The Barclays Women’s Championship was back underway on Sunday afternoon as the first five fixtures of 2025 kicked off.
The Halfway Line provides a breakdown of the action as Birmingham City remain on top, with London City Lionesses hot on their heels.
At the bottom of the table, Sheffield United stay in the relegation zone after picking up a point against Newcastle.
Durham FC 1-2 Charlton Athletic
Charlton left Durham disappointed at home after securing their first league win since September, as the Wildcats found only a consolation goal through Sarah Wilson in the dying minutes of added time.
Kayleigh Barton put the visitors ahead at the end of a dominant first half, chipping Durham goalkeeper Tatiana Saunders from distance.
The Addicks continued to control the game, and Atlanta Primus eventually doubled the advantage in the 75th after some set piece danger from the hosts.
Primus struck with her left foot, dodging her defender and weaving through the box to score her first goal in a Charlton shirt.
The result sees the Addicks go sixth, a point behind Durham who are now fifth.
Sheffield United 1-1 Newcastle United
Despite the Magpies dominating possession throughout, Sheffield United looked set to gain three points after an own-goal by Charlotte Wardlaw put them ahead in the 71st minute.
Newcastle’s Maria Farrugia had been denied once by the crossbar and once by Claudia Moan before Wardlaw’s faulty back-pass opened the scoring for the Blades.
An injury time equaliser from Rachel Furness, however, saw the points shared at Bramall Lane and spoiled Sheffield United’s fun. Furness’ first goal for the Magpies came thanks to Lois Joel’s cross, after an initially futile set piece delivery.
The Blades faltered before they could move up out of the relegation zone, and stay chasing Blackburn Rovers in tenth. After this result, Newcastle are in the bottom half of the table sitting seventh as they prepare to face Portsmouth next round.
Bristol City 0-1 London City Lionesses
This top-of-the-table clash saw London City Lionesses scrape a narrow victory at Ashton Gate.
Republic of Ireland international Megan Campbell scored the winner for the visitors in the 62nd minute, thanks to Kosovare Asllani’s stellar delivery of a corner. The set piece resulted in chaos in front of goal, but Campbell did enough to get Jocelyn Prêcheur’s side over the line.
Lexi Lloyd-Smith found herself with a chance to equalise from the edge of the box for the hosts, but she could not find the target and the Robins stayed trailing.
After the meeting, London City are have 22 points and occupy the second spot in the league standings, whilst Bristol City sit two points behind in third.
Portsmouth 1-3 Birmingham City
Birmingham City stayed strong down south, putting three past Portsmouth but conceding one as they went a point clear of London City Lionesses at the top of the table.
The Blues opened the scoring through Ava Baker in the 22nd minute, the youngster quick to react to goalkeeper Hannah Poulter’s lacklustre pass.
Ellie Mason doubled their lead in the 55th with a beautiful left-footed volley following a loose Birmingham City corner.
Sophie Quirk thought she had put Pompey back in the game in the 86th minute through a brilliant hit just outside of the box, but Blues’ Cho So-Hyun was quick to retaliate with a goal of her own to seal the crucial three points.
Martha Harris’ pinpoint cross picked out the South Korean, who took two effective touches in the Pompey box before firing it home.
Southampton 0-2 Sunderland
Southampton broke their league attendance record this weekend, generating a crowd of over 7,000 people.
Remi Allen’s side were left disapointed on the pitch, however, as the first-half deadlock was broken by Sunderland striker Eleanor Dale from distance in the 53rd minute.
Katie Kitching dealt a further blow to the Saints in the 73rd, slotting it home with a composed finish after the Saints backline failed to intervene.
The win sees the Black Cats maintain their momentum as they push for a place in the top three, meanwhile Southampton drop down into eighth.
Blackburn Rovers will return to Championship action on Saturday, January 25, when they will host Sunderland in the hopes of putting some distance between themselves and Sheffield United.
Rovers are currently only one point above the relegation zone, but have only played nine games thus far this season whilst Newcastle have played 10, and every other club has played 11.
London City Lionesses will be out of action during the next round, before travelling to Portsmouth the following week.
