Aston Villa Women fell to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Chelsea on Sunday.
Sam Kerr bagged a brace at The Cherry Red Records stadium, as Chelsea returned to the top of the Barclays FA Women's Super League.
The result leaves Villa on 10 points after 16 games played, as attention now turns towards a pivotal run of fixtures.
Marcus Bignot opted for a change in formation for the visit to the champions.
While the five-at-the-back remained in place from previous games, Mana Iwabuchi was deployed as a false nine with four behind her in an attempt to frustrate Chelsea and maintain a compact shape across the middle.
That particular approach paid early dividends, with Chelsea's first chance of any note coming after the 15-minute mark.
Sam Kerr, ever the livewire, beat the offside trap before poking a close-range effort into the hands of Lisa Weiß.
Villa looked to be limiting the champions to speculative efforts soon after, until they drew first blood in somewhat unfortuntate circumstances.
Following some neat interplay on the left-hand side, Fran Kirby swung in a cross towards Kerr, who rose above Asmita Ale to send in a deflected header off the inside of Lisa Weiß's post and into the net.
Villa's misfortune was compounded just five minutes later, when Marisa Ewers was forced to come off.
Elisha N'Dow came on in the captain's place, slotting in at centre-half alongside Anita Asante.
While Villa looked to be heading into the break with just the one goal conceded, Weiß still had to be alert to save once again from Kerr inside the area.
Villa made a battling start to the second half, but were punished once more by Kerr inside the hour-mark.
Following an underhit clearance from Weiß, the ball was played across the edge of the area to Chelsea's number 20, who made no mistake in curling an effort into the top corner and doubling the hosts' advantage.
Villa maintained focus and resilience during the latter stages to stay within two, and will undoubtedly take points from their remaining six games with the same level of attitude and endeavour.
Villa: Weiß, Franklin-Fraiture, Asante, Ewers (C) (N'Dow 29'), Hutton, Ale, Follis (Hayles 65'), Hanssen, Arthur (Syme 79'), McLoughlin (Gregory (79'), Iwabuchi (Silva 79')
Unused Subs: Rogers, West, Siems
Goals: Kerr (24', 57')