Both Manchester City Women and Manchester United Women recorded Women's Super League (WSL) victories last weekend, beating Aston Villa and Brighton & Hove Albion respectively.

City beat Aston Villa 4-2 at Villa Park on Saturday, inspired by a brace from Vivianne Miedema, before United earned three points on Sunday, beating Brighton & Hove Albion 3-0 at Leigh Sports Village.

Their respective victories saw them both move up a place in the WSL table, leapfrogging Arsenal, who were beaten 1-0 by league leaders Chelsea. United are now second and City third.

READ MORE: 'You have your headlines' Pep Guardiola jokes after Man City comeback win over Club Brugge

READ MORE: Diogo Dalot drops early Man Utd team news hint as Ruben Amorim gives Marcus Rashford update

As part of the Manchester Evening News' weekly women's football notebook, here is a round-up of the five biggest stories from the women's football scene across Manchester from the past week.

City build on derby day triumph

Fresh from beating United 2-1 in the League Cup quarter-final, City posted their first WSL win since mid-December with a 4-2 triumph over Villa. After falling behind with just six minutes on the clock, City responded when Miedema pounced on a loose ball and slotted home a cool finish from the edge of the penalty area.

However, her second of the afternoon, which put City 2-1 up just seven minutes later, was all of her own work. Receiving an inside pass from Mary Fowler, the Netherlands international turned on the edge of the box and curled a stunning right-footed effort into the top corner out of the reach of Villa goalkeeper Sabrina D'Angelo.

It was a fantastic strike that will be worthy of winning any Goal of the Season award. However, City were pegged back right after half-time when defender Laia Aleixandri turned the ball into her own net.

Fortunately, she was bailed out by Fowler on 54 minutes when she curled in a brilliant effort of her own from the edge of the penalty area. City wrapped up the points when Jess Park stabbed in a fourth, connecting with a brilliant cross from the right from Kerstin Casparij.

Elsewhere, January signing Kerolin made her debut for the club, appearing as a second half substitute after arriving from North Carolina Courage last week.

United make it four in a row

United chalked up a fourth consecutive WSL win for the first time since May 2023 with a routine 3-0 triumph over Brighton at Leigh on Sunday evening. Ella Toone, fresh from netting a hat-trick in the 4-2 win over City at the Etihad Stadium the previous weekend, opened the scoring with just two minutes on the clock.

She tucked home a confident right-footed finish from the left channel of the penalty area after being slipped in by Elisabeth Terland. That marked Toone's fifth goal in four matches since returning from injury.

United doubled their lead just nine minutes later when popular midfielder Hinata Miyazawa lashed in a fierce left-footed effort from just inside the box. The Japanese international had stationed herself on the edge of the box to connect with a low free-kick from Toone and after seeing her first effort charged down, she made no mistake with her second effort.

United made sure of the points 21 minutes from time when Celin Bizet claimed her first WSL goal since November by chipping Brighton goalkeeper Sophie Baggaley with a left-footed effort from distance.

Toone opens up on heartbreaking story

Away from the pitch, United ace Toone opened up on the pain of the grief she has been suffering from since losing her father to cancer back in September. Her dad, Nick, died three days short of his 60th birthday.

He was diagnosed with prostate cancer the day after he saw his daughter score England's opening goal in the 2-1 win over Germany in the final of the European Championship at Wembley in July 2022.

Writing for the Players' Tribune, Toone said: "When he passed, it was a big shock, even to some of the people closest to him, because no one hardly knew he was ill. People ask me now, 'Why didn't you tell us?' And I’m like, I didn't know either. I didn't know half of it…

"For the past few months, I've been trying to figure it all out, trying to get unstuck. It's still raw. I still feel the pain digging in, the gutting feeling of not having him here anymore."

City face Arsenal double-header

After securing back-to-back wins against United and Villa, City will take plenty of confidence into what promises to be a crunch week as they face Arsenal twice in the space of just five days.

First, Gareth Taylor's side will lock horns with the Gunners in the WSL on Sunday at the Joie Stadium, kick-off 12noon, before travelling south to face the Londoners at Meadow Park in the League Cup semi-final next Thursday evening, kick-off 7pm.

City are currently one place and one point ahead of Arsenal in the WSL table, occupying third, and the top three teams secure qualification for the Champions League. As far as the League Cup is concerned, City will be hoping to reach the final for the first time since winning the competition in 2022.

United head to Spurs

United will be aiming to maintain their strong run of form in the WSL when they take on Tottenham Hotspur at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday evening, kick-off 6.45pm. Marc Skinner's side are currently ten points better off than Spurs in the standings and will be hoping to make it five league wins in a row.

United beat Spurs 3-0 at Leigh back in October, inspired by a Terland double, and will be hoping to do the double over the Londoners for the second time in three seasons. Spurs are unbeaten in their last four league games and have won their last two, beating Leicester City (1-0) and Crystal palace (3-2).