Ladies football news
England striker Lianne Sanderson hit a hat-trick as Arsenal beat Sunderland 6-0 to maintain a two-point lead at the top of the Women's Premier League.
Second-placed Charlton Athletic, who have played a game more than the Gunners, kept pace with a 3-0 win against Doncaster Rovers Belles.
Leeds United thumped Blackburn Rovers 5-2 to stay third.
Bristol Academy beat Birmingham City 2-1 to leapfrog them into fourth, while Chelsea beat Cardiff City to go sixth.
Arsenal 6-0 Sunderland
England left winger Rachel Yankey and Sanderson both bagged first half doubles to give Arsenal a commanding lead.
Early in the second half England right winger Karen Carney got in on the goalscoring act before Sanderson completed her hat-trick with her 12th goal of the season.
Sunderland's defeat kept them in the relegation zone, four points above bottom club Fulham, whose home game against Everton was postponed.
Charlton Athletic 3-0 Doncaster Rovers Belles
England colleagues Eniola Aluko and Casey Stoney put Charlton on the road to victory, striker Aluko scoring in the 29th minute and defender Stoney six minutes later.
Substitute Natasha Dowie wrapped up a comfortable win for the Addicks, the young striker netting in the 67th minute.
Leeds United 5-2 Blackburn Rovers
Andi Bell equalised Lucy Ward's second minute opener for Leeds but former England winger Karen Burke put the home side back in front before half-time.
The second half goals came in an eight minute rush sparked by Alex Culvin's first strike of the season.
Katie Anderton reduced the arrears as Blackburn hit back, but goals in quick succession by Rachel McArthur and Ward ensured a sixth successive win for Leeds.
Bristol Academy 2-1 Birmingham
Justine Lorton headed Bristol into a 15th minute lead but the Blues took only five minutes to level the scores through England Under-21 striker Becky Hall.
Just after the half-hour though, striker Kerry Bartlett scored what proved to be the winner with her fifth goal in three League games.
Chelsea 3-0 Cardiff City
Three goals in the first 16 minutes, two by Jodian Clarke and the third by Dunia Susi, were enough to give Chelsea victory.
Scott inspires Everton to victory
England midfielder Jill Scott hit a hat-trick against her old club as Everton collected a 4-0 Women's Premier League win at Sunderland.
In the weekend's only League game, Everton's third successive victory took them up to fifth place in the table.
But second from bottom Sunderland, whose defeat was their fifth in a row, fell deeper into relegation trouble.
Elsewhere, Arsenal hammered Northern Division Nottingham Forest 9-0 in a Premier League Cup quarter-final.
England striker Lianne Sanderson grabbed a first half hat-trick as the Gunners, last year's runners-up, earned themselves a semi-final meeting with Chelsea.
WOMEN'S PREMIER LEAGUE
Sunderland 0-4 Everton
Scott scored two goals in three first half minutes to set Everton up for victory.
The opener was headed home from a Michelle Evans corner just after the half-hour.
Another Evans flag kick led to the second goal, this time Scott drilling a shot through a ruck of players to find the net.
And Evans completed a hat-trick of assists with the 73rd minute cross that Scott headed home for her third goal.
England midfielder Fara Williams hit the final goal from a Faye McCoy pass deep into stoppage time.
PREMIER LEAGUE CUP
Arsenal 9-0 Nottingham Forest
A week after clinching a Uefa Cup final place, Arsenal put themselves within 90 minutes of reaching their third successive League Cup final.
Against an under-strength Forest team the Gunners were in control from the first whistle and went two goals up inside the opening 10 minutes.
Sanderson hit the first, midfielder Katie Chapman doubled the advantage then striker Kelly Smith made it 3-0 midway through the opening period.
Two further first half strikes by Sanderson took her season's goal tally to 17.
After the break Chapman, Rachel Yankey and Sian Larkin kept the scoreline expanding before Smith completed the rout with her 14th goal of the campaign.
If the Gunners now beat Chelsea in next month's semi-final they could have a chance to avenge last season's defeat in the final by Charlton Athletic.
The Addicks are set to meet Leeds United in the other semi. Both ties are to be played on 10 December.
Gunners book Uefa Cup final spot
Arsenal became the first British club to reach the Uefa Women's Cup final, beating Danish champions Brondby 3-0 for a 5-2 aggregate semi-final victory.
Goals by Rachel Yankey, Karen Carney and Julie Fleeting earned a meeting with Swedish champions Umea in the final which will be played in April.
Meanwhile Bristol Academy are the new leaders of the Women's Premier League, after a 5-1 win at bottom club Fulham.
And Charlton Athletic climbed to second place with a 5-3 victory over Leeds.
Elsewhere Everton won 4-0 at Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers beat Cardiff City 3-0 and Chelsea drew 1-1 at Doncaster Rovers Belles.
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Uefa Women's Cup semi-final, second leg:
Arsenal 3-0 Brondby (agg: 5-2)
Arsenal were without England striker Kelly Smith, scorer of both their first-leg goals, as she was suspended following her sending-off in Denmark.
But the Gunners made light of missing their star player.
Smith's England colleagues Yankey and Carney struck either side of half-time and Scotland striker Fleeting wrapped up an historic victory in stoppage time.
Manager Vic Akers said: \"We're the first club from outside Germany or Scandinavia to reach the final so it's fantastic for English women's football as well as for Arsenal.\"
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Women's Premier League
Fulham 1-5 Bristol Academy
Two goals by Kerry Bartlett, taking her season's tally to 12, and one by Stef Curtis put Bristol on the way to victory.
Sarah Reagan reduced the arrears, but an own goal and a late strike by Justine Lorton put Academy on top of the table for the first time in the club's history.
Charlton Athletic 5-3 Leeds United
An 87th-minute goal by Maria Bertelli clinched Charlton's victory after they had been given a real scare by battling Leeds.
It looked plain sailing for the Addicks as they breezed into a 4-1 lead with Eni Aluko (2), Emma Coss and Natasha Hughes the scorers.
But with 12 minutes remaining Karen Burke scored a penalty to add to Sue Smith's earlier goal for the visitors.
And two minutes later Nicole Emmanuel cut the deficit to a single goal.
The Charlton nerves were fraying, but Bertelli settled matters with a cool 10-yard finish.
Doncaster Rovers Belles 1-1 Chelsea
Doncaster and Chelsea both moved to within three points of fourth-placed Leeds in a hard-fought draw.
Jodian Clarke gave the visitors the lead, but Carla Cantrell levelled the scores.
Birmingham City 0-4 Everton
Everton chalked up back-to-back wins for the first time since the opening two games of the season.
Amy Kane gave the visitors an early lead and second-half strikes by Jill Scott, Jody Handley and substitute Holly Newman completed a comprehensive victory.
Blackburn Rovers 3-1 Cardiff City
Blackburn moved up to eighth place after coming from behind to beat the Bluebirds.
Claire Davies put the visitors in front but Jessica Barnes equalised.
Jane Eadie then gave Rovers the edge and Katie Anderton, with her 11th goal of the campaign, sealed the win.
