Chelsea 3-1 Arsenal
by Layth Yousif
at Stamford Bridge
A first-half blitz by rampant Chelsea blew Arsenal away in the opening stages of this crucial WSL clash at Stamford Bridge on Friday evening.
Lauren James opened the scoring, prior to a brace from Sjoeke Nusken inside the opening 32 minutes, sealing victory for the home side — ensuring Arsenal fell six points behind top spot with only six matches left to play and effectively ending any hopes of a first WSL title since 2019.
“We weren't good enough,” Arsenal boss Jonas Eidevall said after the match.
“We turned over the ball way too many times, they get way too many counter-attacks.
“We know they’re very effective, you can’t give a team like Chelsea those opportunities.”
Captain Kim Little’s late strike — later given as an own goal to Catarina Macario — was nothing more than a consolation for the vociferous 6,000 travelling support who made it to SW6 as part of an official attendance of 32,972.
Embarrassingly, this eagerly awaited clash in rainy west London was delayed for half an hour thanks to a frustrating mix-up regarding the colour of socks the visitors were required to wear.
The clash forced an Arsenal official to buy black socks from the Chelsea megastore, and then had to cover over the Blues’ logo with tape.
However, the delay did not affect Emma Hayes’s impressive Blues, with the opening goal coming after 14 minutes.
James powered into the box beating Steph Catley, unleashed a stinging drive that Manuela Zinsberger could only parry and, to the Gunners keeper’s horror, the ball looped high before dropping into the net at the near post as the home side went 1-0 ahead.
The home side doubled their lead on 21 minutes, after good work from the dominant James, who turned Lia Walti in the middle of the park leaving space as Arsenal retreated.
James deftly played the ball with the outside of her boot to Guro Reiten, whose cross was cleared as far as Erin Cuthbert. The Chelsea midfielder fired a low strike that appeared to be veering wide of Zinsberger’s far post, but the lurking Nusken was there to steer the ball home — the officials’ flag staying down as Leah Williamson played the Blues No 6 onside.
It was an evening when everything fell Chelsea’s way, with Nusken notching her second of the game to make it 3-0 to Emma Hayes’s side after only 32 minutes.
Not that the Blues No 6 knew too much about the strike, as No 19 Kaneryd’s shot flew off Nusken and past Gunners keeper Zinsberger — with credit to Buskin for looking suitably sheepish at the good fortune.
The goal prompted gallows humour from the tremendous 6,000-strong Arsenal travelling support massed in the away end as they chorused: “3-0 and you still don’t sing,” to their Chelsea counterparts at Stamford Bridge.
James could have made it four just after the hour mark, but Zinsberger did well to block. The Austrian did well too to block Kaneryd’s efforts shortly afterwards.
As the clock ticked down, Little’s 86th minute shot gave the outstanding travelling support something to cheer on a disappointing night for those in red and white.
The result and superb performance by Hayes’s Chelsea was revenge after the Gunners’ emphatic 4-1 victory over the Blues in north London back in December, with the performance rendered even more impressive with the west Londoners’ lengthy injury list including Sam Kerr, Mia Fishel, Mayra Ramirez, midfielder Maren Mjelde, England defender Millie Bright and goalkeeper Ann Katrin-Berger.
Speaking after the game, Hayes said: “I knew what we were going to do. I was confident in that. The girls delivered the exact performance I was hoping for.
“Brilliant from everyone, they were all magnificent. At the end of the day, we’re depleted, but we had a game plan.”
