And with that, I’ll leave you be for the afternoon. Over in the men’s Premier League, Everton and Bournemouth is about 27 minutes in, and Nick Ames is on hand to take you through it.
Here’s Suzanne Wrack’s match report:
Here’s Joe Montemurro: “We weren’t good enough today. They exploited the spaces and played through us. The end of the year will determine if it’s a big result for the title race. The soccer gods aren’t smiling on us [with all the injuries], and we’re having to compromise how we play.”
Emma Hayes speaks, holding her son Harry, who appears to have a glove on his foot: “Arsenal made a game of it when it shouldn’t have been a game. It’s not good for me heart, but a brilliant advert for the women’s game. The team are gutted they’ve given up a goal: that’s their mentality.”
That’s the first time Arsenal have lost at home in near enough three years, which is pretty remarkable. Chelsea move up to third in the table for the moment, but that could change if Birmingham turn things around.
Colossal win for Chelsea and probably the title race in general. Arsenal, their team sliced and diced with injury, woke up in the last ten minutes or so and made the closing stages pretty hairy, but really Chelsea should have won much more convincingly. Chelsea now go to within two points of the Gunners, who still have a game in hand, but by the end of the day Arsenal might be no longer top of the table. That said, one of the teams who could overhaul them, Birmingham City, are already 1-0 down to Bristol, while Manchester City kick-off at 3pm against West Ham.
Full-time: Arsenal 1-2 Chelsea
Peeeeeeeeeeep.
90 mins +4: Little takes the corner at the second attempt, the first having been thwarted due to two balls being on the pitch. Lindahl comes out and gets a half-punch on the ball, but Chelsea smuggle it clear and that might just be that.
90 mins +3: A long ball causes some chaos in the Chelsea defence, as Little brings it down with her head and is inches away from being clean through, but the most last-ditch of last-ditch challenges from Eriksson nicks the ball away. What a finish to this game!
90 mins +2: We’re into the second of four minutes stoppage time. Kirby chases a long clearance into the corner but can’t haul it in.
90 mins: Miedema nearly goes through on her own! She picks the ball up outside the box just to the left, powers past/through two defenders but her shot is saved at the near post. She probably should’ve had a penalty too: Carter got a good fistful of her shirt, but because she stayed up and went for the shot nothing was given.
88 mins: Chelsea counter and Blundell slides a ball through for the run of Kirby, who checks back onto her left foot from the right channel inside the box, but there wasn’t much power to her shot and Peyraud-Magnin saves.
86 mins: Andersson carelessly gives a free-kick away near the right corner of the box. Chelsea, somehow, look rattled. Little puts the cross over and Miedema is implausibly unmarked at the near post, but she doesn’t quite get hold of the header and Lindahl saves with ease.
84 mins: Should mention: just before the goal Ingle went into the book for absolutely ploughing through McCabe’s calves. She looked astounded that the foul was given, pointing at the ball in textbook fashion, and was even more dismayed when the yellow card came out. The referee probably rather politely explained that getting the ball isn’t much good when you’ve had to batter through muscle to reach it.
83 mins: Corner for Arsenal which Bright heads away. There’s more energy and urgency from Arsenal here: great, but they could’ve done with showing it a bit earlier.
82 mins: If Chelsea contrive not to win this, you’d think that Emma Hayes will tell the coach to drive away and the players can make their own way home.
80 mins: Scored by Miedema, but that was all Kim Little’s work. She drove in from the right, got to near the byline in the box and put over a strong low cross which Miedema, perfectly placed on the edge of the six yard box, turns home.
GOAL! Arsenal 1-2 Chelsea (Miedema 80)
Now then.
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79 mins: Great chance for Riley as she finds herself in some space in the left channel, but takes a ropey touch and compounds the issue by playing a terrible pass in theory towards Kirby.
78 mins: Miedema, who frankly has had sod all else to do, is penalised for a foul on Spence as Arsenal try to do some attacking. Meanwhile Chelsea make a final sub: England is off, and Jess Carter is on.
77 mins: Arsenal dip into their meagre resources: Arnth goes off, to be replaced by fellow Dane Katrine Veje. Theoretically an attacking change, that, but it might be too late to make an impact.
