Arsenal opened their league title defence with a 2-1 win over West Ham thanks to goals from Beth Mead and Jill Roord.

Arsenal took a two-goal lead into the break after Beth Mead’s 14th minute belter of an opener and Jill Roord’s fine strike shortly before the break:

https://twitter.com/btsportfootball/status/1170697089497649156

https://twitter.com/BarclaysFAWSL/status/1170702796632592384

West Ham pulled one back in the second half but Arsenal withstood the Hammers attempts to grab a point.

Both Vivianne Miedema and Katrine Veje missed out after picking up injuries during the international break. Jordan Nobbs, however, returned to league action when she came on as a second half substitute and played 23 minutes.

Before the Women’s Super League kicked-off this weekend, it had been announced in a tiny exclusive in Friday’s Daily Mail that the proposed takeover of the game by the Premier League, with a view to finally monetising it properly, was on hold, probably for three years: