Chelsea snaps Arsenal's unbeaten WSL run and climbs into the podium spots

Twenty games unbeaten is no small feat, but it only took six minutes to end it. Arsenal arrived at Stamford Bridge as the Women's Super League's great unbeaten side and left with their first defeat in 20 matchdays, falling 1-0 to Chelsea on Sunday.

The goal came in the 39th minute, when Renée Slegers' side got tangled up trying to play out from the back. Keira Walsh took a shot, the goalkeeper parried it, and there was Alyssa Thompson to tap it into the net. The US international finished off a move born from Arsenal's own mistake, the kind of error the Gunners had been avoiding well until that Sunday.

The north London side, who had already dropped points in their last two league fixtures with a pair of draws, pushed hard in the second half. Chloe Kelly tried a cross shot that was blocked, and Alessia Russo had her equalizing attempt saved. But Chelsea, well organized at the back, held on through the closing minutes to claim their third win in the WSL.

With Arsenal's unbeaten run now over, it's Chelsea who lead that particular stat: 12 games without defeat in the competition, the longest active run in the league. The result also lifted the Blues onto the podium, moving up to third place, level on 10 points with Tottenham.

Tottenham cruise and Pelova stays hot

Tottenham had already done their part hours earlier with a resounding win: 4-0 over Aston Villa at the BetWright Stadium. The star of the show was Victoria Pelova, the Dutch midfielder who joined this summer after leaving Arsenal, and who scored a brace. She opened the scoring in the 54th minute and later added a second, curling one off the crossbar and in under the bar. That's four goals in her last two league matches, a start opponents are starting to take notice of.

Tottenham, who had thrashed newly promoted Crystal Palace 7-0 last week, put the finishing touches on the win with a header from Caitlin Dijkstra and a fourth goal from Cathinka Tandberg two minutes from time.

In the Merseyside derby, Liverpool took the spoils at Anfield with a 2-0 win over Everton, with an early header from Beata Olsson and a late goal from Cornelia Kapocs sealing the result.

Manchester United, meanwhile, celebrated their first win under new head coach Eva Olid: they beat West Ham 2-1 in Leigh thanks to goals from Elisabeth Terland and summer signing Andrea Medina. Viviane Asseyi pulled one back from the penalty spot in stoppage time, but it wasn't enough for the Hammers.

And at St Andrew's there was no shortage of goals: Birmingham and Crystal Palace drew 3-3, in a match that opened with the fastest goal of the WSL season. Oceane Hurtre put the hosts ahead after just 40 seconds, though the points were ultimately shared.