- Championship side Bristol City beat WSL club Leicester
- Jess Naz secured a last-minute winner for Tottenham Hotspur
- Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City skip group stage due to UEFA Women's Champions League qualification
The group stage of the 2024/25 Women's League Cup is now in full swing.
Eight games took place with six outright winners at the end of the 90 minutes, while two were decided on penalties after ending in a draw at the final whistle.
Substitute Jess Naz clinched a last-minute winner helping Tottenham Hotspur secure a 2-1 victory over Championship side Charlton Athletic. Meanwhile Women's Super League rivals Aston Villa comfortably beat Crystal Palace 2-0, thanks to goals from Kirsty Hanson and new recruit Katie Robinson.
Elsewhere, Brighton & Hove Albion continued to impress with a confident 3-0 win over Birmingham City, whereas Leicester couldn't quite get on top of a newly relegated Bristol City, who ended up beating the Foxes 2-1 on penalties.
The same goes for Everton, who only managed to secure a win over Newcastle United on penalties after ending the game on a 1-1 draw.
Results:
- Newcastle United 1 - 1 Everton (Penalties 0 - 3)
- Manchester United 2 - 0 Liverpool
- Blackburn Rovers 1 - 2 Durham
- West Ham United 6 -1 Portsmouth
- Leicester City 1 - 1 Bristol City (Penalties 1-2)
- Birmingham City 0 - 3 Bristol & Hove Albion
- Charlton Athletic 1 - 2 Tottenham Hotspur
- Aston Villa 2 - 0 Crystal Palace
The last two fixtures of the first round will see Sheffield United take on Sunderland, while Southampton line up against London City Lionesses.
The remaining group stage fixtures will take place between October and December, with the quarter-finals scheduled for January. Last year's winners Arsenal, alongside Chelsea and Manchester City, will enter the competition during the knock-out stages after qualifying for the UEFA Women's Champions League.
The Women's League Cup involves 20 teams from the Barclays Women's Super League and Championship split into five regionally split groups.
Each cub will play two games, but if a fixture ends in a draw at the end of the 90 minutes, a penalty shoot-out will take place for an additional point.
Only the outright winner of the group stage goes through to the quarter finals.
