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Sam Kerr got on the scoresheet as Chelsea’s early three-goal salvo earned victory that gives them the edge in the WSL title race

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Sun 19 Jan 2020 11.43 ESTFirst published on Sun 19 Jan 2020 08.05 EST
Sophie Ingle of Chelsea scores the third goal.
Sophie Ingle of Chelsea scores the third goal. Photograph: Gavin Ellis/TGS Photo/REX/Shutterstock
Sophie Ingle of Chelsea scores the third goal. Photograph: Gavin Ellis/TGS Photo/REX/Shutterstock

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That’s all from me. Congratulations to Chelsea on the accomplished fashion in which they dismantled in-form Arsenal. Bring on the rest of the WSL season, which promises to be enthralling, especially so after that result. Next up in the league for Arsenal are Manchester City - now the leaders - on Sunday 2 Feb. The massiveness of that match can hardly be over-stated! Chelsea host West Ham on the same day. It’s going to be good.

Thanks for reading today - we will post the match report here shortly. See you next time.

Still Blue! 🔵#CFCW pic.twitter.com/DzcItcS0As

— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) January 19, 2020

Arsenal manager Joe Montemurro is asked what went wrong in those first 20 minutes: “I’m not sure. I take responsibility. I changed the system, I changed the structure and it didn’t work. No - I never have regrets [about not starting Mead and Evans]. We had a plan, we worked towards it, it didn’t work, and I take responsibility.

“We got a little bit of joy [after the break] but the game was done at half-time. I’m always proud of my players, they are a fantastic group. The game went the way it did.”

Hats off to Montemurro - no hiding from a bad day for him and his team. But they will be back. And anyway, how exciting is the rest of this season going to be?

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Chelsea manager Emma Hayes speaks: “I looked at my watch on 22 minutes, when we were three up, and I thought, this is a strange situation to be in. We’ve been horrendous with our execution [at times this season] ... but everything we hit went in the top corner today.

“We’re hungry, you can see it, this is a team that performs in the biggest games. There’s certain games we’re expected to win, and those are the ones that concern me ... It was a Champions League-level performance. I’m just disappointed not to get a clean sheet.”

“We should talk about Beth England. She’s the best No 9 in the country. Her running, her work-rate. Wow.

“I don’t know what Sophie [Ingle] had for breakfast this morning, I’ve never seen her hit a goal like that in training, ever.”

Manchester City - who won 2-0 away at Birmingham City today - are now top of the WSL on goal difference with +28, to Arsenal’s +27. Both teams are on 33 points.

On top of the fact they got battered today, that’s a psychological blow for Arsenal to drop off the top of the table. It will be a test for them to pick themselves up, but with the quality in their squad, there is no question they can do just that. Chelsea are a point further back - but with a game in hand. Of course they have also vastly improved their goal difference, and are now on +26.

The other WSL results, so far, are Manchester United 3-0 Tottenham and Everton 3-1 Reading.

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Clare Balding speaks to Sam Kerr after her first goal for Chelsea: “I’m super pumped ... the girls played really well today and it’s a big game but we’ve just got to keep going for the rest of the season. Look, it’s been coming [her first goal for the club] ... it’s good to get the monkey off my back. I didn’t have to do much, it was a lovely ball in. I had been struggling with my health, I copped a virus as I got here, I was in bed for a week. But it’s amazing to put in that performance today.”

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Full-time! Arsenal 1-4 Chelsea

Emphatic. Chelsea are fighting for this title - they have ended Arsenal’s eight-match winning streak in the WSL and have done the double over the Gunners following that previous win back in October. They won the match with a stunning three-goal barrage inside the first 20 minutes. Blues manager Emma Hayes said before the match that their attacking play was constantly improving, and she was proved absolutely right. Beth England’s superbly-taken first goal set the tone, Sam Kerr’s smart header made it two (her first goal for the club), before Sophie Ingle’s sensational half-volley flew into the top corner in that early blitz.

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92 min: There will be four minutes of added time. The last of the Sunday afternoon winter sun is still shining on the far corner of the pitch. It will be interesting to hear if Arsenal’s players mention that in the post-match analysis. Maybe Zinsberger should invest in a good old-fashioned baseball cap?

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90 min: Arsenal’s next match is in the FA Women’s Cup away against West Ham next Sunday - after that, their next league outing is against none other than Manchester City on Sunday 2 Feb. That’s going to be massive.

Meanwhile, Mead hits a good shot from an angle looking for her second of the match, but Berger saves.

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89 min: Arsenal’s Lia Walti goes in the book. Ji then hits an ambitious effort from long range. Chelsea’s Sophie Ingle, the Welshwoman scored that memorable goal to make it 3-0, is named player of the match.

85 min: Another Chelsea change as goalscorer Kerr goes off and Drew Spence comes on for a five-minute cameo. McCabe then uses her pace again with a bright run down the left for Arsenal, and tries to stand a cross up to the far post, but it hits the roof of the net.

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83 min: A spell of pressure and possession for Arsenal. McCabe darts down the left, but her low cross is blocked. The Chelsea back line has been excellent today. They may have missed out on a clean sheet, but their positioning has generally been excellent and they have dealt with almost everything that’s been thrown at them. Solid defending, clinical attacking, and a goal of the season contender. It’s been a decent old day for Chelsea.

