We hoped the Arsenal Women could dent Chelsea’s WSL title chances, but unfortunately the Gunners were over-run by Sam Kerr and Co in the first half..
Emma Hayes and her girls were well prepared to dispatch Arsenal and take the London bragging rights.
Unmarked Reiten G broke the deadlock in the 22nd minute, stretching to slide home Eve Perisset’s driven cross into the bottom corner, before Eriksson M doubled the lead 21 minutes later after Reiten’s free-kick was headed back across goal by Sam Kerr for her to score.
Arsenal had a chance to get back in the game, but Katie McCabe, in the 60th minute, dragged a penalty kick wide. Chelsea may have won the game, but the Gunners were the better side; they dominated the second half of the game, commanding 55% possession of the ball, had 11 goal attempts with eight shots on target, forcing Chelsea goalie Berger to 8 saves; it is just that they had nothing to show for it.
Jonas Eidevall, after the game, admits his selection options were limited due to injuries and admitted he wasn’t happy with how his team started the match. However, he was proud of how they grew in the game and were keen to fight in the second half.
“The way we started the game is the thing I’m most dissatisfied with. We know we can do it better. It was great to see the players fearless and brave in the second half, and we moved Chelsea around a bit more,” the Arsenal boss said as per Sky Sports.
“This season has been tough with injuries, of course. Injuries are one factor [for not having success]. Player availability is a really important KPI if you’re going to be successful. We need to have a deeper squad in order to deal with those situations. You can see with Chelsea they’ve been able to use their squad in a very deep way.”
One things for sure, once Arsenal get all their injured players back for next season, the Gunners will certainly be able to challenge Chelsea on a more equal footing.
Michelle Maxwell
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