Arsenal outplay and outfight Chelsea in a critical Women’s Super League match at the Emirates Stadium, leaving Emma Hayes, Chelsea’s manager, fuming over her team’s performance.
The game ended in a significant defeat for Chelsea, their worst league defeat in five years, in front of a record 59,042 spectators.
Arsenal clinched a remarkable victory over Chelsea, on Sunday, beating the Blues 4-1 at the Emirates and, delightfully, Emma Hayes was not best pleased about it all.
Jonas Eidevall, Arsenal‘s manager, had previously stated his intention to make Hayes’ last year at Chelsea as difficult as possible, and this match seemed to epitomise that sentiment. Arsenal’s strategy was effective, overpowering Chelsea in all areas of the game.
The match saw Arsenal take the lead in the eighth minute with a goal from Beth Mead, followed by a rapid equaliser from Chelsea.
However, Arsenal soon regained control, with further goals from Amanda Ilestedt and a double from Alessia Russo. Russo’s performance was particularly outstanding, combining pace and precision to breach Chelsea’s defence.
Lauren James of Chelsea was also a focal point, receiving only a yellow card for an action similar to one that saw her sent off in the World Cup.
Hayes was openly critical of her team’s performance after the game, stating, “That’s as bad as I’ve seen us for a long time. They had four shots on goal in the first half and had three goals.
“If we want to compete we have to be better than that. The better team won by a country mile. They bullied us. I thought all phases of our play were poor. That’s probably us at our very worst. We struggled as a team and it was a long 98 minutes.”
Eidevall expressed satisfaction with his team’s performance, saying, “It was our strongest performance so far this season. But in football, if you want to win things, you have to be consistent with the performance. We are happy but at the end of the day, it’s our finishing position in the league which is going to matter.”
With this victory, Arsenal have changed the dynamics of the Women’s Super League, sharing the top spot with Chelsea, second only on goal difference.