of the game was a bit strange, but in the end we did what we had to do to show the team we are. I liked the mentality of the team.” Indeed, it was an inauspicious start for the first game of the Michele Kang era, with the visitors going behind in the first minute thanks to some uncharacteristically slack defending. But Lyon quickly settled in to claim their most comfortable win at the Stade Robert Bobin as both Melchie Dumornay and Lindsey Horan notched a brace each, including a bicycle kick from the USWNT international. True to form for a Montemurro team, the football was expansive and fun, with the Australian coach leaning into the sheer breadth of talent in the squad and taking a swift turn away from the pragmatic football of previous manager Bompastor. But, as he noted afterwards: “Our style of play rewards us but also presents an element of risk and we have to find that balance.” It is rare to see Lyon give up two goals in a league game, even if Ewelina Kamczyk’s second was a strike worthy of praise. But it is early days. Just as Lyon are trying to forge a new path under Kang, taking a rich history of success and blending it with the businesswoman’s grand plan for club football, women’s football in France is trying to take an overdue step forward under the newly founded Ligue féminine de football professionnel (LFFP) under former Lyon chief Jean-Michel Aulas. There is still a lot of work to do but, as ever, Lyon keep winning. — Sophie Lawson NINE – Kiko Seike‘s WSL debut to remember. A regular of Futoshi Ikeda’s Japan side, 28-year-old Seike is a long way from a youngster breaking onto the scene for the first time, but for WSL fans who rarely venture outside the UK, the attacker will be a name to remember after her superb debut hat trick for Brighton against Everton. With two stunners bookmarking a deft header, Seike embodied the new-look Seagulls, who are leaning into a fun verve under young Australian manager Dario Vidosic. However, it’s hard to get away from how easily manipulated Everton were in the 4-0 rout. The grit from last season was nowhere to be seen and a bad injury to Aurora Galli made it an even worse day on the south coast. EIGHT – Red Devils’ attack in flow. Despite some hopeful signings ahead of last season, Manchester United‘s attack struggled for fluency after the loss of both Alessia Russo and Ona Batlle, so it should be particularly pleasing to boss Marc Skinner to see his side looking so smooth at the start of this year with a 3-0 win over West Ham United. Only managing one WSL goal in her first season with the club, Brazil international Geyse got the season up and running for the hosts before the reliable Leah Galton added a second, then Grace Clinton notched her first for the club. For all the signings United have made, all eyes would have been on the England international following her breakout season on loan to Spurs last year. And, as expected, the 21-year-old looked perfectly at home in midfield. SEVEN – Barcelona left to sweat in Seville. If there’s one thing Barcelona don’t do in Liga F, it’s lose — or at least it’s a rare occurrence. But even rarer is drawing a blank in front of goal and, as time wore on at the Estadio Jesús Navas on Saturday night, it looked like the European champions were about to go their first league match without a goal since January 2020 (away to Atlético Madrid). Until reigning Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmati stepped up and delivered. Credit to Sevilla as for 68 minutes, Barcelona’s wealth of natural goal scorers looked bereft. SIX – Viens vital for Roma. Last season we saw Roma crash into a few hurdles before recovering to sprint down the home straight, but this year the Serie A champions have had a false start after dropping four points in their first two games (against recently promoted Lazio and lowly Sassuolo.) A win over Servette in Champions League qualifying in midweek finally put a spring into the Giallorosse step and, just like against Servette, Evelyne Viens scored the all-important goals in the 3-1 win over Como. For coach Alessandro Spugna, there are almost too many options in attack; the team recruited heavily over the summer, but the perfect formula appears to be alluding him. One thing seems clear already: Viens needs to be in the mix. FIVE – Kögel keeping Leverkusen on course. Are Leverkusen good enough? The answer last season was a clear “no,” as the team were far too inconsistent to have a strong run at third place and finished sixth. But this year, under new boss Roberto Pätzold, the team are looking great and are one of the four teams in Germany yet to suffer a league loss (with Bayern Munich playing on Monday night). A little unexpectedly in her fifth season with the club, it’s Kristin Kögel who has been the star, scoring in all three her league starts this season including the opener in the 2-0 win against Essen on the weekend. FOUR – Palace given rough ride by Spurs. The growth from Tottenham under Robert Vilahamn has been palpable, but even with a manager who values attacking football and has a healthy squad, 26 shots (with 17 on target) is still an eye-popping number. A 4-0 win over WSL debutantes Crystal Palace saw Spurs impress, but they will be left to rue the glut of missed chances and a more clinical team — one not on the first matchday of the season — could have been nearing double-digits. Spurs were good, but for Palace the alarm bells should be ringing loudly. Their midfield and defence was flimsy and easily bested, which is a sizeable red flag heading into their meeting with Chelsea on Friday. THREE – PSG’s wobble: A bruising 3-1 loss to Juventus in the midweek UWCL was a long way from optimal preparation for their first league game of the season but PSG recovered well and predictably dictated the 3-1 win against Montpellier. The big concern for coach Fabrice Abriel is: what on earth is going on at the back? The return of Paulina Dudek from a lengthy injury layoff, as well as the arrival of Griedge Mbock from Lyon, has left PSG’s new coach with a more depth than he knows what to do with. And his unfixed and changeable backline has not been helped by the summer arrival of goalkeeper Mary Earps who, across the two games so far, has looked like a fish on out of water. With a must-win return leg at home to Juventus on Thursday, Abriel needs to start answering some questions: one of which is whether or not he turns to Katarzyna Kiedrzynek in goal. TWO – Der not-so Klassiker: Long before Wolfsburg and Bayern started winning everything in Germany, it was all about Turbine Potsdam and FFC [now Eintracht] Frankfurt who boast six Champions League titles between them. But there wasn’t quite the same sense of expectation coming into the Frauen-Bundesliga’s old Klassiker, as Potsdam are only just back in the league after earning promotion last season and Eintracht are aiming for another top-three finish. A 6-0 win for Eintracht made it clear which team is on top now as captain Laura Freigang bagged a hat trick despite a missed penalty, while Potsdam’s unfortunate procession of errors and sub-par football will likely see the once-great team yo-yo back and forth between the top tiers. ONE – There’s only two Milanese derbies: Long before the sun had set in Lombardy and Matteo Gabbia had snatched a late 2-1 win for Milan’s men over Inter at San Siro, Emelyne Laurent fired in a late goal for Milan to snatch a point against their rivals at the somewhat less glamourous Arena Civica Gianni Brera in the women’s Derby della Madonnina. The late goal to seal a 1-1 draw was a sizeable relief for Milan who, on the third matchday of the Serie A season, now have their first point. But Inter, who controlled the game and took 22 shots, will still be licking their wounds.
Horan scores bicycle kick for Lyon in big win
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