Blues Sock It To Arsenal
Chelsea 3 Arsenal 1
Barring a major meltdown, the Women’s Super League title is truly a two-horse race, with Manchester City three points behind with having played a game less, after Emma Hayes’ side exacted revenge for their 4-1 Emirates defeat in rather bizarre circumstances that delayed the kickoff by half an hour when the Arsenal had to change socks.
The whites ones the team were sporting in the warm up clashed with Chelsea’s and apparently a Gunners official had high tail it to the Chelsea megastore and purchase black socks and cover over the Blues’ logo with tape.
Omens weren’t good for Jonas Eidevall’s side and when the whistle blew, Chelsea set about their opponents like a crazed tribe of debutantes at a Harvey Nich’s sale.
In fact, it only took 21 seconds for stand out Lauren James to do her trademark glide into a bit of space and smack it with that deadly left peg of hers. The ball sailed high and wide, but it was a portent of things to come.
With Eidevall opting for Stina Blackstenius over Alessi Russo, Arsenal lost that front focal point, who is excellent at shielding the ball and bringing players in and setting an attacking, forward line.
However, within the first ten minutes Chelsea were all over their opponents. Even with the mercurial Kim Little in the engine room, the ball wouldn’t stick and Chelsea were out-running and over-powering them.
Neverthless, their first goal in the 14th minute was largely down to a goalkeeping error when James, set loose by the excellent Sjoeke Nusken, drives into the box, jinks right, left and right to take a dig at goal. Manuela Zinsberger parried it, only for the ball to loop up and back spin into the net.
Within five minutes Nusken turned from goal provider to goal poacher as again Chelsea’s slick passing and movement found Arsenal wanting.
A move from the right found inevitably found James running at the back line, as she lays it off to winger Guro Reiten. Her dink into the box was well controlled by Johanna Rytting Kaneryd, who layed it off to an inviting Erin Cuthbert, steaming in to smack it hard and low.
The ball was going wide until Nusken deliberately side foots it goalwards and it nestles nicely into the corner of the net.
The Champions were imperious and matching socks or not, Arsenal’s normal attacking verve had all but deserted them. Beth Mead had a promising position on the edge of Chelsea’s box, after Victoria Pelova was tripped, but blazed it over the bar.
Chelsea duly went three up, this time a huge slice luck was in full effect when the marauding Kaneryd burst into the box from her own half and lets fly. Nusken is trying to get out of the way, but it comes off her heel and flys into the net with Zinsberger completely wrong footed.
Three up in half an hour and the game, watched by a record Women’s Stamford Bridge crowd of 32,970, was effectively over. Arsenal did bring on Russo in the second half, which added a slightly greater threat up front and scored a consolation goal when Little’s volley from a Katie McCabe corner deflected in off Catarina Macario.
Unfortunately, it was too little too late.
Goal-den Two: Lauren James and Sjoek Nusken celebrate at Stamford Bridge.