Liverpool held on for a 2-1 win at Prenton Park on Sunday to put the brakes on Manchester City's quest to seal European qualification from the Women's Super League.
Currently second having played more games than both Chelsea and Arsenal in third and fourth respectively, Manchester City travelled to the away fixture knowing they still had it all to do to confirm a top-three finish. The visitors were dealt an early blow when Natasha Dowie pounced on a poor back pass from Laura Coombs to fire beyond Ellie Roebuck.
Teed up by her England teammate Chloe Kelly, Lauren Hemp nodded City level just before the half-hour to inspire hopes of a comeback. But after Liverpool regained the lead just after the break thanks to a fine solo goal from Missy Bo Kearns, City faced an uphill battle and, save for a late clearance off of the line, struggled all the way to the final whistle.
Top of the table and taking each match as it comes, Manchester United ran out comfortable 3-0 winners against a Tottenham Hotspur team who did well to create their own chances and draw some strong saves from England No. 1 Mary Earps.
But at Leigh Sports Village, the show was stolen by the hosts thanks to goals from Leah Galton, Alessia Russo and Nikita Parris to keep United's advantage at the WSL summit.
Chelsea took to the pitch for the second time is week and, after a nervy win over Liverpool, returned to their clinical best against Everton, scoring with all of their first five shots on target in a 7-0 rout.
Although being able to boast five different goalscorers -- Guro Reiten, Sam Kerr, Pernille Harder, Sophie Ingle and Jessie Fleming -- in the first half, there will be concern for manager Emma Hayes, who had to withdraw an injured Sam Kerr just after the 30 minutes.
Much the dominant team, the Blues continued to hound the Everton defence until they found their sixth goal through Harder, who marked her first goal in 193 days and second of the game 10 minutes from time before Erin Cuthbert added the seventh in stoppage time.
A team reborn under coach Melissa Phillips, Brighton & Hove Albion made it seven points from a potential 12 in a 1-0 win over West Ham United -- their second win in their last four outings thanks to a second-half Kayleigh Green strike against a side without a victory in their last nine in the league.
Having dropped to the foot of the table owing to the improvement of those around them, things went from bad to worse for Reading when Aston Villa arrived at the Madejski stadium in the mood to score before rolling to a 5-0 result.
Battling with Man City's Bunny Shaw in the Golden Boot race all season, Rachel Daly took her league tally to 20 with a 41-minute hat trick supplemented by with a pair of assists for Alisha Lehmann and Kirsty Hanson.