And here’s our report from Kingsmeadow:
Here’s Emma Hayes: “I’m sick to death of hearing about our slow start to last season. Thank god that’s been put to bed. I had a great chat with Ramona [Bachmann] about how she could make a difference today. For her to come on and contribute the way she did – it’s a coach’s dream when that happens. I’m so pleased for the squad today.
“At half-time I told the players that we have to bee aggressive. We were too respectful. I said: ‘You have to step up and produce performances like Ji’s doing’, because she was unreal in the first half. But I had no doubt we’d win the game – and we did.”
A downbeat Joe Montemurro: “We played bad in the second half and got punished for it. We tired a bit, they pressed a little bit higher. But we made some fundamental errors in crucial areas and got punished.”
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Elsewhere in the WSL, Reading have beaten Everton 3-2 and West Ham have won 3-1 at Brighton
Beth England speaks: “I’m ecstatic. We went 1-0 down quite early, and we were a bit disappointed, but in the last 25 minutes of the half we controlled the game better. In the second half I though we came out and played brilliantly. And bloody hell, am I happy now! We’ve beaten the champions – and fair play, that was a bloody tough game – so onwards and upwards.”
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Full-time: Chelsea 2-1 Arsenal
And there we have it. Chelsea deserve that win: they played with the greater purpose throughout and showed more invention in their play. The also pressed brilliantly, with an intensity Arsenal couldn’t handle and it was that ploy which got them both their goals. Arsenal were outplayed, outfought – and out-tacticked.
92 mins: More defensive heroics from the hosts, the winger Cuthbert tracking back to meet a Little cross and make a last-ditch clearance.
90 mins: A close call for Chelsea as Berger gets down brilliantly to keep out a Mead toe-poke before Bright scrambles the rebound desperately to safety.
Goal! Chelsea 2-1 Arsenal (Thorisdóttir 86)
86 mins: Chelsea look to have won it! And – AGAIN – it comes from Arsenal getting dispossessed in a dangerous position, Bachmann latching on to the ball and, finding no way past McCabe, squaring simply to Thorisdóttir who batters a 25-yarder that zooms though Zinsberger’s fingertips and into the far corner.
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83 mins: The stocky Bachmann rummages forward and rifles a shot at goal from distance, forcing Zinsberger to parry. Then Arsenal surge the length of the pitch to win a corner, but Berger claims it confidently.
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81 mins: And she’s injured herself taking that shot. Off she hobbles.
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79 mins: Chelsea swarm again to reclaim possession in the Arsenal half, Ingle lays off to Ji whose snatched effort bobbles wide. Ji’s been magnificent today – right up until she’s got a sight of goal.
76 mins: Bachmann’s first touch is to feed Mielde down the right, who picks out Ji at the far post, but the South Korean can’t direct her header on target.
74 mins: That’s Kirby’s last action as she’s replaced by Bachmann.
72 mins: Chelsea continue to press high with violent intent, but this time Arsenal play through it expertly and chart a path to the opposition box, but can’t quite force the chance. Then Kirby sprints free, one-on-one with Williamson, who shepherds her wide and dispossesses – wonderful defending. The game is opening up.
70 mins: Ji picks out Kirby, who plays it cheekily against Evans for a corner. Williamson rises to head clear.
67 mins: Chelsea aren’t settling for a draw. Cuthbert storms down the right and plants a ball straight down the Corridor of Uncertainty – but none of her attackers have gambled.
63 mins: Chelsea could be ahead. Reiten steals into space on the left and whips a first-time cross into England, who is in all sorts of space on the penalty spot. But her effort is horribly misjudged and she slices wide. Nobbs replaces Walti for Arsenal.
60 mins: The goal has woken Arsenal up. Their second attack in as many minutes sees the ball in the net, although the whistle has long gone before Miedema batters a loose ball underneath Berger – Mead, whose weaving run had made the chance, was just offside.
Goal! Chelsea 1-1 Arsenal (England 57)
And there it is. Chelsea get their equaliser, and the warning signs were there for Arsenal, whose dallying has finally cost them. It starts when Beattie strides forward to cut out a long ball on halfway but no sooner has she done so than Kirby has pounced to dispossess her, and she steams forward in behind the Arsenal defence, waiting until just the right moment to square for the onrushing England, who takes one touch to control and another to belt home from close range.
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54 mins: Arsenal haven’t got out of their half yet. This time it’s Cuthbert who forages forward down the right; she’s tackled but the ball breaks to Ji who strikes first time – but she snatches at it and the ball flies miles over the bar.
51 mins: Chelsea have picked up where they left off, pressing aggressively forward, and snapping into a nervy Arsenal backline whenever they try to play it out. The goal is coming, surely.
48 mins: England latches on to a long clearance down the right, making something from nothing, and drills in a low cross that Zinsberger spills. Reiten pounces, but is eased away by some smart defending from Evans.
And we’re back under way. Reiten gets things going with a backheeled volley to flick the ball down the line. Very nice. England takes the first shot of the half, belting over after having failed to connect with a laser-guided Ji cross.
Good fun, that. Chelsea are moving the ball quicker, attacking with no little wit and have the game’s two most dangerous players in Kirby and – especially – Ji. But Arsenal only need one more to kill the game off, and they have the division’s deadliest finisher in Miedema. Or to put it another way: this game is very nicely poised indeed.
Half-time: Chelsea 0-1 Arsenal
And that’s the last kick of the half. Arsenal, who lead, have looked decidedly shaky; Chelsea have played with drive and purpose but go in behind. Football!
47 mins: Cuthbert wriggles into space in the Arsenal half, and is about to fire at goal when Mead lunges in to commit a reckless foul. Reiten’s free-kick is equally wild, sailing harmlessly over over.
