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WSL: Man Utd miss chance to close on Chelsea, Liverpool leapfrog Brighton

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5 daysFootball

Manchester United missed the chance to cut Chelsea's lead at the top of the Women's Super League to three points as they stumbled to a 0-0 draw at West Ham.

With Chelsea not in league action this weekend due to their involvement in the Women's Champions League semi-finals, Marc Skinner's team could have moved within one win of the defending champions – as well as overtaking second-placed Arsenal.

But they were unable to find a way through at Chigwell Construction Stadium as West Ham stretched their unbeaten run to four matches.

Celin Bizet hit the woodwork twice in the first half, first striking the post then seeing a corner delivery clip the crossbar. 

Elisabeth Terland's header was clawed away by Kinga Szemik two minutes after the restart, and that was the best chance created by either team in a low-key second half.

West Ham are now 11 points clear of bottom club Crystal Palace, while United stay third, five points adrift of Chelsea and eight clear of Manchester City in fourth.

Liverpool leapfrogged Brighton into fifth place with a 2-1 victory at the Amex Stadium.

Olivia Smith struck after just two minutes to put the Reds in front, then Leanne Kiernan, who assisted the opener, doubled their lead in the 43rd minute.

Brighton came on strongly in the second half and were back in the contest when Michelle Agyemang netted from a Kiko Seike assist, but they were unable to force a leveller despite monopolising possession and penning Liverpool back.

Interim boss Amber Whiteley has now won four of her seven games in charge of Liverpool, who bounced back from last week's FA Cup semi-final defeat to Chelsea.

Data debrief: United momentum stutters

United travelled to West Ham in high spirits, having won nine of their last 10 WSL games and earned the joint-most points in the competition since the start of December (27, with Arsenal).

And while they kept a 13th clean sheet of the campaign, more than any other team has managed, they failed to take their chances at the other end.

The Red Devils had 17 shots to West Ham's 10, racking up a total of 1.71 expected goals (xG) to 0.38 for their opponents.

But five saves from Szemik kept United out, and West Ham have now gone unbeaten in four league matches (one win, three draws) – their longest run since January 2022 (five).