Women's Super League: Manchester City beat defending champions Arsenal; Chelsea put eight past West Ham

London: Defending champions Arsenal suffered a serious blow to their title hopes as they suffered a 2-1 defeat at Women’s Super League leaders Manchester City, while Chelsea thrashed West Ham 8-0 to move second in the table on Sunday. [caption id=“attachment_7994881” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Manchester City’s Lauren Hemp, right, and Arsenal’s Leah Williamson battle for the ball in a Women’s Super League fixture. AP[/caption] Pauline Bremer and Lauren Hemp scored either side of halftime to put City 2-0 up and although Danielle van de Donk pulled a goal back for Arsenal in the 59th minute, City hung on for a win that sent them top on 36 points after 14 games. In London, Maren Mjelde and Beth England both netted twice as Chelsea smashed eight goals past hapless West Ham to move second in the table, one point behind Manchester City and with a game in hand. Arsenal are third on 33 points. An Aileen Whelan goal gave Brighton and Hove Albion a narrow 1-0 win over Everton, while Fara Williams scored from the penalty spot 10 minutes from time to earn Reading a 1-1 draw at home to Manchester United. The game between Liverpool and Birmingham City was called off due to a waterlogged pitch as was Tottenham Hotspur’s clash with Bristol City.