Arsenal put the Women’s Super League title race on a knife-edge and handed Emma Hayes’s Chelsea a lifeline, coming from behind to earn a thrilling 2-1 win away at Manchester City.
Stina Blackstenius’s late double cancelled out Lauren Hemp’s first-half opener to leave the home team – hoping for their first league title since 2016 – reeling. Chelsea took full advantage later in the day, hammering Bristol City 8-0 to wipe out their goal difference arrears. The results leave City three points clear of Chelsea, who have a game in hand, but with Hayes’s side now owning a superior goal difference of +46 to City’s +45. The title will be decided on goal difference should Chelsea win their two remaining games and City beat Aston Villa on the final day.
“I always said I thought it would go to the final game and it’s never changed,” said the City manager, Gareth Taylor. “Of course, it would have been nice to win the game today. We have another opportunity now at Villa. We have to win the game first and hope that’s enough to win the title. They [Chelsea] opened the door the other night [with defeat at Liverpool] and we’ve opened it back again a little bit. It is what it is, but nothing has changed in our thought process. We knew we had to go to Villa to win on the last day of the season.”
Meanwhile, Arsenal will be left wondering what if, with nine points from their games against City and Chelsea the best record of the three against each other this season. Defeats by West Ham, Chelsea and Tottenham have cost them a serious title challenge.
“We have been lacking consistency, but we have shown a really high potential and that’s where these results come from,” said the Arsenal manager, Jonas Eidevall. “If we take our eyes away from the league table for a moment, for us, coming here, getting a win – which is seven years since we did – it was not only about this season but about us setting a footprint for next season. We were able to show what we have progressed and developed.”
At a sold-out Joie Stadium the pyrotechnics were rolled out, fireworks readied, and music blared ahead of kick-off. There was a party atmosphere, and fears that a somewhat staggering Arsenal could spoil it seemed surprisingly absent.
Taylor’s side had met Arsenal twice this season already, suffering a 2-1 away defeat in the reverse fixture in November before earning a 1-0 win over the Gunners to knock them out of the FA Cup fifth round. Since the league defeat, City have been flying, not conceding more than once in any of their 15 games. Defeat by Arsenal was followed by a 1-0 loss to Brighton, but they regrouped and have won every league game since.
Despite the loss of Jill Roord to injury and, in April, star striker Khadija Shaw, Taylor’s side have looked cohesive, clinical and have pressed with an intensity that few teams can handle. It was no different on Sunday, the home team pressing aggressively and high from the off, forcing mistakes from an underwhelming Arsenal side.
The opening goal came in the 17th minute. Emily Fox headed away Mary Fowler’s cross but only as far as Leila Ouahabi, the full-back laying it off to Hemp who twisted before lashing a low shot past Manuela Zinsberger. The England forward raced towards the dugout to embrace the substitute and club captain Steph Houghton, featuring in her final home game before her retirement at the end of the season.
City’s press eased off in the second half and it gave Arsenal a foothold in the game, but they struggled to create clearcut chances, set pieces providing their most dangerous moments. That easing off, though, would prove costly.
“It’s a warmer day than we’ve had here for a long time, so I think it’s that,” said Taylor. “But, also, sometimes the mentality is to protect what you have got rather than build on it.”
As the clock ticked down, the players in red seemed to increasingly feel they could get something from the game. With a huge travelling contingent roaring them on behind the City goal, they poured forward. The equaliser came from a set piece in the 89th minute, the ball pinballing around the box before the substitute Blackstenius stuck out a toe to poke the ball beyond Khiara Keating.
The winner arrived three minutes later, the half-time substitute Kim Little’s ball over the top nodded in by Blackstenius to complete the most audacious smash and grab and threaten City’s title charge.
