Read Louise Taylor's match report
Full-time: Chelsea 3-0 Arsenal
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeep! It’s all over at Kingdsmeadow, where Chelsea have gone three points clear at the top of the table ahead of Friday’s Manchester derby. Their class prevailed in the end and they won courtesy of three second-half goals. Pernille Haerder got two, while Fran Kirby made sure of the result shortly before the final whistle.
It’s another defeat at the hands of Chelsea for Arsenal, who find themselves even further behind in the title race. A Champions League place looks the best they can hope for, but on the evidence of tonight’s display, even that might prove well beyond them.
90+3 min: No they won’t - Kirby is back on the pitch and trying to chase down a lose ball.
GOAL! Chelsea 3-0 Arsenal (Kirby 90)
Fran Kirby puts the cherry on top with her ninth goal of the season, getting in behind the Arsenal defence on to a through ball before hooking a diagonal effort past Lydia Williams from a tight-ish angle. The goalscorer immeditaely goes to ground with what looks like cramp and then walks off the pitch. Chelsea will finish with 10 (wo)men.
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88 min: “Six ... seven minutes left!” shouts Emma Hayes at her players, as the clock shows two minutes plus whatever added time there might be remaining. Arsenal’s Leah Williamson gets booked for a scything challenge on Guro Reiten. She kicks the Norwegian up in the air but Reiten just gets to her feet without so much as a murmur ofcomplaint and gets on with it.
85 min: Having seen their 33-match unbeaten run come to an end at the weekend, it’s probably safe to assume Chelsea are now on a one-match winning streak. Their manager, Emma Hayes, demanded a reaction to defeat against Brighton from her players and she’s certainly got one. They are forced to defend as Maren Mjelde heads a a Jordan Nobbs header out of her own penalty area.
84 min: The corner is played short to the very busy Reiten, who wins another one as she attempts to drill the ball across the face of goal. Nothing comes of it.
82 min: Chelsea substitution: Guro Reiten on for Sam Kerr, who had just passed up a ashooting chance that might have but the game completely beyond Arsenal. The Norwegian’s first act is to take a corner, from which Arsenal break up the field to no avail. Moments later, Reiten sends a free-kick into the Arsenal penalty area, which is put out for a corner.
78 min: Arsenal win a free-kick just right of centre about three yards outside the Chelsea penalty area for a Millie Bright foul. It’s cleverly worked and Mead plays the ball short for Katie McCabe to curl a low drive towards the far corner. It takes a little deflection off Harder en route towards the goal but Ann-Karin Berger gets down to save well. A decent effort from Arsenal.
75 min: Arsenal are enjoying their best spell of the game, but is it going to be too little too late? They make a substitution: a not fully fit Jordan Nobbs on for Noelle Moritz. Lisa Evans moves back into defence.
73 min: Chelsea substitution: Ji So-Yun off, Bethany England on.
71 min: Lisa Evans makes a run into the right side of the Chelsea penalty area before pulling the ball back for Beth Mead. Her shot takes a deflection off Millie Bright, which takes the sting out of it allowing Ann-Katrin Berger to save comfortably. Better from Arsenal.
69 min: Van De Donk and then Miedmar find themselves in possession on the edge of the Chelsea box but neither can make the room to shoot due to obdurate and diligent defending by Chelsea’s players on their own 18-yard line.
68 min: Chelsea defender Sophie Ingle gets a ticking-off from the referee for some misdemeanour or other.
67 min: The game continues at a helter-skelter pace but with no sign of Arsenal pulling a goal back. They’ve got little change out of Chelsea’s defence in this half and the home side are in complete control of the game.
62 min: Emma Hayes, who is clearly reading this minute-by-minute report on the touchline, make her first substitution of the game. With a big smile on her face, Melanie Leupolz makes way for Erin Cuthbert.
