Manchester City boss Gareth Taylor hailed a landmark win for his side as they moved level on points with leaders Chelsea.<\/p>\n
A 14th-minute goal from Women\u2019s Super League top scorer Khadjia Shaw secured a 1-0 victory for the Citizens at Kingsmeadow.<\/p>\n
City are the first WSL team to stop Emma Hayes\u2019 Blues from scoring in the top flight this season and will now believe they can establish dominance in the title race.<\/p>\n
Taylor, 50, said: \u201cIt\u2019s a big step for us.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the past we\u2019ve been a bit soft defensively in these moments. I knew the margins were going to be tight but confidence was high.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve added a bit of steeliness to our defending. We\u2019ve worked on our set-pieces a lot and the spirit in the club is very good.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes it\u2019s hard for players to play the game and not the occasion.\u201d<\/p>\n
City\u2019s victory at Kingsmeadow was their first at the ground since a 2-0 win in May 2016 \u2014 and they went on to lift their first and only WSL title four months later.<\/p>\n
Taylor added: \u201cThey [Chelsea] made it a bit of a fortress. We\u2019ve broken that record now and we deserved it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe played some good stuff in the first half and in the latter stages it was a really good show of defending from the entire team.\u201d<\/p>\n Arsenal boss Jonas Eidevall fired back at critics after the Gunners bolstered their own title chances with a 3-1 victory over Manchester United.<\/p>\n An own goal by Red Devils forward Geyse along with strikes from Cloe Lacasse and Kim Little ensured the North Londoners collected three points in front of a record WSL crowd of 60,160 at the Emirates.<\/p>\n Arsenal\u2019s shock 2-1 defeat to West Ham in their previous league fixture had many doubting their title credentials but they are now just three points behind Chelsea and City.<\/p>\n Swedish boss Eidevall, 41, said: \u201cPeople were saying after the West Ham game it was impossible for us to reach the top spot.<\/p>\n \u201cBut if I\u2019m not reading it wrongly here it\u2019s three points with eight games to play. It\u2019s very much a race.<\/p>\n \u201cThe way I see it, we\u2019ve never been in or out of it. We\u2019ve played one game at a time, we\u2019ve still got to play both teams ahead of us and that would give us a good opportunity.<\/p>\n \u201cYou need a lot of results like this [against United] to achieve what I and the club want to achieve. It was great today but there\u2019s a lot of football left to be played.\u201d<\/p>\n Aston Villa boss Carla Ward praised her side\u2019s performance at Tottenham as they earned a 2-1 victory.<\/p>\n Goals from Adriana Leon and Jordan Nobbs saw the Villans close the gap to Spurs in sixth to just three points.<\/p>\n Ward, 40, said: \u201cI think it was a deserved win.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the way we set up to hurt them hurt them. We found there were spaces because of the way they adapted their press, it was a bit of cat and mouse at times.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I think over the course of 90 minutes, the way that we executed and the way they\u2019ve dug in, I thought we deserved all three points.\u201d<\/p>\n Big win today, thank you for your amazing support Villans. \ud83d\udc4a\ud83d\udc9c pic.twitter.com\/aPwkqOpAIh<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Aston Villa Women (@AVWFCOfficial) February 18, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n <\/p><\/div>\n![\"Khadjia](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/9852820c-67bd-4278-9f0b-ed3064d7a9cd.jpg\")
Jonas fires back<\/h2>\n
![\"Cloe](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/49761ce7-fac5-4e5e-80fb-7f46e6ef9114.jpg\")
Deserved victory<\/h2>\n
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