As Stina Blackstenius picked up the ball halfway contained in the Chelsea half, she was undecided what to do.
Then out of the nook of her eye, she noticed a flicker of motion to her left: Arsenal team-mate Alessia Russo was on the run. The move was barely behind the England No 9, however she took one contact together with her proper earlier than blasting a volley into the underside nook, leaving goalkeeper Hannah Hampton helpless.
“Her touch was perfect and her finish, it was just so good,” Blackstenius advised The Athletic after that 76th-minute purpose capped Arsenal’s 3-1 first-leg win on Tuesday on this all-English Champions League quarter-final, whereas their head coach Renee Slegers praised Russo’s “conviction”.
Such ruthlessness from Russo in scoring her eighth purpose on this season’s Champions League — a report within the ladies’s sport for an English participant in a single European marketing campaign — gave Arsenal a two-goal cushion heading into the second leg a week at present (Wednesday). It additionally highlighted what Chelsea are lacking: a point of interest and clinical finisher.
Sam Kerr, the membership’s high scorer in all competitions this season, was absent right here having performed the total 90 minutes within the weekend’s Asian Cup ultimate in Australia. Kerr has lacked sport time since returning in September from the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture that had stored her out since January 2024. Mayra Ramirez has not performed since a hamstring damage in pre-season. Aggie Beever-Jones, who missed Saturday’s 1-1 draw away to London City Lionesses with an ankle downside, has seemed off form.
It isn’t any marvel Chelsea are vying for Manchester City’s Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw, whose contract expires on the finish of this season.
Chelsea’s drop-off in ending capacity in comparison with current years is noticeable. In the previous three seasons, they’ve overperformed expectations in entrance of purpose, however on this one, they’ve underperformed — scoring 32 instances from an anticipated objectives (xG, a measurement of the standard of probabilities created) worth of 36.9. That will not be disastrous, however it’s the worst conversion price within the 12-team Women’s Super League.
Inefficiency has been Arsenal’s downfall previously, however on the Emirates Stadium final evening, they had been clinical when treasured probabilities arose.
Russo was not the one one. In the twenty second minute, Blackstenius deftly nodded house Katie McCabe’s whipped left-footed free-kick to place the house facet forward earlier than Chloe Kelly discovered herself in house and thought “Trust yourself” as she rifled a long-range shot to double the lead six minutes later.
“When you hit one like that, you know it’s going in,” Kelly advised the media post-match. “Sometimes it clicks for you and sometimes you have to ride those storms, but I’m playing with such talented players around (me), it makes it much easier.” Both Kelly and Blackstenius put their effectivity right down to having fun with their soccer.
It was not as if Chelsea had been outplayed. They had been simply out-finished. Sonia Bompastor’s facet dominated possession (59 per cent), had the identical variety of pictures on the right track (six) and three extra makes an attempt than Arsenal (14-11).
In the primary half, they got here firing out of the blocks, caught Arsenal in transition and on one other day may have been two up inside 10 minutes had Alyssa Thompson’s deflected shot and Lauren James’ strike not hit the publish. “That has been the story of our season,” mentioned head coach Bompastor. Chelsea had been the higher facet in giant components of the primary half as momentum swung.
“We played a little bit into their hands and we gave them chances that we got away with,” Arsenal’s Beth Mead mentioned. But a razor-like clinical edge supplied the north London facet with a stable basis, whereas Chelsea had nothing to point out for from the primary 45 minutes.
The guests felt onerous executed by when the on-field referee controversially disallowed a Veerle Buurman purpose simply earlier than half-time for an attacking foul on Laia Codina, and never a handball, a choice checked by VAR however one which enraged Bompastor as she vented on the sideline, unleashing some fruity feedback in her native French.
Sonia Bompastor was annoyed by Buurman’s purpose being disallowed (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
In a parallel universe, Chelsea may have been main 3-2 at half-time. Instead, they had been trailing 2-0.
There had been indicators of disconnection as stray passes failed to seek out a blue shirt, the obvious instance being Erin Cuthbert hoping to hit an onward runner from a free kick, solely for the ball to go straight out of play.
James’ outrageous worldie with minimal backlift on the 66-minute mark received the WSL champions again within the sport, however because the momentum shifted and Arsenal struggled to defend set items, the hosts refused to crumble. Sleger’s facet stayed on process, remained calm, confirmed self-discipline and cohesiveness.
After, she praised the mentality her workforce confirmed all through: “Whatever the scenario, we were just in the game constantly and happy to do the work.”
Chelsea right-back Lucy Bronze felt the 3-1 scoreline belies how even the sport was, however Russo got here up clutch when it mattered most, including the third and sucking the wind out of the guests’ sails.
It is the primary time Arsenal, who beat Chelsea 2-0 away within the WSL in January, have registered back-to-back wins over them since 2016.
Renowned because the mentality monsters of the home ladies’s sport, Chelsea must present that mettle subsequent week at Stamford Bridge.
At the identical stage of this competitors final 12 months, Bompastor’s facet got here from 2-0 down after the away first leg to defeat Manchester City 3-2 on combination. They need the identical killer intuition once more 12 months on.