59 min: Far be it from me to tell a coach as decorated as Emma Hayes how to manage a football team, but if I was her I’d seriously think about replacing one or two of my midfielders who are on yellow cards. Both Ji and Leupolz are walking that particularly tightrope and the former, in particular, is looking a likely candidate for a second yellow followed by the obligatory red.
GOAL! Chelsea 2-0 Arsenal (Harder 58)
Chelsea double their lead: Arsenal’s dismal run of results against Chelsea looks set to continue, as Pernille Harder bags her second of the evening. She roofs the ball from close range after being teed up by Andersson in the weake of good work down the left by Kirby.
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57 min: Sam Kerr finds herself bearing down on goal with only Lydia Williams to beat. The Arsenal goalkeeper stands her ground and Kerr rifles the ball off the cross-bar and over.
55 min: Arsenal defender Lotte Wubben-Moy tries to play the ball out of defence but gives it away. It looks little more than a matter of time before Arsenal concede a goal through their often comical attempts to play the ball out from the back.
53 min: Looking at Harder’s goal again, it is perhaps a little harsh to say Arsenal goalkeeper Lydia Williams should have done better. Although she looked slow to get down, the shot was perfectly placed in the corner where she just couldn’t have reached it.
51 min: Fran Kirby fails to kleep the ball in play, despite her best attempts to chase an overhit cross from the right along the byline.
GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Arsenal (Harder 48)
A long spell of Chelsea dominance ends with Fran Kirby passing the ball to Pernille Harder, who shoots from distance. Her swerving effort lacks venom, but takes a little bounce before creeping into the bottom left-hand corner past the outstretched hand of Lydia Williams, who possibly should have done better. It was a well placed shot but had little power behind it.
Updated
47 min: Ji and Fran Kirby combine well on the edge of the Arsenal penalty area, but eventually run out of room.
47 min: Arsenal begin on the front foot but can find no way of penetrating a well marshalled Chelsea defence. The ball is run out of play and the home side have a goal kick.
Second half: Chelsea 0-0 Arsenal
46 min: Arsenal get play under way in the second period, with no changes in personnel on either side.
Half-time: Chelsea 0-0 Arsenal
Peep! The teams go in for the half-time break with the dealock unbroken. Chelsea have been dominant against an error-prone Arsenal side who look incredibly ropy at the back, but they’ve failed to score. Fran Kirby went close for Chelsea, only to be denied by a splendid Lydia WIlliams save. Vivianne Miedma went close for Arsenal but put her shot to close to Ann-Katrin Berger after beating two players on a mazy run into the Chelsea penalty area.
45+ 1 min: Van De Donk tees up Lisa Evans on the left side of the Chelsea penalty area. Her shot clears the cross-bar and the roof of the stand behind the goal.
45 min: Having had the ball deep in Chelsea territory as they pressed and probed for an opening, Arsenal think better of attacking and play it all the way back to their goalkeeper.
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43 min: Another of Chelsea’s midfielders goes in the book, this time it’s Ji for a completely unnecessary foul on Van De Donk.
39 min: “Manage! Manage! Manage! Manage!” shouts Arsenal coach Joe Montemurro from his technical area. That’s your job, mate ... at least for the time being.
37 min: More unconvincing defending from Arsenal, as Lydia Williams is forced to poke a Sam Kerr pull-back from the byline clear with her foot at the near post.
35 min: Interesting tactics from Emma Hayes, who is barking at her forwards to “Wait! Wait! Wait!” whenever Arsenal goalkeeper Williams plays the ball out to a defender. Hayes wants her players to hold their press until the defender is in possession and trying to move it on.
33 min: An absolutely outstanding save from Lydia Williams in the Arsenal goal, who dives low to her right to keep out a Fran Kirby shot that looked destined to end up in the bottom right-hand corner. The Australian tips the ball around the upright to concede a corner. Nothing comes of it.
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32 min: Katie McCabe puts the ball out of play for a throw-in, putting an end to a promising Chelsea attack up the right wing.
28 min: Already on a yellow card, Melanie Leupolz courts disaster with another ill-judged challenge on Danielle van de Donk that gives Arsenal a free-kick. She further pushes her luck by complaining about the referee’s correct decision.
27 min: Of the two managers, Arsenal’s Joe Montemurro is definitely the most vocal, as he hasn’t stopped shouting instructions at his players since the game began. Hayes has spent most of the first half sitting in near silence on her seat in the dug-out.
25 min: “Keep her in! Keep her in! Keep her in! Keep her in!” roars Chelsea manager Emma Hayes from the touchline. I’m not sure who she’s addressing or who she wants kept in. Or, indeed, what she wants them kept in.
23 min: Leah Williamson is given the freedom of the pitch by Chelsea to advance unopposed and play the ball out wide to the right. The ensuing inswinger is cleared.
22 min: Chelsea’s German midfielder Melanie Leupolz is booked for a late challenge on Beth Mead.
20 min: Completely against the run of play, Vivienne Miedema misses the best chance of the match. She picks up the ball outside the Chelsea penalty area, dribbles past Eriksson and Bright and looks a certainty to score from 10 yards out with only Ann-Katrin Berger to beat. Her low shot to the corner is too close to the goalkeeper, who sticks out a leg and saves.
17 min: Oh crikey! Arsenal are an absolute shambles at the back. From the free-kick, Chelsea clear the ball up the field, prompting Arsenal goalkeeper Lydia Williams to dash out of her penalty area, almost lose the ball and then clear very unconvincingly. With the goalkeeper stranded outside her penalty area, Melanie Leupolz tries to float the ball over her head and into the goal from distance, but sends her effort high and wide.
16 min: Mjelde is penalised for grapping with Beth Mead and Arsenal win a free-kick halfway inside the Chelsea half.
13 min: Arsenal try to play it out from the back again, make a mess of it once again and Leah Williamson gives the ball away. Ji nutmegs Noelle Maritz on the edge of the penalty area to tee up Fran Kirby, whose weak daisy-cutter fails to trouble Lydia Williams in the Arsenal goal.
12 min: For Chelsea, Ji sends a cross from deep towards the far post, but there’s nobody from her own team anywhere near it.
10 min: Beth Mead, recently ommitted from the England squad because her form isn’t considered good enough, plays a low pass into the Chelsea half. It’s intercepted. There’s a break in play as Chelsea’s Pernille Harder receives medical treatment after somebody treads on her foot. Bethany England begins warming up on the touchline, but Harder is fit to continue.
9 min: Arsenal left-back Katie McCabe wins a free-kick for her side about 10 yards inside her own half. Nothing comes of it.
7 min: Something resembling an attack for Arsenal, who gallop up the right flank with Lisa Evans on the ball. Her cross into the Chelsea penalty area is plucked from the sky by goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger.
5 min: Danielle van de Donk clears this corner at the near post for Arsenal. Mjelde’s delivery was poor.
4 min: Arsenal are clearly under instruction to play the ball out from the back and each time they do so is quite the white-knuckle ride that will make their supporters seriously nervous. Chelsea win another corner.
3 min: Maren Mjelde sends another cross into the Arsenal penalty area and Uefa Women’s Player of the Year Pernille Harder heads it over the bar.
3 min: It’s all Chelsea in these opening stages, with Arsenal looking nervy in defence and barely able to get a touchg of the ball.
Chelsea v Arsenal is go ...
1 min: Ji So-Yun rolls the ball back to her skipper Magdalena Eriksson to get play under way and Chelsea win a corner almost immediately. Maren Mjelde whips an excellent delivery into the Arsenal penalty area, but Pernille Harder can’t get on the end of it as it’s a little too high.
Not long now: There are actual icicles on the goal nets at Kingsmeadow as the players go through the last of their pre-match niceties in the freezing conditions. Chelsea’s players line up in their usual home strip of blue shirts, blue shorts and white socks. Arsenal’s players wear white shirts, burgundy shorts and socks.
