MANCHESTER, England, Oct 18 - Manchester City held off a spirited comeback from Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday to secure a 3-2 win that maintained their perfect start to the Women's Super League season, with Chelsea close behind after a convincing win over Tottenham Hotspur.

City raced into a 3-0 lead by the 17th minute thanks to a brace from Bunny Shaw and a goal from Niamh Charles, and though Brighton pulled two goals back before the break through Olivia Garcia and Caitlin Hayes, neither side managed to find the net again in the second half.

City have 18 points from six games, two ahead of Chelsea after their 6-2 demolition of Tottenham.

Lauren James and Ellie Carpenter both scored twice for the Blues against Spurs, who only let in two goals while collecting three wins and a draw in their first four games but have now conceded six in each of their last two league clashes.

London City Lionesses remained third after a 2-1 win at home to Everton, while Manchester United's 3-1 win over bottom side Charlton Athletic left them in fifth place on 10 points, behind Tottenham on goal difference.

Aston Villa put daylight between themselves and the drop zone by coming back from a goal down to beat Liverpool 2-1 and record their first victory of the season to move into 10th spot, above Crystal Palace, who lost 1-0 at home to West Ham United, on goal difference.

Arsenal's stumbling start to the season continued on Saturday as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Birmingham City to leave them winless in their last five WSL games, fans at the Emirates greeting the final whistle with boos after the Gunners had to come from behind to salvage a point.

Arsenal's streak of five league games without a win is their worst in the WSL era, and next up is a North London derby against Tottenham. REUTERS