Matildas Steph Catley and Caitlin Foord have won their first piece of silverware for Arsenal after defeating Sam Kerr's Chelsea 3-1 in the 2023 Women's League Cup final in front of a sold-out crowd at Selhurst Park on Monday morning.
The Gunners were on the back foot early after Kerr put Chelsea ahead in just the second minute, nodding home a curling cross delivered by winger Guro Reiten.
That goal takes Kerr's personal tally to 82 in 101 games, including seven in the past three in this particular competition. It's also the fifth successive English Cup final the Australia captain has scored in.
However, despite that early hiccup, Arsenal rallied to turn around a frenetic first half, with Kerr's Matildas team-mates Steph Catley and Caitlin Foord key to many of the Gunners' deadliest attacks.
The two Australians combined regularly down the left side, forcing Chelsea to defend deeper than usual.
This pressure led to Arsenal's equaliser, with a poor defensive clearance from Kerr falling to the feet of Swedish striker Stina Blackstenius in the 16th minute to make it 1-1.
Just 10 minutes later, the Gunners won a penalty after Chelsea midfielder Sophie Ingle tripped over Katie McCabe in the area, with captain Kim Little converting to give her side the lead.
Kerr had a handful of chances to claw Chelsea back level, but she was well-handled by Brazilian centre-back Rafaelle Souza before missing the target from another Reiten cross.
Arsenal were rewarded for their growing dominance just before half-time, with Catley whipping in a corner that deflected off Chelsea defender Niamh Charles to give the Gunners a two-goal buffer.
Chelsea came out stronger in the second half, but it was Arsenal, instead, who could have extended their lead even further after Foord was tripped in the box by Canadian Kadeisha Buchanan during a counter-attack, only for her shouts to be waved away by the referee.
Despite making some tactical and personnel changes, Chelsea couldn't find a way back into the game, with Arsenal's rock-solid defence keeping Kerr and her teammates at bay, with the final whistle sounding at 3-1.
While it's a record-extending sixth League Cup title for the Gunners, this is the first time they've hoisted any silverware at all since 2019, with Chelsea and Manchester City having dominated all cup competitions over the past four years.
It's a particularly sweet win for Foord, whose second-ever game for Arsenal was the League Cup final in 2020, where she lost to Kerr's Chelsea, before the Blues got the better of them again in the FA Cup final in 2022.
"It's incredible to finally win a trophy with this club," Foord said afterwards. "It's something special.
"It's been four years since we won a trophy and it's well overdue. We wanted to leave everything out there and we wanted to show what we can do and we want to continue to do that.
"That's what we're aiming for: winning trophies. It's worth being freezing in the champagne shower. No complaints, super happy."
The three Aussies are gaining momentum at just the right time, as preparations for the 2023 Women's World Cup reach their final stages, with the Matildas set to play England's Lionesses in Brentford in April.
That game will feature multiple intra-club rivalries as Foord and Catley face Arsenal team-mates Leah Williamson and Lotte Wubben-Moy, while Kerr will come up against her Chelsea colleagues Lauren James, Millie Bright and Niamh Charles.
A second national team is expected to be announced during this April international window, before the Matildas return to Australia for a final send-off match against 2019 Women's World Cup hosts France in early July.