45 mins: Chelsea don’t want half-time to come here. They’re turning the screw with real purpose, Arsenal camped in their own half. England has another headed chance, meeting a deep cross swung in from Ingle, but can’t do enough with it to trouble Zinsberger.
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42 mins: Ji collects the ball from Andersson’s throw and drives towards Arsenal’s defence. She tonks a long-ranger straight into the nearest defender. The corner is cleared.
38 mins: Eriksson hoofs aimlessly long, and it turns out to be a dangerous pass. Zindsberger is forced off her line to cut it out at the last. Then Arsenal pile forward and find themselves with a player over, but Miedema doesn’t make the pass and instead sees her shot blocked. Frustrated, she hangs out a leg to block Berger’s drop kick, and picks up a booking.
35 mins: Another Arsenal goal-kick, another Chelsea chance. This time they get as far as the halfway line before losing the ball, which find its way to Reiter who wastes no time in unleashing on goal. Her rasping left-foot drive rattles the bar.
31 mins: Walti and Van de Donk dance into the Chelsea box, exchanging passes to create an opening for the latter, but her low shot is blocked. Chelsea respond with a terrific spell of sustained possession that doesn’t quite turn into a chance – Ji’s final ball too heavy for England.
27 mins: Ji is a terrifically alert player: she has won the ball back numerous times in dangerous positions and does so again to spark an attack that comes to nothing before getting on the ball again, feeding Kirby whose strike whistles wide. It’s hard to see Chelsea failing to score while those two are on the pitch.
25 mins: Arsenal mount an attack through Little, who looks for Miedema’s goalward run with a precise lofted pass, but Eriksson watches it closely and heads clear.
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21 mins: Ji snatches possession in midfield, drives forward and offloads to Reiten. She swings in a looping cross towards England, who puts a tricky header wide. Then, from the resulting goal-kick, Arsenal pass themselves into trouble again – Ji spots the dithering, pounces and curls a 20-yard strike inches wide.
18 mins: England scampers into space on the right and latches onto a nice long ball from Bright, though McCabe has her on a tight leash. Ji takes over but is crowded out as she enters the box and hits the deck. Chelsea are attacking purposefully but can’t quite engineer a chance.
15 mins: Chelsea threaten again with the impish Kirby pouncing on a loose ball in the Arsenal half and feeding Reiten, who can’t quite get it under control.
12 mins: Chelsea have responded well, Kirby beginning to dictate things in the middle and almost finishing off a move she started by getting on the end of Andersson’s cross from the left. Bright takes leave from centre-back duties to maraud forward into the box as Chelsea attack – they mean business.
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Goal! Chelsea 0-1 Arsenal (Van de Donk)
Arsenal score with their first attack of note, and it’s a lovely, neat goal. Miedema drops into space and collects the ball on the right, snaking forward before picking out Van de Donk, who has beaten the offside trap and rifles a cool finish low across the keeper. Game on!
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6 mins: Arsenal get themselves in trouble, insisting on passing it intricately out from a goal-kick. Evans is soon dispossessed in the right-back spot and Kirky is played clean through, albeit at an acute angle. Zinsberger comes out and smothers. The resulting corner is scrambled desperately clear.
4 mins: An early sighter for Miedema, who jinks into space on the D and curls a shot off the underside of the bar, though the whistle had already gone – offside.
2 mins: Some dainty playing-it-out-from-the-back stuff from Arsenal comes to an abrupt end when McCabe hoofs the ball semi-aimlessly down the left. Chelsea gather and duly hoof it back. Look away now, Pep.
And we’re off. Chelsea take kickoff and make early inroads towards the Arsenal box, but the attack fizzles out.
The teams are out. Handshakes are exchanged and game faces are on. Kickoff imminent.
A run-through of the day’s other WSL action: Liverpool and Bristol City played out a 1-1 draw, Mel Lawley salvaging a point for the Merseysiders from the spot late on, while WSL newcomers Manchester United travelled to Spurs and gave their hosts a tonking, 3-0. Those two are final scores, and right now West Ham lead Brighton 1-0 while Reading and Everton are locked at 2-2 – both of those games at half-time.
Warm-ups are underway! 👌
— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) October 13, 2019
Kick-off in less than 30 minutes! #CFCW pic.twitter.com/17gaIIOc5I
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The teams!
Chelsea: Berger; Mjelde, Bright, Eriksson, Andersson; Cuthbert, Ingle; Ji, Reiten, Kirby; England. Subs: Thorisdottir, Asante, Carter, Cooper, Bachmann, Spence, Telford.
Arsenal: Zinsberger; Evans, Williamson, Beattie, McCabe; Wälti, Little, Roord, Van de Donk; Miedema, Mead. Subs: Peyraud-Magnin, Mitchell, Quinn, Veje, Nobbs, Grant, Filis.
Preamble
Last season Arsenal set the standard. Manchester City might have come within a whisker of going the season undefeated but it was the Gunners who were the WSL’s real team to beat and, powered by the goals of Vivianne Miedema – 22 in all – they duly wrapped up the title with a game to spare.
This time it’s City who have come bolting out of the traps (picking up their fourth win from four yesterday and yet to concede a goal), and ensuring that Joe Montemurro’s side will have to strain every sinew if they’re to retain their title. But with a flawless start of their own, the early signs are that it’s a challenge Arsenal look up to.
Chelsea meanwhile have motivations of their own, not only looking to build on last season’s third-place finish but also to get revenge over the team that did the double over them last term, most chasteningly with a 5-0 drubbing at this very ground – their home turf – in October. A win today would not just help banish those memories, it would also see them leapfrog their fellow title-hopefuls into second. What more incentive do you need? Strap in.
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