A late header from Chelsea’s Sam Kerr denied a dominant but toothless Arsenal all three points, in a feisty battle with the Women’s Super League leaders at the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners looked to have closed the three-point gap on their London rivals at the top, with Chelsea having played a game more, thanks to a Kim Little penalty before the hour, but Kerr needed just one moment to draw the beleaguered Blues level. Instead, Arsenal sit third, with Manchester United having leapfrogged the Gunners on goal difference with a win against Liverpool.
With 46,811 tickets sold, more than 40,000 had come for the third time to watch the women’s team in the WSL this season, though there were hordes of fans stranded outside as the game kicked off. Arsenal said in a statement that the match-day operation was the same as it is for every fixture at the ground, blaming “an early kick-off combined with a number of new supporters to our stadium, coupled with 50% of supporters arriving in the last 20 minutes before kick-off” for the overwhelmed turnstiles.
Jonas Eidevall had said Arsenal could not change the past when it came to their one win in seven league games against Chelsea, but “we can change the future”. He said that a foundation of togetherness would help create a team that plays “without fear, that are brave, that are front footed, that wants to seize the opportunities, that plays to win rather than to not lose”. That togetherness was on display at the Emirates Stadium where the Arsenal players wore black armbands in tribute to June, the mother of the injured Beth Mead, who died of cancer on 7 January.
Despite the loss of Mead and her partner, Vivianne Miedema, to anterior cruciate ligament injuries for the second half of the season, the Arsenal players began with the intensity and desire to win that was predicted by their manager.
The fear, though, was that the loss of Mead and Miedema, who together contributed to 66% of Arsenal’s goals last season either by scoring or assisting, would be too great in the tightly fought contest that the meeting of these two sides often is. Ultimately, that would be the narrative.
The Arsenal front three of Caitlin Foord, Lina Hurtig and Stina Blackstenius, and the potent midfielder Frida Maanum, all had opportunities to put the home team ahead but each effort was straightforward for the Chelsea goalkeeper, Zecira Musovic.
It looked like the Gunners were opening the door, waiting to be punished for their profligacy, but then their luck changed. As Foord skated towards the edge of the box Niamh Charles clattered into her. It was a duel that started outside the box and ended with the players in a heap in it and the referee, Emily Heaslip, pointed to the spot. If the strikers couldn’t do it the captain, Little, could, scoring coolly to lift the home crowd to life.
“The referee gave the decision for a tangling of legs in the box, but I think it’s impossible to avoid when a player’s already going down [for a challenge outside the box],” said Emma Hayes. “The referee has made that decision so [we] get on with it. There’s no point talking about it. VAR needs to be in the game, whether it’s to confirm it or deny it.“
Eidevall said they had to trust the decision of the referee. “The referee is in an excellent position, so I think it’s one of those where you have to trust her in that decision.”
Arsenal had chances to extend their lead but for all the pressure on goal, they had scored once, from the spot; Chelsea needed one effort to draw level. And it was the substitute Jelena Cankovic’s in-swinging cross that was sent over Manuela Zinsberger by a thumping Kerr header.
“I can’t find a proverbial word that doesn’t involve swearing about something [Cankovic] delivered,” said Hayes. “In terms of our attacking play and the quality into the box and the quality of chances, by our standards it was woeful. I didn’t think our attacking players had good games today. But that’s what top teams can do: Sam Kerr can have a quiet game … but to deliver, to stay switched on, trust me, that’s such an attribute.“
It was decidedly against the run of play but Chelsea have shown time and again that they can get results when not at their best this season. “We all know it’s a tight race, so for us to come here, not at our best, I think it’s an amazing point for the team,” said Hayes.
