Liverpool missed the chance to go top of the Women’s Super League after they lost the Merseyside derby at Anfield for the third successive time.
Captain Megan Finnigan, who scored in the same fixture last season, headed home a 31st-minute corner to give Everton a 1-0 win and their first points of the campaign, while inflicting their hosts’ first defeat with the first goal they have conceded.
It meant Manchester City finished the weekend top after scoring five first-half headers as they swept aside bottom side Bristol City 5-0.
Netherlands midfielder Jill Roord and Jamaica international Khadija Shaw each scored twice, with Laia Aleixandri glancing home the other.
England forward Beth Mead made a vital contribution on her first appearance in 11 months, creating the winner for Alessia Russo as Arsenal scored twice in stoppage time to beat Aston Villa 2-1.
Behind to Maz Pacheco’s first-half opener, the hosts looked like making it three matches without a win as they headed into 12 minutes of added time.
But Kate McCabe equalised and then Mead, on as an 87th-minute substitute after recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury, laid on the pass for Russo to score as Arsenal became only the third WSL side to win a game after trailing in the 90th minute.
Manchester United and Leicester’s 1-1 draw ensured both sides maintained their unbeaten records.
Second-placed Leicester took the lead early in the second half through Aileen Whelan only for Maya Le Tissier to equalise with a header and earn a point which left United sixth.
Tottenham came from behind to triumph 3-1 at Brighton with goals from Martha Thomas, Grace Clinton and Ria Percival turning things around after Elisabeth Terland’s eighth-minute opener.