74 mins: Andersson puts the cross into the middle, Bright gets up the highest but her glanced header is put behind for a corner, with Spence lurking. Arsenal rather frantically defender, the ball hitting Arnth’s arm but not deliberately, before she and another defender leave it for each other. Spence has a shot which is deflected behind, but that second corner is cleared properly.
73 mins: Ingle tries a pass down the line from Riley, who holds it up and eventually McCabe is penalised for a foul on Andersson. Safe to say the Arsenal full-back didn’t agree with the decision, but Chelsea have a free-kick from a decent position on the left flank.
70 mins: Get this: another Arsenal player is down, this time Quinn requiring attention. Think she might’ve got a smack in the nose from someone, possibly accidental, but there is some blood to be stemmed.
69 mins: Arsenal make a brief foray into the Chelsea half, and Millie Bright blocks a cross behind for a corner. McCabe crosses and the hitherto under-employed Lindahl flaps at it a little, but Chelsea manage to clear.
66 mins: Double sub for Chelsea: no hat-trick for Cuthbert, as she’s replaced by Ali Riley, while Kirby is introduced in place of Carney. No mercy here from Emma Hayes.
Updated
65 mins: The scoreline does now reflect the balance of play a little more. Hard to see a way back for Arsenal from here.
63 mins: Ingle sticks a big one into the mixer which England goes up for, but the ball drops to Cuthbert who hits a volley at goal. It’s pretty near Peyraud-Magnin who gets a hand to it, but allows the ball through and into the net. Not great all round for Arsenal there: Cuthbert was in absurd amounts of space on the edge of the box, and the keeper should have done better.
GOAL! Arsenal 0-2 Chelsea (Cuthbert 63)
And there it is!
Updated
62 mins: Even more good news for Arsenal: looks like Fran Kirby is preparing to come on.
59 mins: Chelsea just aren’t letting Arsenal create anything: Little winds up for a big pass from midfield, only to have it whipped from ‘neath her feet by a well-timed Cuthbert challenge.
57 mins: Miedema chases a ball through as Arsenal desperately try to claw their way back into the game, but once again no dice as Eriksson swoops in to clear.
GOA....NO!
55 mins: Chelsea have the ball in the net, after a lovely Carney clipped cross was headed home at the back stick by England, but her head and shoulders were leaning just offside. In a rare piece of correct officiating, the offside is given, met by a barrage of invective from England.
54 mins: Cuthbert makes a forward run down the inside-left channel, but her flick right to play in England goes awry.
51 mins: Neither team have really got going in the second-half so far. Blundell tries a big diagonal that drifts out of play.
49 mins: Blimey, I hadn’t quite realised the referee didn’t even give a free-kick for that. Lord. Some generous officiating in this game so far. Evans looks to be OK, though.
48 mins: Oh lord another injury for Arsenal: an extremely beefy challenge from Eriksson chops Evans to the ground, and she needs some attention.
46 mins: We’re away again, and Mitchell gets stuck in straight away with a run down the left, but the ball goes out for a goal kick to Chelsea.
The players are back out, and Arsenal are making a change: Beth Mead, who tweaked her knee before the break, hasn’t come out for the second-half, with Emma Mitchell coming on in her place. Another injury for Arsenal: they’re basically the equivalent of the Black Knight from Monty Python at this stage.
The goal...
Leapt like a salmon!
— The FA Women's Super League (@FAWSL) January 13, 2019
How important could this Cuthbert goal be?#FAWSLpic.twitter.com/7yyyC9dTvJ
It sort of seems churlish to suggest Chelsea might not be entirely happy with how things stand, but they’ve been so dominant that only being 1-0 ahead at the break probably qualifies as a disappointment. You could say they didn’t quite put the boot on the throat after opening the scoring as they should have done, and given Arsenal’s attacking record this might come back to bite them.
Half-time: Arsenal 0-1 Chelsea
Peeeeeeeeeep. Precisely nothing happened in those minutes of injury time.
45 mins: Three minutes of added time. Mead will at least try to continue.
44 mins: Another injury concern for Arsenal, a team with injury concerns coming out of their ears: Beth Mead is down having jarred her knee in the middle of the park, sliding forward as she attempted to block a pass. Could be nasty, that. Remember Arsenal only have three outfield players on the bench.
