Molly Bartrip’s own goal sent Manchester United back to the Women’s Super League summit following a hard-fought 2-1 win at Tottenham. After an entertaining first half, the contest sprung into life when Leah Galton opened the scoring in the 67th minute with her fifth goal of the season. Spurs levelled at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium soon after through January signing Bethany England, who responded to her national team snub by scoring a fourth goal for her new club, but Marc Skinner’s United would not be denied. Bartrip put through her own net immediately after to ensure, despite Ella Toone’s late red card for shoving Eveliina Summanen, the hosts suffered a seventh consecutive league defeat while United leapfrog Chelsea to go top. Skinner was critical of Summanen for her part in Toone’s dismissal, but backed his player to bounce back. He said: “Maybe play-acting is a tough word but actually the reality is there is no need to roll around holding your face, right? There is no need. “You want to see passion for your club. Yes, it is a foul and probably a yellow card with the tackle from Tooney but there is a tangle of legs. Maybe there is a little bit of frustration and we have to be accountable for our actions. “There’s no doubt Tooney will bounce back. The thing we all love about Tooney is she is very real. We love and connect to her because she is very real and she obviously plays football beautifully.” Fans turned up in their numbers to see several Lionesses in action and Alessia Russo, the subject of deadline-day bids from Tottenham’s north London rivals Arsenal, was in the thick of the action early on. It was no surprise when title-chasing United carved out the first opportunity thanks to a slick move where Toone sent Galton through on goal but the forward blazed over. Galton did have the ball in the net not long after but her 22nd-minute header from Ona Batlle’s deep cross was ruled out for a marginal offside. Rehanne Skinner’s Spurs, despite their six-game losing streak in the division, had also started brightly and should have taken the lead midway through the first half. Ashleigh Neville managed to take out four United players with a superb defence-splitting through ball but England fired over from 14 yards. She saw another effort deflect across the face of goal before Russo’s speculative long-range shot was easy for Tinja-Riikka Korpela to ensure it remained 0-0 at half-time. United came out with renewed purpose after the break with Galton, captain Katie Zelem and Russo going close. It felt a matter of time before Marc Skinner’s side broke the deadlock but the woodwork denied them when Toone raced into the area and sent a low strike against the base of the post. With 23 minutes left, Batlle charged forward down the right and saw her dangerous cross drop perfectly for Galton, who this time drilled home from six yards. More drama followed with Spurs equalising with quarter of an hour left through England’s superb individual goal. Mana Iwabuchi found England on the halfway line and she raced away, cut inside Maya Le Tissier and arrowed a powerful low strike into the corner. Tottenham were only level for a matter of seconds though with Zelem finding substitute Lucía García and her centre was sliced into the roof of the net for an own goal by a devastated Bartrip with 14 minutes remaining. Toone’s red card then followed, but it failed to stop United holding out for the victory after England sent a late header wide to ensure they enter the international break in first position. “It is good to be top of the table but look how good the teams are in this league,” Marc Skinner said. “I love it, I love being back in this country with teams and players that are exciting. Anyone can get a result on any day so there are so many more twists to happen yet. All we can do is try to win more games of football.” Meanwhile Jordan Nobbs’s hat-trick helped Aston Villa extend their unbeaten run to four games with a 6-2 thrashing of Brighton at Broadfield Stadium. Brighton made a fast start to proceedings as Julia Zigiotti Olme put them into the lead but Villa then embarked on a first-half onslaught with five goals before the break courtesy of Lucy Staniforth, Kirsty Hanson, Rachel Daly and a Nobbs double. Brighton pulled one back through Danielle Carter’s penalty but Nobbs completed her hat-trick in superb fashion when she slammed home from 30 yards. Leicester picked up just their second league win of the season with a 1-0 victory over Liverpool at Prenton Park. The only goal of the game came in the eighth minute when Hannah Cain slotted into the bottom-right corner following Courtney Nevin’s cross into the area. Victory for Leicester brings them to within a point of Reading who sit just above them in second from bottom.