Aston Villa and Leicester City continued their winless starts to the Barclays Women’s Super League with a goalless draw at Villa Park.
Robert de Pauw’s side looked more likely to pick up their first three points of the season, but were kept at bay by a well-organised Leicester side, who had Janina Leitzig to thank for a vital late save to deny Anna Patten.
The Lineups
AVL: D’Angelo, Maritz, Parker, Patten, Turner, Nobbs, Kearns, Grant, Hanson, Nunes, Daly.
LCI: Leitzig, Nevin, Kees, Howard, Bott, Takarada, Mace, Tierney, Goodwin, Momiki, Chossenotte
The Action
The home side started well, with Chasity Grant latching onto a long ball in behind from Patten, and Saori Takarada’s last-ditch tackle preventing her from giving Villa an early lead.
Villa controlled possession against a Leicester team that featured four changes from a 2-0 defeat to newly-promoted Crystal Palace last time out, with Ruby Mace leading the line in a somewhat experimental move by Amandine Miquel.
Jordan Nobbs was commemorated with a guard of honour before kick-off having become the all-time record appearance maker in the WSL, and the midfielder shot straight at Janina Leitzig from the edge of the penalty area.
A rare venture forward for Leicester saw CJ Bott also try her luck from range to no avail, in what was becoming an incredibly stop-start first half. Mace then looked to lob Sabrina D’Angelo from even further out but couldn’t hit the target.
The long-range efforts continued as Missy Bo Kearns stung the palms of Leitzig, before the former Liverpool midfielder struck a free-kick into the Leicester wall.
D’Angelo had to race off her line to tackle Shana Chossenotte as Leicester looked to strike on the counter-attack, with the game remaining goalless upon the half-time whistle.
Leicester settled into the second half well and Sophie Howard headed into the side-netting from a deep cross. Both sides appeared more inclined towards avoiding consecutive defeats than picking up their first wins of the WSL campaign.
Adriana Leon was able to drive into the box on the counter-attack, but incensed fellow substitute Kenza Dali by not squaring the ball across the area to her teammate, as the attack came to nothing. The Canadian winger then pierced the Foxes’ defence again on the opposite flank and her effort was palmed over by Leitzig from a narrow angle.
Mace’s foul allowed Dali to swing the ball into the area, and her free-kick flashed through a crowd of players and out for a goal-kick. Emilia Pelgander was able to take aim at D’Angelo but her tame volley was easily saved.
Rachel Daly had been subdued upfront but could have given Villa all three points when the ball fell to her inside the box, only for her effort to be blocked at the death. An acrobatic attempt cleared the crossbar in injury time, before Leitzig made a crucial save to deny Patten from close range.
Leicester looked to slow the game down in the closing stages, resigned to picking up one point on the road in a hard-fought encounter. The Foxes’ upcoming game against struggling Everton next weekend already appears crucial in the relegation battle, whilst Aston Villa travel to Manchester City.
