The WSL was back. The rain was hammering down, the pitch understandably looked like it was feeling the effects in parts. The FA Player was FA Playering. Aston Villa beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 in a relatively dominant performance.
Villa debutant Jordan Nobbs had a chance within the first minute but her shot was easily saved by Spurs goalkeeper Tinja-Riikka Korpela.
Things didn't exactly continue at that pace. Aston Villa were almost entirely dominant. Spurs barely had the ball and when they did it was nearly exclusively in their defensive third.
However, it was Spurs who took the lead, with quite literally their first attacking move of the game with 27 minutes gone.
For all of Aston Villa's reinforcement in other areas of the pitch, at times they look a bit defensively susceptible and this was certainly one of those times. Sarah Mayling was left 2 on 1 in the box which allowed Kerys Harrop to get a cross in and all of the Villa players had been drawn towards the ball and left Beth England by herself towards the far post to execute a very simple finish.
The lead didn't last long for Spurs though, as Aston Villa scored two goals in less than 5 minutes shortly after.
First, they levelled through Kenza Dali on 33 minutes, Dali had probably been the best player on the pitch anyway and cemented that position with a strike into the bottom left corner from outside the box. As much as Rachel Daly is rightfully getting a lot of plaudits recently, Kenza Dali isn't far behind her in terms of her form and significance to this Villa team.
Speaking of Rachel Daly, she scored her 9th goal of the season 4 minutes later, converting a Kirsty Hanson cross to put Villa in the lead.
The Spurs defence took some inspiration from Villa in the first half as they ran back towards their own goal, Daly hung back and Hanson found her and with no one around her she executed a first time finish into the far side of the net.
On the whole, the second half wasn't exactly something to write home about. Spurs made two changes at half time, bringing on Eveliina Summanen and Celia Bizet. They were certainly better in the second half but didn't really turn it on until the last few minutes of the game. Even still, they did have a significant opportunity to draw level through Beth England, but her shot from inside the box was off target.
Villa leapfrog Everton into 6th, who are still to play this weekend.
Spurs remain 8th, now 6 points behind Villa, still with quite a number of issues to resolve.