Holdt hat-trick sparks Tottenham rout as Arsenal stutter again

The Women's Super League served up a weekend of contrasts, from Tottenham's ruthless 7-0 dismantling of Crystal Palace to Arsenal's latest bout of attacking frustration on home soil. Here is how the matchday unfolded.

Arsenal's attacking woes continue

Arsenal were left frustrated on home soil once again as they were held to a draw by Manchester United on Saturday, the latest in a run of matches in which they have dominated possession and territory but failed to turn it into goals. A week after being unable to find a way through Crystal Palace's backline, Renée Slegers' side needed a 95th-minute equaliser from Smilla Holmberg to salvage a point.

"It's not one thing, it's a combination of things," Slegers said. "It's a cocktail of things, there are some details in decision making, some details in the technical execution. It's also the ruthlessness in front of goal but I know the players want it and they want to do that, they want to execute for Arsenal."

Holdt's hat-trick fuels Spurs rout

Olivia Holdt marked her first start of the season in style, scoring a hat-trick as Tottenham turned a dominant but goalless first half into a 7-0 rout at Crystal Palace. Palace's task was made harder when Fuka Tsunoda was sent off in the seventh minute following a reckless challenge on Cathinka Tandberg, but Spurs initially struggled to break down a side defending deep.

"When they got the red card, I was thinking this could actually be tougher for us," Holdt admitted. At half-time, manager Martin Ho asked his players to get more bodies into the box, and Holdt had completed her hat-trick by the 73rd minute as Spurs finally found the ruthlessness that had been missing.

Everton win again via opponent's own goal

How do you register six points without scoring a goal? Everton completed that remarkable feat after a late winner at West Ham — an own goal from defender Laia Codina handed them all three points. It was the second time in as many weeks that a touch from an opponent gave them victory, but it will not matter to Scott Phelan's side, who sit fifth in the table.

It was an even affair in Dagenham, with both setups nullifying each other. Everton looked defensively resilient in handling the threat of Kelly Gago and Viviane Asseyi, while West Ham did the same at the other end. Both teams had an equal share of possession, similar xG and just three shots on target each. Phelan's substitutions proved decisive, with Yuka Momiki providing the delivery for the winner.

Brighton's wastefulness costs them

Brighton may have had 25 shots, eight on target and an xG of 3.17, but they were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw against Aston Villa after failing to make their dominance count. Gabby George's first goal for the club gave them a deserved lead in the 31st minute, but they could not find a second despite creating 15 chances. Villa's 89th-minute equaliser from a corner compounded the frustration for new manager Arturo Ruiz, who is still searching for his first win.

"Here in our stadium, in these kinds of games we cannot lose two points," Ruiz said. "We need to get three points in 100% of these games."

WSL table