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Caldentey and Mead on target as Arsenal deliver blow to Chelsea’s WSL title hopes

A cathartic strike from Beth Mead and a second from Mariona Caldentey earned Arsenal a 2-0 win over Chelsea and pulled them to within a point of their London rivals in the WSL table.

A first victory for Arsenal at Stamford Bridge, and first away win against Chelsea in eight years, dented the holders’ title hopes in the process. The Blues now sit six points behind rampant league leaders Manchester City, who travel to London City Lionesses on Sunday with the chance to extend that lead to nine.

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There were some forced changes to Arsenal’s starting XI, with Olivia Smith’s suspension and Frida Maanum’s illness adding to injuries to several key players, including the England duo Leah Williamson and Chloe Kelly.

Perhaps the best way to describe the first half, from the point of view of the visiting team, is that it was like suffering wave after wave of deja vu. Despite their depleted number, Renée Slegers’s side were dominant in possession, at times weaving together some lovely patterns of play. However, the end product was notably absent once again, the Gunners searching for the eye-of-a-needle pass through Chelsea’s stoic and well-balanced back three of Lucy Bronze, Naomi Girma and Millie Bright.

As a result, by the break the visiting team had had almost 60% possession but just two shots on target to show for it. Slegers had focused on the issue prior to the game – Arsenal just needed to get “the final thing” right, she had said. That is a pretty significant final thing though and, as the game stretched on with Arsenal failing to capitalise on their dominance, it felt increasingly like it would be another game where they would be punished on the counter, as they had been against Manchester United in their 1-0 League Cup semi-final defeat on Wednesday night.

Their best threat came from Mead on the right, the forward’s link-up with full-back Emily Fox providing their most dangerous outlet and Mead’s crosses into the box equally threatening. It was no accident, then, that Arsenal’s much-needed breakthrough, from a psychological point of view as much as a points one, came from the England forward. Chelsea’s record signing Alyssa Thompson was caught out in the buildup, relieved of possession in her own half after holding onto it for a little too long. The stray ball fell to Russo who shifted to the edge of the box before sliding it to Mead on the right to fire in.

The celebrations were empathic, filled with relief as much as joy, the Arsenal fans behind the Chelsea goal raucous.

The response from Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor was immediate change, with Keira Walsh and Lauren James on in place of Sam Kerr and Guro Reiten and they twice went agonisingly close to the equaliser, Ellie Carpenter not quite able to connect with Sandy Baltimore’s cross and Thompson’s effort wide soon after.

Having weathered those chances, Arsenal made the task that bit harder, Mead finding an unmarked Caldentey by the penalty spot who curled the ball into the bottom corner.

It could have been three, had Hannah Hampton not made a fingertip save to deny Fox. The home team pushed for the goal that would ignite a comeback, but they could not find it, Erin Cuthbert’s sharp header from James’s ball somehow just over the top right corner and substitute Sjoeke Nüsken’s header wide from point-blank range their best attempts to do so.

It was Arsenal’s day and they ensured they remain in the mix for a place in next season’s Champions League. City were the real winners though, their gap at the top preserved before they kick a ball and a surely unassailable lead available for them on Sunday.

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