Arsenal Ladies climbed to second place in the FA WSL with a 2-0 win against bottom team Bristol Academy.

It has been a long time since the Arsenal Ladies found themselves in the Champions League places, the last time was in 2012 when Laura Harvey won the title.

It was certainly a morale boosting victory for the squad after the Cup defeat on Sunday.

Pedro Losa switched back to the 4-3-3 system as the 4-4-2 diamond did not yield a good result against Chelsea.

He also made a few changes; Emma Byrne, Natalia Sanchon and Kelly Smith made way for Siobhan Chamberlain, Rachel Yankey and Carla Humphrey. Kelly Smith was not even on the teamsheet. Jade Bailey and Taome Oliver were on the bench.

Bailey was surprisingly dropped from the squad for the Chelsea tie leaving a bench with four goalkeepers and attacking midfield and three forwards on the day. FA Cup games allow only five substitutes rather than seven in the FA WSL.

It was a first league start for Siobhan Chamberlain, Carla Humphrey and Rachel Yankey.

The team line-up was Siobhan Chamberlain, Alex Scott, Casey Stoney, Jemma Rose, Emma Mitchell, Leah Williamson, Jordan Nobbs, Vicky Losada, Carla Humphrey, Danielle Carter, and Rachel Yankey.

Carla Humphrey celebrated her first ever league game with a goal as Danielle Carter beat her defender on the right and pulled it back for the youngster who evaded her marker to finish from seven yards in the 14th minute.

Vicky Losada also opened her league goalscoring account when she volleyed a returned header by Alex Scott in the 33rd minute. There were no more goals scored in the game but the scoreline was enough for Arsenal to overtake Manchester City and climb to second place.

The next league game will be played at 4pm on Sunday away to Manchester City, a very important early game in the season on par with the Notts County season opener.

City are favourites to win the title this season due to their excellent set-up and the money invested by the Qatari owners for the women’s side.