Aston Villa Women make it six wins in a row in an emphatic showing at Villa Park against strugglers Leicester City.
Both sides came into the contest with juxtaposing form, the hosts the team to beat as they continue their rise up the table and secure their spot as ‘best of the rest’. Leicester, meanwhile, had picked up just one point from their last three outings, the Foxes bottom of the league with seven points from 16 matches.
It was therefore little surprise to see an in-form Villa side come flying out of the blocks following on from a landmark victory against Manchester City in the Vitality Women’s FA Cup quarter-finals last weekend. A wayward pass from the Leicester defence was pounced on by Kirsty Hanson, sliding the ball through to Rachel Daly but the forward could only find the side netting from a tight angle. An early warning for the visitors.
Leicester offered an instant response down the other end through Sam Tierney, the Foxes no.3 forcing a fine stop from Hannah Hampton at the back post before the ensuing goalmouth scramble saw the visitors have the ball over the line, only for the offside flag to come to Villa’s rescue.
An enthralling opening saw both sides pack a punch in the final third, Villa soon landing the first significant blow of the afternoon. An intelligent run from Kenza Dali failed to be picked up by the Leicester defence, the French international finding herself on the edge of the box before opting for the shot, her effort nestling into the bottom-left corner to give the hosts the lead inside ten minutes.
Leicester wasted little time in conjuring up a response, however, Hannah Cain and Ashleigh Plumptre both forcing the issue for the visitors, the latter’s effort requiring another fine stop from the Villa shot-stopper to preserve their lead.
While the Foxes continue to probe, Villa would once again land a sucker-punch. Sharp work from Hanson down the left side allowed the winger to send an inviting delivery level with the penalty spot, Alisha Lehmann on hand to poke home with the Swiss international getting in front of her marker to double the lead.
A strong showing from the Birmingham-based outfit continued as the half drew to a close, a defensive mishap from Leicester seemingly putting the game to bed. Rachel Daly pickpocketed a blue shirt inside the final third, calmly dispatching into the bottom corner for Villa’s third of the day and a 12th league goal of an impressive campaign for the Lions no.8.
A disappointing result to show for their first-half efforts, chances of a result for Leicester became rather fleeting throughout a routine second-half performance for the Villans. Carla Ward’s side added a fourth to their tally shortly before the hour mark, Lehmann’s pace creating space down the right flank to play a pinpoint ball across the face of goal for the unmarked Daly to tap home her second of the match.
Dali nearly added another straight after only for the alert Janina Leitzig to close down the midfielder bearing down on goal and keep the scores the same. A quiet final 30 minutes saw enough time for Villa to still add another to the score, Lehmann this time the beneficiary. Great work by Mayumi Pacheco to cut across from the left for the former West Ham forward to complete a five-star performance in front of a bumper crowd of 6,489 fans at Villa Park.
A perfect day for Villa with momentum flowing strongly in the Villans camp, Leicester needing results quickly to prevent relegation to the Barclays Women’s Championship but with only six games to play, time is running out for the Foxes.
Line-Ups:
Villa Women: Hampton, Lehmann, Daly, Dali, Staniforth, Turner ©, Patten, Hanson, Rabjohn, Pacheco, Nobbs.
(Subs: Leat (GK), Boye-Hlorkah, Gregory, Blindkilde, Keitley, Mullett, Shaw, Tucker).
Leicester Women: Leitzig, Nevin, Tierney, Bott, Whelan ©, Green, Howard, Jones, Cain, Plumptre, Mace.
(Subs: Levell (GK), Eaton-Collins, Purfield, Reavill, Pike, Robinson, Baker, Siemsen, Goodwin).
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