Everton fell to a 2-1 defeat against Aston Villa in the Women’s Super League at Walton Hall Park on Saturday afternoon.

Second half goals courtesy of Kenza Dali and Ebony Salmon put Villa into a two-goal lead that was then halved by Elise Stenevik with six minutes remaining.

Dali broke the deadlock on 55 minutes with an inch-perfect low strike that evaded the diving Courtney Brosnan. Salmon then doubled the visitors’ advantage with a looping header at the front-post.

Stenevik got on the scoresheet with a header of her own after beating the ‘keeper to the ball at the front-post following Aurora Galli’s pinpoint free-kick into the box. The Norwegian was then dismissed in the sixth minute of additional time after accumulating two yellow cards.

Brian Sørensen made one change to the side that was narrowly defeated by Chelsea in the FA Cup as Lucy Hope came into the starting XI.

The first chance of the afternoon fell to the Toffees as Hanna Bennison looked to replicate her spectacular strike against Manchester City. The Swede rifled a shot at goal from 25-yards-out that was caught by the diving Anna Leat.

At the other end, Brosnan made an excellent save to deny Adriana Leon on 28 minutes. The Blues backline failed to clear the ball after Salmon crossed from the right. The ball fell to the Canadian whose volley at goal was palmed away by the shot-stopper.

Brosnan was called it into action once more on the stroke of half-time as she intercepted a lofted ball into the area from the left-flank.

The referee blew her whistle to conclude a quiet half in which Everton piled on the pressure early on and had a number of shots on goal from afar but failed to make the dominant spell count.

Dali broke the deadlock ten minutes after the interval. Found on the edge of the box, she unleashed a powerful low effort that sailed into the bottom left corner to give Villa the lead.

The Toffees searched for an immediate response and threatened two minutes later. A brilliant team move saw Galli in space down the right. The Italian’s cross was headed away but only as far as Hope, who skewed a half-volley wide of the target.

The Villains doubled their lead on the hour mark as Salmon headed home at the front-post. Jordan Nobbs whipped in an enticing cross from the right-hand side of the area, finding the head of the 23-year-old who looped the ball over Brosnan and into the back of the net.

Hope squandered a golden opportunity on 66 minutes after great work from Katja Snoeijs allowed the Netherlands-international space to cross. A couple of yards from goal, Hope stuck out a leg but failed to properly connect with the dangerous ball, blazing it over the bar.

Stenevik halved the deficit with six minutes remaining to restore hope for the Blues. Galli whipped a tempting ball into the area, where the defender beat the outrushing Leat to the ball and powered a header into the empty net.

In the sixth minute of injury time, Stenevik was shown a second yellow card for a late challenge.

Up next for Sørensen’s side is the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park on Sunday 24 March (1pm GMT).

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By Ross Hughes.