78 min: Another Arsenal corner. This one drops to Walti, outside the penalty area, and she hits a speculative right-footed shot. It’s blocked. Just over 10 minutes remaining and Arsenal are playing for pride. Remarkable really, when you consider were sitting proudly on top of the WSL after a run of eight straight wins.

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77 min: Arsenal get a corner and pump it into the six-yard box, as if to test out Berger’s resolve after that error. Berger is equal to the task and claims it confidently.

Goal! 75 min: Arsenal 1-4 Chelsea (Mead)

A bit of a shocker from Berger in the Chelsea goal. Mead meets a far-post cross with a decent enough header from a tight angle, but Berger should deal with it. Instead, by trying to keep it out, she contrives to deflect it into her own net. Arsenal are on the board, but it is surely too little, too late?

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72 min: Before the match there was plenty of talk of Arsenal’s rather thin squad, compared to Chelsea’s relative embarrassment of riches. Recent results - up until today - suggested Arsenal had no problems in that department. But today, they have been dominated, and will need to ask themselves a few tough questions about why it has gone so badly wrong.

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Goal! 69 min: Arsenal 0-4 Chelsea (Reiten)

Game well and truly over. Chelsea pick Arsenal off on the break, and when a cross comes over from the left, Reiten meets it with a fine header that finds the far corner. The faint hopes Arsenal may have had of a recovery are snuffed out. Will Chelsea look back on this as the day they won the title? They have certainly put things back in their own hands.

Guro Reiten of Chelsea scoring to make it 4-0. Photograph: Simon Dael/BPI/REX/Shutterstock
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65 min: Chelsea’s Mjelde goes in the book for a foul on Van der Donk. Arsenal still can’t build any meaningful pressure. But Miedema makes an excellent early run down the left, charges towards goal, and tries to scoop a cute finish over Berger. It hits the side netting. Miedema had options inside then, too.

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62 min: Cuthbert and Walti crunch into a 50-50 tackle in the Chelsea half. Both players were high. The referee awards nothing, but both require treatment.

This is slipping away from Arsenal, to say the least, with under half an hour to play. Will this match prove a decisive momentum-shifter in the WSL title race? If Chelsea win their match in hand, they will be in first place. And importantly the rest of the league have seen that Arsenal, who’d been in such red-hot form, are more than beatable.

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59 min: Evans immediately injects a bit of pace and momentum for the hosts. She charges down the right, cuts back from the byline and pokes a low cross, which she can’t quite control, towards the danger zone. Miedema then puts her foot on it but Chelsea repel the danger, counterattack, and Kerr flicks a first-time shot high and wide.

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58 min: Mead and Evans on, Quinn and Nobbs off for the Gunners. Is it too late? Nobbs was carrying a knock so probably needed to go off anyway. From a neutral point of view, let’s hope Arsenal can find a goal.

It’s Chelsea on the attack, though - Kerr sprints on to a ball down the right, and hits a right-footed shot which is blocked.

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56 min: Montemurro is about to shuffle his pack. It looks like two Arsenal changes will be made imminently.

55 min: McCabe, who has already been booked, concedes another foul. The ref has words and does the round-ball-signal. If Arsenal went down to 10 it would really be all over, if it isn’t already.

53 min: Ingle is penalised for a foul on Nobbs in midfield. Arsenal need to get busy if they are going to get anything from this.

51 min: Another chance for Chelsea - Arsenal half-clear a cross, and Ji has time to bring the ball down on the edge of the area. She smashes her half-volley over the crossbar.

47 min: There was speculation at half-time that Arsenal would switch to 4-3-3 to create some more support for Miedema. It’s certainly hard to believe that Montemurro would keep the same system. Now, McCabe has gone down injured under a heavy challenge from Chelsea’s Bright.

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Second half kick-off!

Can Arsenal get back into this? Will Chelsea make it even more emphatic? We will find out in the next 45 minutes. No changes from either side. Chelsea now kicking from left to right, as the TV cameras look at the pitch, and into that sun. But it looks like it’s dropped mostly below the stand.

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Half-time! Arsenal 0-3 Chelsea

The sun always shines on TV, as A-ha once sang. It also appeared to be shining in the eyes of the Arsenal defenders and their goalkeeper Manuela Zinsberger as that half unfolded. Chelsea came out firing and goals from England, Kerr and Ingle inside the first 20 minutes left the Gunners with no answer. Ingle’s in particular was a stunning goal. Montemurro’s side have been utterly outclassed so far - but if any team can find a way back from here, it’s Arsenal. I’ll be back soon with the second half.

45 min: Van de Donk, for once, finds herself in an advanced position with the ball at her feet. She tries to curl a cross over but Chelsea deal with it. Arsenal have had no rhythm at all. But now they have a free-kick in a dangerous area, outside the penalty area, which Little will take. She shoots right-footed - but it’s easily dealt with by Berger.

42 min: Cuthbert causes more problems down the Chelsea right. She sends a low right-footed ball towards Kerr, who is making a decent run into the six-yard box, but it’s intercepted well by McCabe.

Are Chelsea going to struggle when they have to defend this same end in the second half? The sun is dropping pretty swiftly, so I suspect Arsenal may have experienced by far the worst of it. We shall see.

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