Unfortunately for us London now have another Champions League-winning team. By playing to their strength and not cowering in front of Barcelona’s might, as we often do when we face them, Arsenal Women snatched the trophy right in front of the Catalan juggernauts at the end of last season.
The cost might have been a wobbly start to the season, with a run of draws and losses that had the Gunners dropping valuable points in the Women’s Super League and the Champions League. They still are a title challenger, and they wanted to showcase that today at the Emirates against us.
Things didn’t go as planned with Chelsea nearly getting in front with Johanna Rytting Kaneryd only two minutes into the match with a shot that hit the post. And before the 10-minute mark, Alyssa Thompson opened the scoreline for the Blues.
Shots from Catarina Macario and Wieke Kaptein could have well put Chelsea two or even three goals in front of the hosts in less than 15 minutes of play. Instead, we saw Arsenal adjusting to our game plan and making dangerous inroads that forced a few too many Hannah Hampton interventions before the first half came to an end.
In the second half Arsenal scored three illegal goals. Two were correctly addressed, and one went through.
