Ceri Holland scored and was sent off as Liverpool won 1-0 at Brighton on Sunday to close the gap on fourth-placed Manchester United.
After 53 minutes, Holland seized on a mistake by Brighton goalkeeper Sophie Baggaley, who passed the ball straight to the Liverpool midfielder and she made no mistake from just inside the penalty area.
The day soured for Holland when she was shown a second yellow card for a late tackle in the 93rd minute, but Liverpool held on to move two points behind United.
The 31-year-old drove in from distance on the hour mark to give Villa all three points even without reigning WSL golden boot winner Rachel Daly, who is serving a three-match ban for an off-ball elbow against Bristol City.
Liverpool’s Ceri Holland scored but was also sent off in her side’s 1-0 win against Brighton
The day soured for Holland when she was shown a second yellow card for a late tackle in the 93rd minute
Everton scored a quickfire double to beat West Ham 2-0 and claim their first league win of the year.
Two goals in three minutes from Martina Piemonte and Aurora Galli saw the Toffees go above their rivals into ninth.
Bristol City remain rooted to the bottom of the table after 5-2 at Leicester. Ffion Morgan put the Robins in front but goals from Nicole Momiki and Saori Takarada turned the tables before half-time.
Amalie Thestrup levelled for Bristol after the break but Janice Cayman, Jutta Rantala and Denny Draper sealed a 5-2 victory.
On Saturday, Arsenal closed the gap to joint-leaders Chelsea and Manchester City to three points with a 3-1 win over Manchester United in front of a sold-out Emirates Stadium.
Jordan Nobbs scored an excellent goal as Aston Villa secured a 2-1 win over Tottenham
Arsenal’s Chloe Lacasse celebrates after scoring her side’s second goal to beat Man United 3-1
Leicester claimed a 5-2 victory to leave Bristol CIty rooted to the bottom of the table
The Gunners led 3-0 at half-time through an own goal by Geyse, a Chloe Lacasse strike and Kim Little’s penalty, before Lucia Garcia pulled one back.
City had blown the title race wide open on Friday night with a 1-0 win at Chelsea.
