Manchester City have faced their second defeat of the 24/25 season, after falling short to Everton in a 2-1 result.
Manchester City went into matchday 10 of the Women's Super League with a chance of making it just three points between them and Chelsea, who drew 1-1 with Leicester City the day before.
But a shock defeat to Everton saw the Merseyside club go 2-0 up in the space of just 10 minutes, putting City down two goals before the break. The Cityzens managed to get one back in the 89th minute through a Mary Fowler penalty, but it wasn't enough to secure any points for the Sky Blues.
Now, despite Chelsea failing to claim three points and City having a chance of making it a three-point gap, the defeat to Everton keeps City six points away from first and just one point ahead of third-placed Arsenal.
Despite Man City leading the WSL table for a high majority of the season, they now see themselves having to fight for a chance of going back to first and after their second loss in the league, they now aim to remain within reach of Chelsea.
Manchester City have now played their final WSL fixture of 2024 and have one more game of the year remaining, which comes as matchday six of the UEFA Women's Champions League against Barcelona, who they famously beat 2-0 in the opening game. While they have already officially booked their place in the quarter-finals, a victory over the Catalan club would cement City as group winners.
Gareth Taylor on the disheartening defeat
"It's tough on the group because we're obviously low on bodies as everyone's aware and playing. Thursday night was difficult (Champions League, St Polten)."
"We probably had that in our performance and were a little bit flat. We'll dust ourselves down. This team has done really well considering the amount of key players we've had missing throughout the season not just in these last few weeks."
"There's a lot of good work that's gone in, and we'll bounce back."