Player of the week, debut of the week, quote of the week & more

After a two-week break, the WSL returned in style this weekend with goals, penalty saves and drama.

Manchester United moved to the top of the table with big win over Brighton, Manchester City got off the mark and Chelsea got the better of Everton in their first match without Emma Hayes in the dugout.

Here’s the best of the action from gameweek 3 with 90min’s weekly WSL awards.

All eyes were on how Manchester United would cope without regular source of goals Alessia Russo ahead of the visit of Brighton, with the England forward sidelined through injury. There needn’t have been any concern.

Partner in crime Ella Toone netted a brace inside half an hour; the first a measured header and the second a well-taken finish from close range.

The creative midfielder then put one on a plate for Leah Galton with a trademark through ball as United rose to the top of the WSL with a thumping 4-0 victory.

It all happened at the Banks’ Stadium on Saturday.

With West Ham leading 2-0 against high-flying Aston Villa, Carla Ward’s side were offered a route back into the game when Kate Longhurst was penalised for handball inside her own box. Alisha Lehmann stepped up to take the spot kick instead of top goal scorer and regular penalty taker Rachel Daly, but saw her effort saved by Mackenzie Arnold.

“It’s clear as day, everybody knows Rachel Daly takes pens,” Ward said at full-time. “It hasn’t happened. It doesn’t matter why. It’s in-house. It can’t happen again. If we say who is on pens, they’re on pens.”

Kenza Dali pulled one back for Villa but a dogged West Ham hung on to their lead. In the dying stages, Sarah Mayling fouled Hawa Cissoko and a scuffle between the pair of them broke out, with Cissoko slapping Mayling after being shoved by the Villa full-back. Cissoko was shown a red card, a melee then broke out on the touchline and Paul Konchesky was also given his marching orders.

“They’re sticking up for their player and we’re sticking up for ours and just things getting said to the player getting sent off which I’m not happy about,” the West Ham boss said. “So as the manager of the football club I think it’s alright that I stick up for my players.”