Barclays WSL2 results: Leicester, Sunderland and Newcastle stay perfect, Nottingham Forest grab a point

Barclays WSL2 results: Leicester, Sunderland and Newcastle stay perfect, Nottingham Forest grab a point The Barclays Women’s Super League 2 (WSL2) match-week two kicked off on Saturday evening. As the table takes some sort of shape, fans can begin to see how their new signings have settled and where their squad have weaknesses. After two games, three clubs remain unbeaten, separated at the top by goal difference. Sunderland, Leicester City and Newcastle United are the early WSL2 pace setters. Bristol City continued to stutter, this time out against Newcastle United. Nottingham Forest had to dig deep to come back against Watford. Wolverhampton Wanderers put Sheffield United to the sword. Bristol City lack goal threat as Newcastle United see out narrow win Bristol City hosted a star-studded Newcastle side at Ashton Gate on Saturday evening. Both sides played an evenly matched first half. In the second, the teams came to life. Bristol City had a sequence of passing possession where a stray strike from Signe Markvardsen came off the crossbar. City continued to press, ending with a powerful strike off target from Lotta Lindström. Against the run of play, Newcastle showed their quality and composure. Playing calmly out from the back, the ball worked its way up the pitch through neat passing. Martha Thomas struck a shot from outside the area that hit the post, landing at the feet of Newcastle No.9 Kathleen McGovern. The Scotland international fired into the net to make it 0-1. Bristol City couldn’t find a clear attempt and looked very deflated. Overall, possession was even, with Bristol City edging it 50.3%. The match ended 0-1 to Newcastle United, sending them top briefly until other teams played. Embed from Getty Images Dominant Sunderland claimed all three points late on A dominant Sunderland side were made to wait for their win away at Burnley. New signing Elise Hughes had an eventful match, dominating both ends of the pitch. Burnley tried to play out from the back, and a slow pass to goalkeeper Kirsty Levell allowed Elise Hughes to round the keeper and slot it home, making it 0-1. However, Burnley were not out of this match. A free-kick was wickedly delivered into the box — Sunderland couldn’t get it out, and the ball rebounded off Hughes for an own goal. However, in the 98th minute, the Welsh striker stepped up to bag the winner for her team, turning in a smart, driven ball into the goal at the near post. The match ended 1-2 with Sunderland taking all three points. Nottingham Forest’s second half display salvages a point Nottingham Forest hosted a Watford team on the back of a draw. Watford took a shock lead with their first goal of the season. Against the run of play, they crowded the back post at a corner and Zara Bailey connected with a clean header to make it 0-1. Less than 10 minutes later, Watford struck again through Saoirse Noonan. Watford turned over the ball in Nottingham Forest’s attacking half. Maddison Perry delivered a perfect cross that was met by Noonan to make it 0-2. Forest didn’t ever look out of the match and struck before the break. A sloppy goal-kick from the back by Watford keeper Safia Middleton-Patel was picked up on the edge of the box by Alana Murphy, scored her second goal in two games. Forest had 26 shots in total and finally made the pressure pay. Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah shot from a tight angle to the left of the goal, beating Middleton-Patel to make it 2-2, which is how it ended. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Nottingham Forest Women (@nffcwomen) Southampton struggle to find breakthrough against resolute Ipswich Southampton dominated possession with 60 percent, but couldn’t find a breakthrough in this WSL2 clash against Ipswich. It was a very stop-start match with plenty of bookings, five in total, breaking up play. Ipswich defenders were putting their bodies on the line, tackling for everything. The Saints peppered the Ipswich goal with 23 shots but only hit the target with four. They’ll be wanting to improve that if they hope to keep pace this season. The match played out 0-0; Ipswich will be the happier with that result at times they were outplayed. Wolves’ convincing second half display in home win Wolves hosted Sheffield United in this high-octane WSL2 match. Sheffield United dominated possession with 60 percent, but couldn’t translate that into clear chances. The first half flew by at a rapid pace, with both teams hitting the woodwork. It was Wolves who kicked off the goals through striker Amber Hughes. Hughes picked up the ball on the edge of the area and hit a fierce shot that looped over the head and beyond goalkeeper Sian Rogers to make it 1-0. The next goal rivalled the opener for sheer class. Amy Sims, the Wolves full-back, volleyed the ball perfectly into the middle of the goal to make it 2-0. Sheffield pulled one back as Lucy Quinn delivered a free-kick, turned in by captain Molly Rouse. Instead of sitting back to defend, Wolves kept going and found a third through former Liverpool defender Yana Daniëls. Melissa Filis crossed the ball across the six-yard box for Daniëls to finish and make it 3-1. The match finished 3-1. Embed from Getty Images Leicester City stay perfect with goals galore against Durham Leicester City hosted Durham at a sunny King Power Stadium. The Foxes showed their attacking intent in a frantic first half but fell behind early on. Totally against the run of play, Beth Hepple struck a Jade Pennock pass low and hard into the bottom corner beyond Olivia Clarke. Then, following great work from Leicester City Captain Sam Tierney Paulina Nyström turned the ball in and make it 1-1. The Foxes then made it 2-1 as Missy Goodwin crossed in for Jess Ziu to strike home from a busy penalty area. Asmita Ale then hit a wonder strike from the edge of the area, deservedly putting her side comfortably in the lead at half-time. The second half saw Durham get one back through the exciting forward Pennock to make it 3-2. The game was put beyond doubt when Durham captain Sarah Wilson fired into her own net to make it 4-2. Leicester keep pace at the top of WSL2. Embed from Getty Images Coming up in match-week three The next round of matches will be played on September 18-20th. The match in the next round looks to be Sunderland vs Southampton. Leicester City host a resilient Ipswich Town. Newcastle United take on Sheffield United. Bristol City look to bounce back against Watford, who host them. Wolves will go into their clash against Burnley with confidence high. Nottingham Forest travel to Durham to try and get their first win of the campaign. 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