James stars for Chelsea; Barcelona win Supercopa; Roma slide

Once the winter break is over, Europe's women's leagues are mostly back (Germany's Frauen Bundesliga being the exception until Friday). There was a glut of goals in the Women's Super League (WSL), as Barcelona claimed their first trophy of the season and Roma's slide continued.

Here are 10 things from this weekend's action in women's football across Europe.

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James shines for Chelsea against Manchester United

At the end of last season, Chelsea manager Emma Hayes said achieving the domestic league and FA Cup double was “a chore”. And so far this season, the Blues have looked a little sluggish: there was the lucky point at Manchester City, the 4-1 defeat by Arsenal and the 0-0 draw against BK Häcken at home in the Champions League. women's champions (UWCL).

As they topped the WSL standings heading into the winter break, it looked like it could be another season of toil for the champions. But for the first 30 minutes of Sunday's 3-1 win over Manchester United, they were unplayable. Chelsea looked back on their best vintage and made light work of their passive visitors to lead 2-0 with a brace from Lauren James, who showed how she could dance around defenses and also do a ton of work off the ball.

Yes, they slowed down and fell into complacency to allow United a route back into the game. But James' third goal from his traveling No.10 ended any comeback for the visitors and Hayes will be pleased his side showed something of themselves, even without injured star striker Sam Kerr.

Shaw continues to score

Shortly after James completed his hat-trick, Manchester City striker Bunny Shaw scored his own hat-trick in the 5-1 win over Liverpool. With 12 goals in 10 games, Shaw is the WSL's top scorer this season and completed her third hat-trick in her last four league matches in style.

Shaw's great understanding with her teammates means she knows exactly where to be to finish off her chances and her third's cheeky backheel showed just how confident the Jamaica international is at the moment.

“What impresses me most about Bunny is that we accept that she scores goals, but it's the other aspects of her game,” City manager Gareth Taylor said afterwards. “Her hold-up game has really improved and the way she pressed was magnificent. When you think about her transition to the club, she had to compete with Ellen White for the No.9 jersey, but now and the season last time, she took it upon herself.”

Barcelona beats Levante and wins the Super Cup

For most, last weekend was all about championship football. But for Barcelona and Levante, it was reserved for the Super Cup – both having earned their place in the final following midweek victories over Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.

As in three of the four previous finals, the Catalans were victorious. And like two of them, their margin of success was uncomfortably wide in what should be one of the toughest matches of the season: a 7-0 victory with goals from Aitana Bonmatí, a superb one from Ona Batlle, a double from the young Salma Paralluelo. and a hat trick for Caroline Graham Hansen.

From their 10-1 win over Real Sociedad in 2020 to the 7-0 win over Atleti in 2022, Barcelona once again dominated the competition by a huge scoreline to win the trophy for the third year in a row.

Roma's decline in form continues

With two wins in their last seven matches in all competitions, Roma's slide cannot be ignored. There were two defeats to PSG in the UWCL, which sandwiched an uncomfortable win over Como late last year, but 2024 brought a significant drop in results.

First, there was the Supercoppa defeat to old foes Juventus before bouncing back with victory over Pomigliano. But that was quickly followed by a 2-0 defeat in the first leg of the Copa Italia quarter-final against a Napoli side who are yet to claim a league victory this season.

After that match, veteran defender Elisa Bartoli spoke of Roma's need to bounce back, but this weekend against Inter Milan it was another frustrating 90 minutes and another 2-0 defeat. And insult to injury for Roma came when Bartoli lost to a straight red after coming on in the second half.

There is little time to dwell on things for the Giallorossa, However. With the Champions League returning in midweek, they must win against Bayern Munich if they hope to reach the last 16.

Arsenal reach the top, Everton show resilience

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Arsenal's 2-1 victory over Everton on Saturday was one-sided for the first 25 minutes. And when the hosts pulled the defense out of position for Caitlin Foord to score the opener inside 10 minutes, the immediate feeling was that it was going to be a long afternoon for the Toffees.

However, the visitors settled into the game and equalized with their second foray forward before switching off in first-half stoppage time to allow Beth Mead to meet Lia Wälti's cross for the winner .

The Merseysiders have suffered from injuries and a lack of squad depth this season, so it's a good thing they've managed to find better form which has allowed them to absorb pressure rather than buckle under this one. A late attack almost gave them an equalizer, but the team led by coach Brian Sørensen will have plenty of positives to take away.

Spurs take the upper hand in a seven-goal thriller

In the rain and wind, Tottenham and West Ham played the WSL match of the weekend.

Grace Clinton, on loan from Manchester United, was instrumental, scoring two goals and an assist as Spurs led 3-1, but the Irons withstood the test and found a way back thanks to goals from Viviane Asseyi and Amber Tysiak after the hour.

And when new signing Katrina Gorry fired a point-blank shot against the upright, it was hard to tell which team would win. Ultimately, Tottenham managed to sneak past as Jessica Naz made it 4-3 to the visitors in the 75th minute, but the Hammers' industry and resilience will stand them in good stead throughout the second half of the season.

Terland shines again for Brighton

No one ever said rebuilding was easy and Melissa Phillips' Brighton have been slow to consolidate after an influx of new players arrived over the summer.

The Seagulls have struggled for consistency so far this season, but one of the few things they can count on is goals from Elisabeth Terland. The 22-year-old Norway international now has nine league goals and is on course for her most profitable season to date, having scored twice in a 3-2 win over Bristol City.

His winner came in the 95th minute and snatched all the points from a City side who had twice come from behind to equalize but left empty-handed.

Villa claims only clean sheet in WSL

Across the six WSL matches this round, 26 goals have been scored and only one team has managed to keep a clean sheet. Quite unexpectedly, this is the team that has only prevented their opponents from scoring twice in their previous 10 league matches: Aston Villa.

A 1-0 win at Leicester wasn't Villa's most comfortable performance, but few have been so far this season. Arguably the Foxes should have taken a point, but the ball just wouldn't fall kindly for the hosts, who are now without a league win in their last nine games.

Montpellier makes Lyon uncomfortable

Montpellier had been hot on the heels of the French top two for a few years, and when Lyon took a 2-0 advantage thanks to goals from Vanessa Gilles and Ada Hegerberg, it was going to be a long evening. for the once impressive team.

However, Lyon did not run away as they often do and when 23-year-old defender Océane Deslandes hit back after half an hour, the result was in the balance. Indeed, it had a feeling of some of Lyon's outings in the Ligue des Champions this season: uncomfortable and without that familiar conviction.

In the end, Lyon held on to maintain an eight-point lead at the top and, not for the first time in their history, fifth-placed Montpellier found themselves trailing behind against one of the best teams in the league. 'Europe.

Janogy makes instant impact for Fiorentina

A move to Wolfsburg saw Madelen Janogy's mental health seriously deteriorate, and she made a quick return to the more familiar Damallsvenskan in 2020. So her January move to Fiorentina after three solid seasons with Hammarby was brave.

After a quiet appearance in the 4-2 win over Napoli last weekend, the Sweden international made her impact felt when she came on on the hour mark against Pomigliano with the scores tied at 1 -1. Janogy scored twice in five minutes, including a superb curler to settle the match and give the hosts a 3-1 victory.