Chelsea lost 2-0 at home to Arsenal in the FA Women’s Super League Cup in a disappointing day for the west London club. The Spanish international Marta Corredera, signed this summer from Barcelona, capitalised on two defensive mistakes in the first half to give the Gunners the win, and Chelsea’s misery was compounded when they lost captain Katie Chapman to injury.
“I think Katie’s crutches were more precautionary,” said her striker team-mate Fran Kirby. “I think she’s all right. It was just an impact thing really. She’ll be looked after this week to get her ready for next week as she won’t want to miss that.
“It’s disappointing to concede the way we did but at least it wasn’t down to football mistakes, people not doing their jobs properly,” she continued. “It could have been 0-0 at half-time and, if that had been the case, it would have been completely different in the second half.”
Corredera has flourished since her summer move to Arsenal, with her two goals coming off the back of an excellent assist in last week’s 3-2 defeat by Manchester City in the Women’s Super League.
City stayed top of Group Two with a 3-1 win over Sunderland. Their captain, Steph Houghton – who also led England to third place at the World Cup – Toni Duggan and Niki Parris were the scorers for City, who inflicted a first cup defeat on the North-East club.
Liverpool maintained their 100% cup record with a 1-0 victory over Durham, who frustrated the Merseyside club in the first-half, with Anne Moorhouse making a number of excellent saves to send the visitors in level at half-time. But the introduction of Rosie White and the England international Natasha Dowie after the break helped to break Durham’s resolve, with Dowie converting Ashley Hodson’s pull back midway through the second half.
Elsewhere in the cup Rachel Williams scored as Notts County maintained their good form to beat Bristol Academy 1-0, Yeovil climbed to fourth in Group Three with an excellent 3-1 win over Aston Villa, Birmingham cruised to a 3-0 win over Oxford United and Lois Roche scored a glorious free-kick to help Reading beat London Bees 3-0.
