Man City miss out on WSL title despite win over Villa

Updated: May 18, 2025, 01:41 pm
Mary Fowler opened the scoring for Manchester City at Villa Park on Saturday.
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Manchester City beat Aston Villa 2-1 on the final day of the Women's Super League (WSL) season, but it was not enough to secure the title as Chelsea, who hammered Manchester United 6-0 at Old Trafford, pipped them to the trophy on goal difference

You have to be proud of what we've done," City boss Gareth Taylor said after the match. "I think we were the consistent team pretty much throughout the season.

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"I felt that, nothing against the other teams and my congratulations go to Chelsea, but I felt that we were, the way we played, the football we played, the excitement we brought, I felt like we deserved it. But of course, you don't always get what you deserve and that's normal.

"Football is a tough profession. Sports are a tough profession, you don't always get what you potentially deserve and that's part of it, you dust yourself down and you go again."

Manchester City lost out to Chelsea in the WSL title race on goal difference.
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Mary Fowler opened the scoring for City but with Chelsea netting four in the first half at Manchester United, City came out of the break knowing that they would need a six-goal swing in goal difference to clinch the title.

Rachel Daly levelled for Villa in the 68th minute but Lauren Hemp put City back in front 11 minutes later, rushing to get the game underway again in a vain attempt to catch up with Chelsea.

"The last four seasons have gone to the final game," Taylor said. "This one's probably been closer than ever. My first season, we were two points behind them on the final game. Obviously Arsenal the next season and Man United last season, us this season, I don't think it'll get any tighter than this.

"Could this league, the way it's set up, go to goal difference again? Probably, probably could do because like I said previously, winning 18 games in a 22 game season, it's usually enough to win the league. We probably come up the cruelest way short of that, but that's the challenge."

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In London, striker Vivianne Miedema came off the bench to score one goal and create another in her final game for Arsenal as they thrashed Brighton 5-0 to finish third on 50 points.

Liverpool's strong season was rewarded with a fourth-placed finish as they won 4-0 at Leicester City as their Merseyside rivals Everton signed off with a 4-0 thumping of relegated Bristol City to end in eighth place.

Tottenham bounced back from last week's defeat by Manchester United in the FA Cup final to beat West Ham United 3-1 and come sixth, five points behind United.

Information from ESPN's Sophie Lawson contributed to this report