VIVIANNE MIEDEMA opened the floodgates as Arsenal ran Reading ragged in a 4-0 drubbing at Meadow Park.
The Dutch ace’s rifled strike was among the goals that saw the Royals trounced as the Gunners moved five points clear of Chelsea.
Vivianne Miedema opened the scoring for Arsenal netting for the 12th time against Reading in the WSL Credit: Reuters
Kim Little and Natasha Harding posed with a Ukraine flag before kick-off Credit: Reuters The duel between the leaders and their sixth-placed opponents was preceded with a show of solidarity with Ukraine following Russia’s invasion.
Skippers Kim Little and Natasha Harding held Ukraine flag in the centre-circle before kick-off with Arsenal players donning yellow and blue wristbands during the game.
And after the match Leah Williamson shared a poignant message on social media.
In a message published via Twitter account, Williamson wrote: “Whilst some of us struggle to figure out what role we can play to help Ukraine tomorrow, we must remember it is only ‘luck’ and circumstances that separates us from being safe at a football game and not living in a war zone.”
Reading had a decent chance earlier on through Natasha Dowie before the hosts began to dominate with their attacking play.
The WSL leaders netted three times in the first spell.
These include two bagged in two minutes with McCabe burying a rebound moments after Miedema’s notched up her eighth goal in 14 games.
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And Leah Williamson outleapt Gemma Evans to head in Arsenal’s third close to the half hour point.
The second spell saw Kelly Chambers make a triple change with Deanne Rose, Justine Vanhaevermaet and Rachel Rowe entering the fray.
Rose made her presence felt on a Royals counter attack later on.
The Canada ace whipped a dangerous low cross into the penalty box with Rachel Rowe later testing Manuela Zinsberger from distance in the 59th minute.
And Beth Mead clattered the woodwork with a right-footed belter after a pinpoint pass from Williamson.
The hosts went on increase their tally with Stina Blackstenius nabbing her second goal of the season with a close-range effort.
Aurora Galli was on target for Everton in their 1-0 defeat of Aston Villa Credit: Getty Elsewhere Everton ended their ten-game winless run with a hard-fought away 1-0 win at Aston Villa.
The duel saw Villa’s Sarah Mayling and the Toffees’ Kenza Dali booked after getting into a second-half tussle.
A late strike from Aurora Galli saw the Walton Hall Park club leapfrog Leicester to go tenth before their March 12th clash with the Foxes.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk