Soccer Football - Women's Super League - Chelsea v Leicester City - Kingsmeadow, London, Britain - November 26, 2023 Chelsea's Lauren James in action Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Couldridge
LONDON (Reuters) -Lauren James scored twice as Chelsea beat Leicester City 5-2 on Sunday to stay top of the FA Women's Super League going into the final international break of 2023, while Arsenal stay second after a 3-0 win over West Ham United.
In the late game Khadija Shaw was in exceptional form for Manchester City, securing a hat-trick as her side cruised to a 7-0 home win over Tottenham Hotspur.
James struck in the second minute to give Chelsea the lead, and an own goal by Courtney Nevin three minutes later had them 2-0 up, and though Leicester pegged them back to 2-1 and 3-2, a second goal from James and an Agnes Beever-Jones strike secured the three points for the home side.
Arsenal's Frida Maanum also netted in the second minute for her side before England international Beth Mead, who recently returned after a long period on the sidelines due to an ACL injury, added two more first-half goals in their 3-0 win against West Ham.
City's Laura Coombs scored two goals to add to Shaw's three, while Lauren Hemp and Jill Roord added one strike each, bringing an end to Tottenham's streak of six unbeaten matches in the league.
Chelsea remain unbeaten in the league and top the standings on 22 points, three ahead of Arsenal and six ahead of third-placed City.
Manchester United cruised to a 2-0 win away against Bristol City and sit fourth in the table on 15 points, while Liverpool are fifth, one point behind, following a 4-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion.
Aston Villa suffered a loss at home against Everton, despite Rachel Daly's second-half goal. An own goal by Anna Patten and a late penalty from Nathalie Bjorn was enough to give the visitors the win.
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor and Tommy Lund; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
