Freya Godfrey scored an injury-time winner as London City Lionesses came from behind to beat Aston Villa and finish their debut Women's Super League season in sixth place.

The hosts had dominated, but found themselves behind against the run of play at half-time, as Lynn Wilms' deflected strike crept over the line in first-half stoppage time for Villa.

However, Danielle van de Donk poked home an equaliser in the 73rd minute, before Godfrey burst free in the third minute of added time to slot in a right-footed effort beyond Ellie Roebuck and clinch a deserved three points.

The victory - London City's eighth of the campaign - moved them above Brighton into the top half of the table, with their 27 points a record for a newly promoted side.

It was a first half of missed opportunities for them, though, and they could have taken the lead inside 60 seconds when Izzy Goodwin rounded goalkeeper Roebuck after bursting free down the right but the angle was against her.

Goodwin then put a further two shots wide, while Alanna Kennedy also went close with a cute chip over Lucia Kendall.

But it was Villa who broke the deadlock with their only shot on target.

After exchanging passes with Jenna Nighswonger to work the ball on to the edge of the box from a short corner, Wilms' long-range effort deflected in off Kennedy and Saki Kumagai.

Villa, though, continued to weather a home storm after the break, with Roebuck standing tall to deny Malou Marcetto from close range and defender Oceane Deslandes making an inch-perfect slide tackle to halt Goodwin who was through one-on-one.

Dutch midfielder Van de Donk ended their resistance with a scrappy equaliser, reacting quickest to a loose ball after a corner had been cleared off the line.

Godfrey completed a fine comeback in the 93rd minute, darting on to a through-ball from Nikita Parris and beating a stranded Roebuck.

A fourth consecutive defeat left Aston Villa in ninth place.

London City Lionesses arrived in the WSL with huge ambitions.

Owner Michele Kang made no secret of her desire to turn them into genuine title contenders, with 16 signings during the summer transfer window - plus Wassa Sangare on loan - a statement of their intent.

While their goal is to challenge for silverware and play European football "as fast as possible", as chief executive Martin Semmens told BBC Radio 5, they remain a long way off, having finished 24 points behind third-placed Chelsea.

The mid-season managerial change, sacking Jocelyn Precheur despite the Frenchman winning five of his first 11 games, and bringing in Eder Maestre didn't provide the intended spark, with victory over Villa only their third this year.

Perhaps the biggest area for improvement is in front of goal where the Lionesses were wasteful for the second match in a row, having 15 shots, seven on target, to Villa's five but scrambling an equaliser.

Forward Godfrey - with 10 goal involvements this season - and Goodwin, their joint-top scorer with five, are young talents, but when Kang resumes transfer window shopping this summer, a clinical striker should be top of her list.

However, there can be little doubt London City have made an impression in their first season, becoming the first newly promoted side since Manchester United (2019-20) to finish in the top half of the table and setting records for points (27) and wins (eight) in the process.

And the message from the club is clear as Godfrey, 21, said: "We want to keep pushing. We've had an historic season, this is just the start. Next season, we want to finish even better."

Villa appeared to have turned a corner under Natalia Arroyo, having finished the 2024-25 campaign with five consecutive wins and losing just one of their opening seven matches this term.

However, their form has fizzled away, with eight defeats in their final 10.

Only Leicester City have conceded more goals this season than Villa, who were particularly vulnerable at set-pieces, while they were over-reliant up front on Kirsty Hanson, whose career-best return of 12 goals could see her poached by rivals Tottenham.

A huge summer beckons for the Midlands outfit.

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