Women’s football round-up: Palace earn WSL point as Chelsea power on
A howler from Eagles goalkeeper Milla-Maj Majasaari – Lily Woodham’s backpass rolling under her foot – gave the hosts an early lead.
But a reckless tackle from Maisie Symonds early in the second half, punished by a red card, handed Palace a numerical advantage.
Palace finally levelled when My Cato tucked away a ball across the box from Woodham in the 88th minute.
The result moved Palace to within three points of safety, after relegation rivals Leicester suffered a thumping defeat at the hands of Everton.
Palace boss Laura Kaminski told Palace TV: “It was a bit of a frantic second half, there was a lot going on in the game. We showed great grit and resilience.
“We had the opportunities at the end of the game because Brighton lost a player. We showed some flexibility and a real forward-thinking approach, we’ve reacted well to that.
“We’re really happy to take something away, there’s no doubt about it, but we want to win games. That’s still at the forefront of our attention, we need to make that a priority.
“[Cato] was outstanding. We’ve asked her to get a little bit more pressure on people – she’s pressing with a real belief now that she can go and win the ball back. I’m delighted for her because she deserves it. Week in and week out we get 100 per cent out of My.”
Goalscorer Cato added: “We had a really tough previous weekend against Tottenham, so this means a lot. We just need to keep fighting like we have done every week, so we hope the points are going to come.”
Late window additions Aniek Nouwen (Chelsea) and Allyson Swaby (AC Milan) did not feature but should be available as Palace host Newcastle in the FA Cup on Sunday.
Elsewhere in the WSL, Chelsea defeated Aston Villa 1-0 to maintain their unbeaten record this season.
It was a deadlock between relegation candidates Villa and league leaders Chelsea until the 82nd minute when Mayra Ramirez burst down the right wing and swung a cross into the area, only for it to be turned in by Villa defender Sarah Mayling.
The late misfortune condemned the home side to defeat at Villa Park, despite their unexpected defensive resilience against Sonia Bompastor’s reigning champions.
“I’m satisfied about the result but not about the performance,” Bompastor told BBC 2. “Sometimes it happens in football, you cannot all the time be at 100 per cent. We need to take this as a lesson and learn from that because today it was a lucky win.
“When you are not able to perform at 100 per cent you always have to find a way to win the game.”
New signing Keira Walsh made her debut in the 78th minute. Chelsea completed the signing of the England international from Barcelona for £400,000 last Friday.
“It’s been a bit of a whirlwind,” said Walsh. “I wasn’t expecting to play today, so that was a really nice thing, that I managed to come and get the win. Right now, I’m just really happy to be here.”
Karen Hills’ Charlton saw their Championship match against Blackburn Rovers postponed due to a frozen pitch. A new fixture date is yet to be set.
Hayes Lane-based London City Lionesses’ lost 1-0 at Portsmouth in the Championship, with Isobel Goodwin’s 32nd-minute strike proving the difference.
The result pushed the Lionesses to within one point of Birmingham at the top of the table in their hunt for promotion to the WSL.
AFC Wimbledon fell to a 3-0 defeat on their visit to Hashtag United in the FA WPL Premier Division South, featuring the same scoreline as the reverse fixture in October.
The Dons are sixth in the table with 23 points, 12 adrift of their opponents Hashtag United at the summit.