LONDON IS RED AS ARSENAL MAKE STATEMENT IN WSL TITLE RACE

 Monday 11 December 2023

Barclays WSL 2023/24

Game 2/6, Matchday 9.

LONDON IS RED AS ARSENAL THRASH FIERCE RIVALS

    The Emirates Stadium before Arsenal Vs Cheslea. This was Arsenal Women’s 3rd  game this season here in North London.

PREVIEW:

A top-of-the-table clash and not just that, a Women’s London derby at the Emirates Stadium again. Both teams won their previous encounters before this game. Arsenal comfortably beat London rivals West Ham United at Boreham Wood, London, with their star winger Beth Mead scoring twice to mark her return from an ACL injury that side-lined her from the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand and Norwegian Frida Maanum on the scoresheet after 2 minutes. Meanwhile, Chelsea comfortably beat Leicester City at Kingsmeadow, Wimbledon thanks to goals from striker Sam Kerr, talented winger Lauren James and academy graduate Aggie Beaver-Jones, the youngster has scored in all 5 games in the WSL this season. Chelsea remain ahead 3 points ahead of Arsenal & on GD (Goal Difference). Gareth Taylor’s Manchester City took the 2^nd place after they overcame Carla Ward’s Aston Villa at the Joie Stadium thanks to a Lauren Hemp brace, putting them 3 behind Chelsea and ahead of Arsenal on GD before this game. Will Arsenal cut the gap today, or will the defending champions extend their lead to 6 points ahead of their London rivals and 9 ahead of Manchester City.

TEAM NEWS:

Jonas Eidevall makes two changes to his team after their 3-0 win over West Ham United, with Lia Wälti and 33-year-old Kim Little starting, as Frida Maanum and summer signing Kyra Cooney-Cross drop to the bench, with Alessia Russo one again leading the line for Arsenal, and Beth Mead on the right in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Manuela Zinsberger is still the GK between the sticks for Arsenal with Sabrina D'Angelo on the bench for the hosts.

Arsenal’s team before they kicked off the London Derby.

Emma Hayes makes two changes to her Chelsea team that won 5-2 against Leicester City, with Jessie Fleming and summer signing from Eintracht Frankfurt Sjöke Nüsken starting with Fran Kirby and Sophie Ingle dropping to the bench in a 4-2-3-1 formation which saw 30-year-old Australian forward Sam Kerr lead the line. 32-year-old Ann Katrin-Berger continued to deputise for Zecira Musovic in the Chelsea goalkeeper spot.

Chelsea’s team before they kicked off the London Derby. 

KICK-OFF: FIRST HALF

The contest begins! Chelsea kick-off, and both teams organized well to put in the challenges on a wet and rainy Sunday afternoon in front of a 59k crowd, a new record at the Emirates Stadium, that surpassed the opening game of the WSL season, Arsenal Vs Liverpool.

Arsenal drew first blood on 8 minutes, as they unleashed a deadly counterattack catching the holders on the back foot, with Victoria Pelova setting up Beth Mead, who opened the scoring after taking a few more touches to beat Ann-Katrin Berger and the Chelsea CBs into the empty net off the bar. It was just the start that Eidvall wanted from his side.

Mead celebrates the opening goal after she danced around the defence to score the goal. ARS 1 – CHE 0.

Chelsea cantered and had a chance to level the game, but Austrian GK Manuela Zinsberger was equal to the chance as she denied Canadian Jessie Fleming on 11 minutes. It was a good chance for the visitors. And finally, the defending champions levelled against the run of the play on 13 minutes. Sjöke Nüsken and Niamh Charles worked together to find Jessie Fleming and she found Johanna Rytting Kaneryd and the Swede finished off a brilliant team move to level the score after receiving Fleming’s pass and danced around Arsenal LB Steph Catley to squeeze the shot beyond Zinsberger to level the score against the run of play.

Chelsea got the deserved leveller thanks to Rytting Kaneryd on 13 minutes.

And from there, it was all Arsenal, they continued to threaten the Chelsea backline thanks to Alessia Russo and Beth Mead, with the England duo testing Ann-Katrin Berger as the German made good stops to deny the duo. And eventually, Arsenal struck again on 36 minutes. It took them up to 20 minutes to carve the goal that would put them ahead, and it was Swedish CB Amanda Ilestedt who rose high from Steph Catley’s corner to head it into the net beyond Berger and French defender Eve Périsset. The 30-year-old former PSG centre-half was enjoying the time of her life at the Emirates Stadium. She has been superb throughout this first half and gave the hosts, a crucial second goal.

Amanda Ilestedt was in delight after scoring the second goal for Arsenal.

ARS 2 -CHE 1 after 36 minutes.

Then two minutes later, it was 3-1. This time it was Alessia Russo who pounced on Lia Wälti’s terrific through ball to pocket Eve Périsset and Maren Mjelde to make it 3-1 with 7 minutes to play in the first half. It was a thoroughly brilliant first half for Arsenal as they cashed in on lots of space given by the Chelsea players and took advantage of the errors and punished them severely.

Alessia Russo celebrates with Catley, Mead and Little after scoring Arsenal’s 3^rd goal. ARS 3 – CHE 1, after 38 minutes.

HALF-TIME AT THE EMIRATES STADIUM, after what has been a very good first half from the hosts.

KICK-OFF: SECOND HALF

The second half saw Emma Hayes turning to her bench to see if they could make an impact. Fran Kirby and the Canadian duo of Ashley Lawrence and Kadeisha Buchanan came on for Maren Mjelde, Eve Périsset and Sjöke Nüsken. The trio of subs that came on, needed to try, and make an impact for Chelsea, but they once again conceded silly fouls and gave away possession unnecessarily. And Emma Hayes was frustrated in her star winger Lauren James and the team. The 22-year-old winger almost saw red but was lucky enough to survive after fouling Lia Wälti to concede a free kick. She was lucky enough, only to receive a yellow card from the referee.

Lauren James was lucky enough not to concede a red card after fouling Lia Wälti.

The Chelsea head coach was also unhappy with how Jess Carter and Niamh Charles were getting exposed by Beth Mead pocketing the England duo. And the visitors’ afternoon went from bad to worse as Ann Katrin-Berger and Jess Carter fouled Alessia Russo to concede a penalty to Arsenal after 73 minutes. Alessia Russo made absolutely no mistake from the spot and made light work of the penalty to make it 4-1 after what has been an unbelievable performance from Eidvall’s team against their fierce London Rivals.

Alessia Russo got her brace from the penalty spot as she scored the 4^th goal of the afternoon. ARS 4 – CHE 1 after 74 minutes.

And with that, it is FT at the Emirates Stadium and what a game it has been for Jonas Eidvall and his team. They have absolutely taken apart the defending champions and punished their defensive errors massively. The gap for the title race has once again opened. Emma Hayes’s Chelsea are now merely ahead on GD with Arsenal level on points with them, but the Gunners are 3 points ahead of Manchester City who sit in 3^rd.

WHAT IS NEXT FOR THE TEAMS?

Can Chelsea find their winning groove once again as they travel to 11^th place Bristol City, hoping to regain their form again. Bristol City are out of the bottom as they are hovering over the relegation zone by 1 point after drawing against Liverpool.

Arsenal now have a fierce NLD (North London Derby) visit to Tottenham Hotspur, as the Spurs look to regain their form after losing 4-0 at home to Manchester United thanks to goals from Hannah Blundell, Melvine Malard, Ella Toone’s chip and Hayley Ladd’s strike.