Chelsea needed a late own goal from Sarah Mayling to edge past Aston Villa to maintain their seven-point lead at the Women's Super League summit on Sunday. 

With eight minutes remaining at Villa Park, Mayling inadvertently turned Maika Hamano's attempted square ball for Mayra Ramirez into her own net from six yards out.

Villa pressured Chelsea from the off and almost took an early lead when Gabi Nunes' attempted lob was only just caught by back-tracking Blues goalkeeper Hannah Hampton.

Kirsty Hanson then hit the underside of the crossbar early in the second period, but Mayling's late error handed the Blues their 12th victory in 13 WSL matches. 

Natalia Arroyo's first game as Villa boss provided plenty of encouragement but said the result against the defending champions was a harsh welcome to the division. 

"We feel disappointed because we were so, so close," Arroyo told BBC Two at full-time. "I'm unhappy because the girls were pushing really hard, and it's a strange goal."

Villa stay in 10th on 10 points, with Sunday's results going in their favour as they remain precariously placed above the relegation zone after 13 games of their campaign. 

But hot on Chelsea's heels are Manchester United, with Elisabeth Terland's sixth-minute stunner earning the Red Devils a 1-0 win over Tottenham in the final game of the day. 

Following Arsenal's earlier win over Manchester City, Marc Skinner led his side back up to second in the standings to extend their winning WSL run to five matches. 

Terland brilliantly finished from Jayde Riviere's cross into the box, coming in from the left-hand side to send a sweet first-time volley beyond the grasp of Lize Kop.

United continued to push for a second and almost found a way through, but in-form Ella Toone could not continue her scoring streak as her dinked effort struck the post. 

Terland, Leah Galton and Dominique Janssen squandered further opportunities to increase their lead before the break, with Spurs improving after the interval. 

Josefine Rybrink had two efforts inside the box blocked in quick succession before Jessica Naz forced Phallon Tullis-Joyce into a routine stop just after the hour. 

And Spurs were unable to breach the sternest defence in the WSL this season, with the result leaving them sixth in the table and 10 points adrift of the top three. 

At the opposite end of the table, Everton continued to move away from danger after thrashing fellow relegation rivals Leicester City 4-1 at Walton Hall Park. 

Brian Sorensen's side earned their first WSL victory since they stunned Manchester City back in December, and moved up to eighth after their third win of the season. 

Kelly Gago opened the scoring in the fifth minute after tucking the ball home following good work from Heather Payne, though Shannon O'Brien restored parity soon after. 

But the Toffees restored their advantage three minutes after the break when Katja Snoeijs finished past Janina Leitzig following good work from Toni Payne. 

Honoka Hayashi put the result beyond doubt just before the hour, with Gago grabbing her brace in the 69th minute to seal a huge victory for Everton. 

Bottom-club Crystal Palace, meanwhile, ended a run of five straight WSL defeats after My Cato rescued a late draw against 10-player Brighton. 

Palace had gone behind through an own goal after 18 minutes when defender Lily Woodham's backpass rolled under goalkeeper Milla-Maj Majasaari's foot and in. 

But Laura Kaminski's side were handed a reprieve three minutes after the restart when Maisie Symonds was shown a straight red card for a high challenge on Aimee Everett.

And as the game drew to a close, Cato popped up with the leveller in the 88th minute, tapping the ball beyond the grasp of Melina Loeck after being picked out by Woodham. 

Liverpool also bounced back from their shock defeat to Leicester last time out, with Leanne Kiernan scoring the only goal in a narrow 1-0 win over West Ham. 

The Reds moved 10 points clear of the relegation zone, while also earning back-to-back WSL home wins for the first time this season.