Manchester United earned a crushing 4-0 win at Aston Villa in the Women's Super League, deepening their hosts' relegation fears and moving level with second-placed Arsenal.

Marc Skinner's team recently won seven straight games to reignite their hopes of a WSL title challenge, only to go down 3-1 to Liverpool at Anfield last week.

But they responded emphatically at Villa Park, where an Elisabeth Terland brace set them on their way to victory.

Terland prodded Celin Bizet's delivery home for a 22nd-minute opener, with Jayde Riviere also involved in the build-up, then added a second for the Red Devils nine minutes later.

Riviere got the assist for that goal, hooking a pinpoint cross to the far post, where Terland was given the simple task of heading past Sabrina D'Angelo.

United went into half-time 3-0 up as Grace Clinton spotted D'Angelo off her line and lobbed her from 40 yards out, with Villa complaints about a possible foul in the build-up falling on deaf ears.

Gabi Nunes hit the woodwork for Villa, but they continued to be second-best after half-time and Leah Galton completed the scoring for United in the 64th minute, timing her run to perfection to convert Melvine Malard's cross.

United move up to 39 points, below Arsenal on goal difference and eight adrift of Chelsea, who staged a dramatic fightback to beat Manchester City 2-1 earlier on Sunday.

Villa stay 11th with just 10 points to their name, one clear of bottom club Crystal Palace and looking nervously over their shoulders after six straight WSL defeats.

There was more bad news for Villa as another possible candidate for the drop, Leicester City, put daylight between themselves and the bottom with a 3-2 win over Brighton.

A scintillating first-half performance had the Foxes 3-0 up at the interval, with Shannon O'Brien and Saori Takarada striking before Rachel McLauchlan put through her own net in first-half stoppage time.

Brighton came roaring back in an attempt to win back-to-back WSL games for the second time this season, with Madison Haley pulling one back in the 73rd minute.

Nicole Momiki missed a penalty that would have put Leicester 4-1 up with 12 minutes to play, then a successful Fran Kirby spot-kick at the other end ensured a tense finale.

However, Leicester clung on to make it three straight home wins for the first time in their WSL history, pulling five points clear of 11th-placed Villa.

Data Debrief: More misery for Arroyo

It was a miserable day for Aston Villa manager Natalia Arroyo, whose team are in real threat of losing their WSL status after a sixth straight defeat.

It is their longest-ever run of defeats in the competition and the longest ongoing streak of any side.

Arroyo has been in charge for the last five of those losses, making her just the sixth coach to lose her first five games in the competition and the first since Leicester’s Jonathan Morgan in October 2021.