Late goal sees Chelsea win thriller with Aston Villa & keep faint WSL title hopes alive

Reigning champions Chelsea needed a late ?goal from Sjoeke Nuesken to see off Aston Villa on Sunday, eventually winning 4-3 ?at their home ground of Kingsmeadow to keep their very ?remote hopes of a seventh WSL ?title in a row alive.

The win moves Chelsea up ?to second place on 40 points, nine ?behind leaders Manchester City, with both sides having played 19 of their 22 league games.

Though they still ?have a theoretical chance of winning ?the league, Chelsea ?would need to win their remaining three games while ?City, who have only dropped seven points, would have to lose all of ?theirs.

Those slim title hopes looked set to evaporate completely against Villa as the visitors took an ?early lead through ?Chasity Grant, but three goals in an eight-minute spell from Sam Kerr, Naomi Girma and Lauren James put Chelsea back in the driving ?seat.

However, Chelsea's defensive flaws this season were once again exposed as Villa battled back to level thanks to two quick-fire goals from Kirsty Hanson.

Nuesken's brilliant winner in the 82nd minute finally got the home side over the line.

In the day's other games, West Ham United were held to a 1-1 draw at home ?by London City Lionesses, while bottom side ?Leicester City take on Brighton & Hove Albion ?later on Sunday.

On Saturday, Manchester City strengthened their grip on top spot with a resounding 3-0 derby win over Manchester United, while Arsenal put themselves in a strong position ?in the race ?for second place by ?beating Tottenham Hotspur 5-2.

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