Women's Super League

Callum Matthews
BBC Sport senior journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Newly promoted Crystal Palace slipped to their third defeat in the opening four games of the Women's Super League season at home to Brighton on Sunday.

The Eagles currently sit eighth but just one point separates the bottom five, and manager Laura Kaminski says the players and group are still getting to grips with the top flight.

"We’ve got belief in the group and we’ve had two strong performances after two disappointing games," Kaminski told BBC Radio London.

"We’re still disappointed but they were really learning opportunities and we’ve looked those games at length and we really don’t want to be there and we’ve definitely had a reaction.

"I said it would take some time for us to find our feet and everybody talks about the WSL being one of, if not, the best leagues in the world so understandably it is going to take us a few weeks or even months to really get the measure of it.

"The players are doing it very quickly - we are already taking what is a top, top side to the end of the game where they are really under the cosh.

"I’m proud of the group for that and I couldn’t ask any more of the players that we’ve got here."

Charlotte Coates
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

What a week it has been for Gareth Taylor and Manchester City after overcoming European champions Barcelona on Wednesday to then finding a late winner against Liverpool at Anfield.

"The winning goal was the perfect tonic!" Taylor said to Sky Sports. "Those extra-time winners are amazing.

"We have seen it here at Anfield over the years from Liverpool those late winners but for us today it is great because I felt we deserved it.

"I felt we got our rewards in the end, we were dominant. Sometimes you don't get the rewards but we were patient and kept probing until the end - I was really proud of that last half hour of the performance."

On Khadija Shaw: "There were a few near misses from Bunny [Shaw] and a few others then a good pass from Laia [Aleixandri] and no one is better than Bunny in that situation. She was hardly in the game at times and then bang two goals."

On building rhythm: "The hardest thing is to score a goal, and when you are facing a back five it is even harder.

"I just felt like we had to move the ball quicker and we would make chances. We needed to up our game, up our tempo and once we do that we are much tougher to face. I felt we did that better in the second half."

Ciara Fleming
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Liverpool were without manager Matt Beard for their 2-1 defeat against Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday.

Beard was unable to take charge for the game due to illness, with assistant coach Scott Rogers stepping in to lead the side.

Speaking after the game Rogers said he felt they deserved a share of the spoils having frustrated title-chasing Man City for large periods.

"I thought we deserved a point from the game. We frustrated them for large periods which was part of the game plan and we were dangerous on the counter - we got our goal from Olivia Smith from that kind of situation in the first half," said Rogers.

Visitors City enjoyed 75.7% of the possession over the course of the game but Liverpool registered one more shot on target over the 90 minutes.

Rogers added: "We limited them to two shots on target in the whole game and we had three, so that tells you a lot about the game. We didn't have a lot of the ball but I felt we were in control in periods."

"We made one or two defensive errors towards the end and they punished us."

Joe Rindl
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Neither manager will come away from Aston Villa's 0-0 draw with Leicester on Sunday truly enthused by their side's performance although Foxes manager Amandine Miquel said her side will "take a draw".

"It looks like a good point for everyone," she told BBC Radio Leicester.

"We were really unhappy with the performance against Crystal Palace, we were far too wide. I don't know why we forgot to be close together but that's come back now.

"The draw is a good draw if you analyse everything. Hopefully next week we stay as solid defensively and can be a bit more dangerous offensively which was not the case.

"It felt like the ball could have gone in at any time in the last 10 minutes so we need to be better."

Leicester were without Finnish forward Jutta Rantala who, according to Miquel, picked up an injury in midweek.

"We don't know yet what it's going to be," the Leicester boss added. "No timescale."

George Booth
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester United boss Marc Skinner, spoke to BBC Radio 5 Live after their third successive win of the season.

Summer signing Elisabeth Terland scored her first two goals for the club, before Maya Le Tissier scored a second-half penalty.

On the performance: "I would say I liked the result more than the performance. In the first half we had the domino effect of trying to press, pressed late and Tottenham used the space around us very well.

"The result is fantastic, another clean sheet and another three points, but from our perspective there is loads we can improve on."

On Elisabeth Terland: "She’s an incredible finisher. She has that intuition of knowing where to be - the connection from the volley is different class.

"The first one you cannot work on, that’s all her.

"That’s the reason we signed her, she’s the right age and with a talented group she’ll score many goals if we can keep putting her in those positions."

On Maya Le Tissier's captaincy: "She leads by example and she is full throttle at everything - she’s so competitive, it's in her nature. She has the cleverness and composure for the penalty.

"It is the balance between the beauty and the beast. She has the balance and she leads our team with great effect from that.

"Sarina [Wiegman] was here today so she got to see her, but she’s always been fantastic for us."

On Man Utd goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce: "I said to her at the end that she took a massive step forward again today. She is incrementally getting better every week.

“We were incredibly lucky to have Mary Earps, but are lucky to have Tullis-Joyce."

On trying to compete for trophies: "We have never hidden and will never hide that we want to compete for trophies. For us we have shown a steely reserve, you don’t know if you’re going to get with a new group of players.

“We have really difficult challenges ahead, but we’ve started well. I can only live in the moment so I’m happy with the players."

George Booth
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Tottenham manager Robert Vilahamn spoke to BBC Radio 5 Live after the 3-0 defeat to Manchester United.

Vilahamn addressed Tottenham's style of play and although they conceded three goals he remained positive about certain aspects of their game.

On the result: "It feels strange. We had a good performance - we had 18 goal chances.

"We are playing a good game, but we are not defending the box good enough. We were giving them transitions.

"Performance wise most of the game it is good football, but you lose 3-0 so you cannot be happy."

On Man Utd being awarded a penalty for handball: "I’m not sure if it’s a penalty. If it’s handball, it’s unlucky. If you do a cross and it hits the hand it's not like it's bad defending tactically."

On Spurs' identity: "We are working hard to find an identity and how we want to play.

"In that we want to win games and we want to find a way to win. Today is a good performance, but we don’t want to lose 3-0. We need to find better ways to play our way, but compete and win the game."

Brighton boss Dario Vidosic has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Women's Super League game against Crystal Palace (kick-off 14:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Crystal Palace "are getting better and better every week", says Vidosic and he believes it will "100% be a tough game" this weekend.

• Vidosic says the fans will make it clear that it is a derby match and that "adds an extra edge" to the fixture.

• He adds: "We’re excited for it. It was the first game I was told about when I arrived. You love a derby week and we’re ready for it."

• Manchester City boss Gareth Taylor said the way he set up his side to face Brighton was similar to how he approached their 2-0 win over Barcelona, and Vidosic says it is a "huge compliment" to be discussed in the same bracket as the "best team in the world".

• He adds: "A lot of people hold Barca to that accolade - that they are the best and they are the European champions. For us to be so short in our journey and be compared to them, is a huge compliment. I have to be very thankful and appreciative of that."

• Vidosic also hopes his side will "go out and dictate the game" against Palace.