Arsenal's Women's Super League hopes came to a brutal end as they fell to a 5-2 defeat by Aston Villa before Chelsea wrapped up the title later on Wednesday.

The Blues needed only a point against Manchester United at Leigh Sports Village, but they won 1-0 to secure a sixth successive WSL title.

Arsenal knew their title chances were slim, but nevertheless intact, when they arrived at Villa Park - six points off Chelsea with three games to play.

But after the highs of beating Lyon on Sunday to reach their first Women's Champions League final in 18 years, the Gunners were undone by first-half goals from Jordan Nobbs and Kirsty Hanson.

Chastity Grant added a third immediately after the break, while Rachel Daly poked home 13 minutes later to leave any hopes of another Arsenal comeback in tatters.

Stina Blackstenius and Alessia Russo scored within three minutes of each other to halve the deficit, but Grant restored the hosts to a three-goal lead straight away.

It is a third straight win for Villa, who, after spending a large part of a turbulent season near the bottom of the table, move above Tottenham and into ninth.

Renee Slegers made seven changes to the side that fought back from a first-leg defeat to beat eight-time European champions Lyon 5-3 on aggregate.

And the alterations appeared to disrupt Arsenal's rhythm. They looked far from their best as an injury-depleted Villa squad piled pressure on a shaky Arsenal backline.

Having dominated chances in the early stages, Villa were eventually rewarded after half an hour with a goal in a blistering counter-attack.

After Sabrina D'Angelo pulled off a double save at one end, the hosts sped towards the other with Ebony Salmon waltzing past Steph Catley easily before cutting the ball back for Nobbs, who calmly slotted in against her former club.

Hanson slammed a 20-yard strike in just before the break, while Grant took advantage of a heavy touch from Katie McCabe to tap past an on-rushing Manuela Zinsberger right after play resumed.

Unhappy with her team's performance, Slegers made three half-time changes with Leah Williamson, Kim Little and Russo coming on for Lotte Wubben-Moy, Kyra Cooney-Cross and Victoria Pelova.

However, the trio struggled to make a meaningful impact and Villa grabbed a fourth when Hanson slipped in Daly with a clever through ball before the former England international shrugged off Katie Reid and poked into the far corner.

A glimmer of hope offered by Blackstenius and Russo's goals was immediately shattered as Grant and Jill Baijings combined with a one-two to split Arsenal's defence, with Grant darting forward and effortlessly lifting the ball over Zinsberger.

Villa have taken their time to get going under Natalia Arroyo, who endured a difficult start to life at the club, losing her first five matches in charge.

Just over a month ago, they were only one point above Crystal Palace in the relegation zone.

But, after lingering near the bottom of the table for much of the season amid managerial changes, it seems like Villa have finally turned things around.

They stamped out relegation fears with narrow victories against Liverpool and Tottenham in their last two games to open up a gap that Palace could not close.

With their WSL status confirmed, a more relaxed performance from Arroyo's side would have been understandable against title contenders Arsenal.

However, they raced out of the blocks to stun the Champions League finalists and impressively maintained that intensity for more than 90 minutes.

The hosts effortlessly carved through a wanting Gunners defence, while D'Angelo denied her former club on multiple occasions to prevent an Arsenal comeback.

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