40 mins: The suggestion from people in the ground is that the referee - Rebecca Welch - didn’t actually see that incident, didn’t check with the fourth official (about four yards in front of whom the incident happened) but booked Carney anyway. Baffling.
38 mins: Eesh, Carney pretty lucky to avoid a red card. Carney makes a run off the ball and as she runs past McCabe goes down - probably tripped, but slightly difficult to tell. She certainly thinks it’s a trip, because she rapidly gets to her feet and drops McCabe with a meaty barge to the abdomen. I think she was booked, but even though the trip was underhand to say the least, I’m not really sure how, if the referee saw it, that’s all she got.
36 mins: Cuthbert tries a shot from outside the area that she drags wide. Shortly afterwards, Spence drives into the box and goes over the outstretched leg of Quinn, but no penalty is given and really Spence doesn’t really appeal very much. Looked very much like a foul from the replay.
35 mins: Nearly a chance for Arsenal: Williamson makes tracks down the right and puts in an early low cross to the near post. Evans misses it under pressure from a defender and Miedema is just beaten to it in the middle, but that qualifies as a clear opportunity considering the balance of play.
33 mins: Chelsea attack through the middle as Ji approaches the box, but is crowded out. They could do with getting at least one more before the break in this continuing period of dominance, because you’d think Arsenal can’t be this bad again after the break.
Updated
32 mins: Arsenal try something like an attack from the left but McCabe’s cross is...no good. Joe Montemurro looks pensive on the bench.
31 mins: Mead concedes a free-kick in midfield for a push on Ji, and flaps her arms in frustration. Not frustration at the decision, you’d think, but more at the general state of the game.
28 mins: Chelsea on the attack once again, but her curled cross from the left is behind England. This is no more than Chelsea deserve - they’ve been entirely dominant and haven’t allowed Arsenal to play or create anything of note.
27 mins: Lovely interplay down the right by Chelsea sets up Blundell, coming forwards from right-back, to stick over a terrific cross from the right. Cuthbert has a good run on it and meets the ball perfectly, with a couple of Arsenal defenders getting in each other’s way, and Cuthbert absolutely batters the header home.
GOAL! Arsenal 0-1 Chelsea (Cuthbert 27)
And it had been coming.
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24 mins: Miedema goes down in the box after chasing a pass through with Eriksson, but doesn’t look too perturbed about things.
23 mins: Cuthbert brings down a long pass nicely on her chest, but takes a touch too many before shooting, allowing Quinn to block the effort.
22 mins: A quiet few minutes. Chelsea have done brilliantly to pen Arsenal back with their smothering forward press, but haven’t broken through to complement their dominance so far.
19 mins: Excellent bit of old school football as Lisa Evans runs down the right and is shoulder-barged off the ball by Andersson. Evans quite literally left the ground after being fairly challenged, tossed aside like a rag doll.
Updated
17 mins: Peyraud-Magnin has been a busy old bee so far, and is thoroughly unimpressed with what she perceived to be a rough aerial challenge from England. Looked fine to me, but goalkeepers do go off like car alarms whenever a striker goes anywhere near them, and she gets the free-kick.
16 mins: Another huge chance for Chelsea. Carney again on the right, she skips past McCabe as if she’s avoiding a very small traffic cone, hits a strong cross into the middle which is missed by England and at least two defenders. For some reason Millie Bright finds herself in the box, free and eight yards out, but she almost seems to get her legs in a mess and can only direct towards goal with her thigh, and Peyraud-Magnin saves easily.
15 mins: Now Arsenal attack for the first time properly, and Miedema wins a corner on the left. But they do little with it and Chelsea counter, an attack that only fizzles out when Cuthbert runs out of support and is dispossessed just outside the Arsenal area.
13 mins: All Chelsea so far. Ji gets her foot on the ball for the first time but her shot from about 20 yards out is blocked easily enough.
12 mins: A foul throw! McCabe is the careless one, and has a chuckle after being penalised. But it does set up an attack for Chelsea: Cuthbert powers through the middle and slips it right to Carney, briefly swapping flanks, but her fizzed ball behind the defence is just a little strong for England.
10 mins: Huge chance for Chelsea. Ingle plays a strong pass to England just outside the box, who in turn offloads it quickly to Carney who finds herself in space and through on goal, but maybe her first touch is just a hair too heavy, and she allows Peyraud-Magnin to rush out and block.