Chelsea v Arsenal line-ups
Chelsea: Berger, Bright, Ingle, Andersson, Eriksson, Leupolz, Ji, Mjelde, Kerr, Harder, Kirby.
Subs: Telford, Blundell, Carter, England, Reiten, Fleming, Charles, Cuthbert, Spence.
Arsenal: Williams, Maritz, Williamson, Wubben-Moy, McCabe, Walti, Roord, Van De Donk, Evans, Miedma, Mead.
Subs: Stenson, Zinsberger, Gut, Maier, Nobbs, Patten.
📋 Your #LondonDerby team news...
— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) February 10, 2021
🇨🇭 @NoelleMaritz returns
🏴 @LisaEvans_17 on the wing
🇳🇱 @VivianneMiedema leads the line @BarclaysFAWSL 🏆 pic.twitter.com/TT3ymJ8wr6
Your Chelsea team to take on Arsenal! 👌#CFCW pic.twitter.com/9e4C3VPNlf
— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) February 10, 2021
Joe Montemurro speaks
Asked if his side had blown their chances of winning the league after losing against Manchester City last weekend, Arsenal’s coach was bullish. “There’s a lot of football to play, I wouldn’t count us out just yet,” he said.
“I believe in the squad and what we’re trying to do and we’ll keep fighting, hopefully we can get a full squad back. I don’t think we’ve had that in any game this season, it’s not because I don’t believe in the squad, it’s just that as a coach you want to have the options to make the decisions you need to make.
“You want to plan normally but it’s very difficult when you plan for a certain player to play and they can’t finish the week’s training. But that’s just the way it is and we’re going to keep fighting.”
Emma Hayes speaks ...
“‘I talk so much about the character in my dressing room, I talk so much about the resilience,” said Chelsea’s manager following her side’s unexpected weekend reverse against Brighton. “Well now we have a chance to see that because it’s the response to the performances that coaches and players alike want to see.
“We have to reflect, we have to be calm about those things, everybody feels emotional after a defeat because we don’t get them that often but when they come, you have to be calm about it and put in place the right things so you rectify it.
“These games like Arsenal are really tough, they are even games and there is a lot at stake. I know the performance I’ll be looking for and I’ll demand that from my team.
“This is a setback but we are built to cope with the various competitions across the league and I keep reminding everyone that we’re in the Continental Cup final and we’re top of the league, we’re still in a good place and it’s important to stay positive about that.”
Early Arsenal team news
Arsenal boss Joe Montemurro will be without Jordan Nobbs, Jen Beattie and Kim Little, who are the latest players to fall victim to the spate of muscle injuries that have plagued their squad this season, prompting their manager to launch an internal inquiry into what might be causeing them.
“Jordan Nobbs sustained an injury to her quad in training and has begun her rehabilitation while Jennifer Beattie has suffered a hamstring problem and Kim Little has picked up a problem in her calf,” declared an Arsenal statement last week.
Long-term absentees Steph Catley and Viki Schaderbeck also remains sidelined. Australia international Catley is out with a hamstring injury, while Austria’s Schaderbeck has an injured knee.
Early Chelsea team news
Goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger and central defender Millie Bright were not in the squad for Chelsea’s defeat at the hands of Brighton, but could return tonight.
Women's Super League: Chelsea v Arsenal
Fourth in the WSL table and nine points off the pace, Arsenal travel to Kingsmeadow tonight to take on Chelsea with a major psychological hurdle to overcome. Without a win against the league leaders in their past seven meetings in all competitions (losing six and drawing one), they are unlikely to surf into this evening’s fixture on a wave of confidence after losing to Manchester City at the weekend.
Perhaps more surprisingly, their hosts also lost for the first time in two years at the weekend, coming unstuck at home to Brighton. Kick-off at Kingsmeadow is at 7.00pm but stay tuned in the meantime for team news and build-up.
