Manchester United thumped visitors Aston Villa 5-0 and Leicester City climbed off the bottom of the Women's Super League table thanks to a 2-0 home win over fellow strugglers Birmingham City on Sunday as Covid-19 caused the postponement of several games.
Leaders Arsenal's match against Brighton & Hove Albion, Chelsea's clash with West Ham United and Manchester City's meeting with Reading were postponed due to the virus.
United's Ella Toone notched two goals, Katie Zelem netted a penalty and Lucy Staniforth and Martha Thomas were also on the scoresheet to leave the Reds fourth on 18 points, seven behind leaders Arsenal and three adrift of second-placed Chelsea.
In London, Jessica Naz scored the only goal early in the second half as Tottenham Hotspur beat Everton 1-0 to ensure they remain third over the Christmas break on 20 points.
After a number of promising performances in recent weeks, Leicester finally claimed their first points in the top flight by beating Birmingham to leapfrog them and move out of the automatic relegation spot.
Sophie Howard curled home a brilliant opener in the first half and Sam Tierney headed a second in the 74th minute to give the promoted side a win in their 10th league game of the season.
Birmingham and are now bottom on one point from their first 10 games with 12 games left to play. The club had Republic of Ireland internationals Louise Quinn, Jamie Finn and Harriett Scott in their starting line-up, while Lucy Quinn, Eleanor Ryan-Doyle and Emily Whelan came on as substitutes.
🔵📋 TEAM | #LEIBIR! 👊
— Birmingham City Women (@BCFCwomen) December 19, 2021
▪️2 changes from the side that faced Man City. @lucy_whipp and @jamiefinn_ come in for @LisaRobertson92 and Cecilie Sandvej. pic.twitter.com/SxCyDSyhpf
The league returns on 7 January when Chelsea host Tottenham.
