Chelsea ladies defeat Villa to go joint top of WSL 

Chelsea go joint top of the Women’s Super League table with a comfortable 1-0 win over Aston Villa at Banks’s Stadium.

The visitors sealed their fifth WSL win in a row thanks to a tidy finish from Jessie Fleming in the first half, tucking away a delicately weighted ball from Ji So-Yun over the Villa backline.

Villa came close to equalising in the final seconds of the game through Sarah Mayling, but Ann-Katrin Berger came to the rescue with a fine save.

The result lifts the WSL holders onto 15 points and equal with leaders Arsenal, only trailing by goal

It was the South Korea international who was the provider for Chelsea’s opening goal in the 22nd minute, lofting a delicately weighted ball over the top for Fleming to tuck into the bottom corner from close range.

Chelsea continued to pressure and Emma Hayes’ side could have extended their advantage past the half-hour mark when Ji and also Erin Cuthbert both struck vicious efforts from goal from 25 yards out, but both of their long-range efforts clattered off the crossbar.

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Bethany England squandered a glorious chance to extend Chelsea’s lead in the 53rd minute as her low shot at the near post was excellently parried over the bar by Hannah Hampton.

Ji came close to getting on the scoresheet herself on the hour mark, but her free-kick floated narrowly wide of Hampton’s left post, while Fleming was unable to cleanly convert a dangerous cross from Fran Kirby in the 82nd minute.

Villa almost found an equaliser in the final seconds, but Berger showed great reflexes to push Mayling’s ball away and ensured all three points were sealed by Chelsea.