9 mins: Good pressing from Chelsea so far, causing Arsenal keeper Peyraud-Magnin to panic a little and boot a pass straight out of play in their own right-back position.
7 mins: Eriksson spreads a big diagonal from left to right and picks out Cuthbert, but her cross looking for England in the middle doesn’t beat the first defender.
4 mins: Slight formation tweak from the one I suggested: looks more like a 4-2-3-1 for Chelsea with Cuthbert and Carney on the flanks, and Ji tucked in behind England.
3 mins: Eriksson wastes the chance, giving the free-kick just a little too much welly. In fact, the ball might well be still rising, and takes a while to be retrieved having sailed over the very small stand and into the street behind.
2 mins: Early chance for Chelsea as they win a free-kick right on the edge of the box. Beth Mead ‘helps out’ her defence by tracking Cuthbert back on the right side of the box, but she only succeeds in barging her opponent over.
1 min: We’re away. Chelsea kick-off, shooting from right to left. Although that description doesn’t help you massively if you can’t actually see the game. Sorry. Carry on.
The players are coming out, each holding the hand of a mascot. The one accompanying Arsenal skipper Kim Little was almost taller than her and looked suitably embarrassed.
Phil Neville is in the house, apparently. Although, the old ‘if the opposite was true it would be more interesting’ test does apply here: you would bloody hope he would be.
Updated
Emma Hayes speaks: “Arsenal are in the driving seat - the pressure’s on them, and for us to win the title it’s a really slender chance. We’re talking about an unbelievable Arsenal team going forwards. We respect them, and know they’re the team in position to win the title.”
Joe Montemurro speaks: “We just felt it was better to keep her [Van de Donk] out, with all the other injuries we have. This championship will go right down to the wire, it’s going to be a very tight league.”
Looks like players from both teams are a little in the wars.
Erin Cuthbert with heavy strapping on her right hamstring as she warms up
— Molly Hudson (@M0lly_Writes) January 13, 2019
That’s that one explained, then.
🚨 TEAM NEWS 🚨
— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) January 13, 2019
Our medical team have provided an update on @DanielleDonk’s injury…
“@DanielleDonk sustained a thigh muscle injury in training this week and is currently undergoing treatment at the club.” #WeAreTheArsenal pic.twitter.com/2CTd44DTRJ
Simon Burnton went to speak to Arsenal manager Joe Montemurro this week. Have a good old read:
I’m of Italian descent and Italians know how to defend a lead, but I don’t park the bus,” Montemurro says. “We play our style. We’ll go out there and play how we need to play. Will we adjust a couple of things? Obviously. But it’s about winning, and it’s about winning in our style, and the way we do it.
Interesting team news, then. We knew Jordan Nobbs would be missing for Arsenal, but the absence of Danielle van de Donk is more of a surprise. Equally I expected Fran Kirby, who scored twice against Reading last time out after an injury absence, to start for Chelsea, but she’s only on the bench: presumably Ji will play just behind Cuthbert and England.
Team news
Arsenal
Peyraud-Magnin; Williamson, Quinn, Arnth, McCabe; Bloodworth, Walti, Little; Evans, Miedema, Mead Subs: van Veenendaal, Mitchell, Kuyken, Veje
Chelsea
Lindahl; Andersson, Eriksson, Bright, Blundell; Ingle, Carney, Spence; Ji; Cuthbert, England. Subs: Telford, Asante, Carter, Kirby, Cooper, Bachmann.
Preamble
Pivotal game for Chelsea, this. If Arsenal win, then the defending Women’s Super League champions will be more or less out of the title race, eight points back from the Gunners having played a game more. You could make an argument that the title race as a whole might be at least on its way to being done, depending on how Manchester City and Birmingham City get on later this afternoon.
But should Chelsea win, and both Cities also prevail, then the top four in the table will be separated by three points, and we could be on for not so much a race but a hugely entertaining scramble over the remaining nine or ten games.
The good news for those of you looking for such a thing is that Chelsea are in good form, having last dropped points in mid-October, and have only conceded five league goals all season. But the remarkable thing is that those five goals came in one game, in the space of about 46 minutes, against Arsenal.
So the message from that is anything could happen in this game. Should be a belter. Stay tuned.
Kick-off: 12.30pm GMT.
