Chelsea reaffirm title credentials against Liverpool but Arsenal fall flat in disappointing draw with Bristol

Women's Super League - week 3: A round up of all the weekend's action

Chelsea have taken nine points from their opening three games (Getty)

Chelsea reaffirmed their title credentials on Saturday with a 1-0 win against rivals Liverpool Ladies at Kingsmeadow.

The narrow scoreline fails to do justice to the home side’s possession-heavy performance, with Maren Mjelde’s excellent finish from 15 yards securing victory for the hosts.

After assertive 6-0 routs of Bristol Ladies and Sunderland Ladies respectively, Liverpool were always going to pose a greater challenge – but Chelsea certainly had their chances to add to Mjelde’s opening strike.

Karen Carney and Ji So-yun came close to making it 2-0 before half-time while Mjelde also went close again after the restart.

Liverpool did well to keep the final score to just one goal but ultimately struggled to place their opponents under any pressure.

Elsewhere, Manchester City Women joined Chelsea in maintaining their 100 per cent start to the season after they edged past Everton in a 3-2 victory.

Claudia Walker put Everton ahead after four minutes but a quick flurry of goals across a six-minute spell placed City back in control.

Steph Houghton, Nikita Parris and Pauline Bremer, who later went off with a suspected broken leg, were all on target.

Simone Magill clawed one back for Everton with 24 minutes to go but City held on for all three points.

It was a disappointing weekend for Arsenal, though, who were held at home by Bristol City in a 1-1 draw.

Arsenal have already fallen behind in this season's title race (Getty)

The visitors pulled ahead through 17-year-old Lauren Hemp but Danielle van de Donk put Arsenal back on terms after the break.

Both sides struck the bar and while Arsenal created chances for themselves, they were unable to find the all-important winner. They now sit five points behind rivals Chelsea and City.

On the same day, Birmingham City fought back from 2-0 down to draw at Reading.

Brooke Chaplen’s penalty and Jade Moore’s strike had put the home side ahead but Aofie Mannino’s spot-kick goal and Emily Westood’s stoppage-time equaliser ensured the spoils were shared.

Sunderland moved up to third in the league after securing their second win of the season, beating basement side Yeovil Town 1-0.

Keira Ramshaw’s close range goal 10 minutes before half-time was enough to secure victory for the visitors, who trail Chelsea and City by three points.

Women’s Super League 1 results – week 3:

Chelsea Ladies 1 (Mjelde 14) Liverpool Ladies 0

Everton Ladies 2 (Walker 5, Magill 66) Manchester City Women 3 (Houghton 13, Parris 13, Bremer 19)

Arsenal Women 1 (van de Donk 50) Bristol City Women 1 (Hemp 30)

Reading Women 2 (Chaplen 21 pen, Moore 30) Birmingham City Ladies 2 (Mannion 45+2 pen, Harrop 90+3)

Yeovil Town Ladies 0 Sunderland Ladies 1 (Ramshaw 36)