LONDON – Arsenal netted three first-half goals in a 3-1 victory over Manchester United, in front of a record Women’s Super League crowd of 60,160 on Feb 17 that keeps them in the race for the title after Chelsea’s 1-0 loss to Manchester City.
Chelsea remain top of the table, level on 34 points with Manchester City following their loss to them on Feb 16, and a sold-out Emirates Stadium saw the Gunners close the gap on the top two to three points after an easy win over United.
The visitors got off to a flying start and looked dangerous in the opening exchanges, but their day was derailed in the 10th minute when a Katie McCabe corner to the near post was deflected into her own net by Geyse da Silva Ferreira.
Things went from bad to worse for the visitors when Katie Zelem’s attempted clearance ended up being a perfect cross for Cloe Lacasse to double Arsenal’s lead, and they went in 3-0 up at half-time thanks to a Kim Little penalty.
Even though Lucia Garcia netted a consolation goal deep into second-half stoppage time, a comeback never looked on the cards for United as Arsenal cruised to their 10th win to move to 31 points.
The previous record crowd of 59,042 watched Arsenal’s win over Chelsea at the Emirates on Dec 10.
Lacasse said what pleased her the most about the win was the atmosphere. She told the BBC: “I think the atmosphere. The supporters coming out for us like they did makes all the difference.
“Arsenal’s massive, we’re leading the charge in this. It’s not just today, we want to carry this going forward into the future and I think this is what the future holds for women’s football.”
A day earlier, Bunny Shaw scored the only goal of the game as City pulled off a sensational 1-0 win at Chelsea to go level on points with their hosts at the top of the WSL, with the Londoners still top on goals scored.
The defeat brought to an end an unbeaten run of 33 WSL games at home for Chelsea, who had not lost in the league at Kingsmeadow for more than two years.
Said City manager Gareth Taylor: “They made it a bit of a fortress. We’ve broken that record now and we deserved it.”
Meanwhile, Chelsea manager Emma Hayes, who is set to take over the United States national team at the end of the season, said: “I don’t think people will be putting it on my tombstone. We all know it’s a game of tight margins... A draw would have been a fair result. But they took their chances.”
A rare error in midfield by Chelsea’s Erin Cuthbert saw her lose the ball to Jessica Park, and she slipped it through for Shaw to advance and break the deadlock in the 14th minute with her 43rd WSL goal in 52 appearances.
Fran Kirby flashed a shot just wide in the 34th minute after a scything run by Lauren James spilt the City defence open, and Cuthbert sent a stinging drive just over the bar just before half-time as Chelsea tried to claw their way back into the game.
City chose to try to defend their lead and Cuthbert almost made amends for her error in the 77th minute, but her shot from Johanna Rytting Kaneryd’s pass whistled past the far post and wide.
Chelsea went even closer in second-half stoppage time as Khiara Keating made a brilliant double save to deny them, and the visitors held firm for a win that leaves both sides on 34 points at the top of the table.
With the top three all having played 14 games of the 22-game season, all eyes will be on the March 15 meeting between Chelsea and Arsenal, while fourth-placed United’s 24 points means their chances of breaking into the top three are all but gone. REUTERS
