Brighton & Hove Albion and Aston Villa share points on WSL’s opening day | OneFootball

Brighton & Hove Albion and Aston Villa battled out a goalless draw in their opening match of the new Barclays Women’s Super League season at Broadfield Stadium this afternoon.

There were big chances for both sides to claim a win but neither made the breakthrough in-front of 2,219 fans in Crawley.

Both sides created a few decent chances within the opening 15 minutes, but neither Chiamaka Nnadozie or Sabrina D’Angelo was significantly troubled. The hosts created the first chance of the game through Kiko Seike. She took aim from outside of the box but could only find D’Angelo in the centre of the goal. Aston Villa’s first chance came through Kirsty Hanson, whose left-footed shot from distance was saved by Nnadozie in the bottom right corner.

Fran Kirby then looked to have opened the scoring for Brighton & Hove Albion in the 17th minute but her effort was quickly ruled out for offside.

Aston Villa captain Rachel Daly created her side’s best chance just before the half-hour mark, but her shot from outside of the box hit the bar.

In first half added time, Nnadozie saved another Aston Villa attempt from Hanson. Her shot towards the bottom left corner was stopped by the Nigerian international keeper, who was making her Brighton & Hove Albion debut.

After a frustrating first half for both sides, the hosts started the second half strongly with Maisie Symonds hitting the bar from a direct free-kick.

The Seagulls came close to opening the scoring again in the 65th minute through Michelle Agyemang, but her shot hit the far post. Seike then sent a header narrowly wide as the Sussex side continued their strong push for the breakthrough.

Aston Villa’s Lynn Wilms hit the bar from a direct free-kick at the other end. It was to be The Villans’ closest attempt of the second period.

Carla Camacho and Nadine Noordam both registered further shots on goal for Brighton & Hove Albion late in the game but neither could make the difference as the contest end goalless.

Next weekend sees Brighton & Hove Albion travel to Manchester City while Aston Villa play host to reigning Barclays Women’s Super League champions Chelsea.