Nottingham Forest 0-2 Aston Villa: Hijikata and Grant seal cup win

Aston Villa Women earned their first competitive victory of the campaign with a 2-0 win against Nottingham Forest at The City Ground in the Subway Players Cup. Following a scoreless first half, substitute Maya Hijikata opened the scoring for Natalia Arroyo's side in the 66th minute. Fellow substitute Chasity Grant secured the win by netting a second goal in the 83rd minute.

The result marked Villa's opening league-phase fixture in the competition after a winless three-game start to their Women's Super League schedule. Arroyo rotated her squad for the match, handing starts to Akane Okuma, Oceane Deslandes, Rachel Maltby, Miri Taylor, and Georgia Mullett ahead of their upcoming league encounter with Tottenham Hotspur.