Aston Villa moved up to fifth place in the Women’s Super League on Sunday with an impressive performance to come from 1-0 down against Reading at Villa Park.
The Villans leapfrogged Tottenham Hotspur in the league who were on the receiving end of a 3-0 score line against league leaders Chelsea.
Striker Rachel Daly bagged a hattrick in front of a crowd of 4,556 after a duo of headers and a coolly taken penalty.
Reading keeper Jackie Burns saw red in the second half, injuring Kirsty Hanson who had to withdraw from the action.
Manager Carla Ward acknowledged her side’s slow start to the game but praised the resilience of her players and their overall admirable start to the season as they look to improve on their ninth placed finish in last year’s campaign.
Villa’s win gave them two successive victories in the league after beating Liverpool 1-0 on Merseyside before the international break, and coach Ward will be happy with what she’s seen over the past few weeks.
The Fortress Villa Park
With the men’s FIFA World Cup getting underway at the weekend and the unfamiliar pause in the season meaning the men’s sides have no club action until Boxing Day, the Villans had the opportunity to play at B6 for the second time this season.
The home side beat WSL big guns Manchester City 4-3 at Villa Park on the opening day, coming from 3-2 down to secure a shock win.
In front of a crowd of four and a half thousand fans, Villa have maintained a 100% record when playing at the 42,000 seater ground.
The Villa boss didn’t hold back in declaring her desire to play more fixtures at Villa Park in the future.
“I’m going to be going and asking questions about whether we can play here a little bit more!” exclaimed Ward.
“Every time we come here, we do well.”
“Two wins here, seven goals and hopefully we can get a few more here.”
Rachel Daly – Signing Of The Season?
What a year it’s been for the Lioness.
European Championship triumph with England, playing as a left back, before heading to the Midlands and netting eight goals in seven games for the claret and blue side as the focal point of the attack.
Daly spent nine years over in the States, with a brief stint on loan at West Ham United in 2020 and returned to this English game this summer from Houston Dash.
The Englishwoman has been a revelation in Birmingham, becoming a prolific forward and being the main figure in an impressive Villa side, helping propel them up the table.
It was a dominant display in the end for Daly, nodding home twice and winning a penalty which she dispatched confidently, although her second goal was under dispute after deflecting in off a Royals defender but she was awarded the goal in the end.
Now top scorer in the WSL, tied with Khadija Shaw of Man City, Daly will be looking to secure a top half finish for her new club.
Ambitious Villans
Since winning promotion to the WSL in 2020 for the first time since 2004, the side’s ambition have steadily grown alongside the men’s.
Villa’s owners Wes Edens and Nassef Sawiris are well-known to be ambitious people, pumping money into both the men’s and women’s sides as well as planning the redevelopment and expansion of the North Stand.
On the pitch, Ward isn’t shy of ambition:
“We want to obviously improve on last year, we’ve done that already,” voiced the 38-year-old.
“We set out a points total, we’re well on course for that but I keep saying to the players we can be anything we want to be.”
“I’m quite big on belief and confidence and ensuring that players play with a little bit of freedom and certainly with a smile on their face and if we can get players constantly competing at this level then you never know.”
The Villa gaffer emphasised the positivity in the dressing room when highlighting the club’s aspirations.
“We’ve got such a together group.”
“This environment, this year with this group of players is probably the tightest-knit group I’ve worked with.”
“Togetherness wins you games, it pulls you through… and we’ve got that at the moment.”
The character to come from behind to beat a resilient Royals side, a staple of the WSL in recent years, shows they have what it takes to make the step up.
With Manchester United and Arsenal up next in the league, those tests will be telling in where exactly Villa stand in the pecking order.
