Aston Villa Women 2-1 Liverpool Women: Grant strike and Fisk own goal seal shock comeback win
Aston Villa Women produced a battling second-half turnaround to beat Liverpool Women 2-1 at Keys Park, despite being second best for long periods of the contest. The win lifts Villa to 6 points from six games, with Liverpool left to rue missed chances having dominated possession and territory for much of the afternoon.
Liverpool made the ideal start when Natalia Ramos curled a right-footed effort from outside the box into the top corner after 16 minutes, finishing off a move started by Fuka Nagano. That goal looked to have set Liverpool up for a comfortable afternoon given how much of the ball they enjoyed, but Villa found a way back into the game after the break.
Chasity Grant levelled for Villa in the 62nd minute, finishing from the right side of the box after being played in by Akane Okuma on a fast break, turning the game on its head against the run of play. Ten minutes later, Villa were ahead: Grace Fisk turned the ball into her own net under pressure in the 72nd minute to make it 2-1 and hand the hosts a lead they would not relinquish.
There was a nervy moment in the closing stages when the match was held up for a delay following an injury to Anna Patten in the 81st minute, before play resumed a few minutes later. No cards were shown to either side during the match, with both teams otherwise seeing out the remainder of the game without further incident.
The statistics made for stark reading given the final result. Liverpool had the lion's share of possession at 67.4% to Villa's 32.6%, and fired in 23 shots to Villa's 7, with 9 on target compared to Villa's 3. Villa's goalkeeper Akane Okuma was kept busy, making 8 saves, while Villa's defence held firm with 23 clearances to Liverpool's 14, showing the resilience needed to see the game through.
Villa made changes at the break and late on, bringing on Rofiat Imuran and Oriane Jean-François at half-time, with Georgia Mullett introduced late in the second half. Liverpool responded with their own changes, including Marie-Therese Höbinger at the interval and further substitutions as they searched for a way back into the match, but could not find the breakthrough.
The result means Villa remain in the lower half of the Women's Super League table but will take real encouragement from finding a way to win having trailed and been outplayed for large spells. Liverpool, who sit above Villa in the standings, will be disappointed not to have taken something from a match in which they created so many opportunities.
Written with the help of AI, using the match facts and the headlines from the publishers credited above. Each point links to the original report — tap the source name to read it in full.
