In front of 8,000 fans at the home of the Gunners’ men’s team, on a beautiful early September afternoon, we more than played our part in a hugely entertaining contest in the first game of our WSL title defence.

The home side took the lead early on through Vivianne Miedema, who clinically finished off a swift counter, but by half-time we had drawn level courtesy of a fine goal by the lively Erin Cuthbert.

Our Scottish midfielder was in the right place to steer a pass from Melanie Leupolz into the far corner of the net, giving us a deserved reward for an improved attacking display after we’d fallen behind.

We almost went ahead inside the first minute of the second half, only for Guro Reiten’s floated chip to hit the crossbar rather than the back of the net, and Arsenal made the most of that reprieve through a quickfire double by Beth Mead.

The Blues pulled one back when Pernille Harder powerfully headed home a pin-point cross from Cuthbert, but for all our dominance in the final 20 minutes, we simply could not find a way past a determined Arsenal rearguard.

The Gunners held firm to inflict a rare defeat upon Emma Hayes’ side, which took some of the gloss off a milestone fixture for the gaffer as she took charge of the team for the 250th time, but we can take plenty of positives into the rest of the campaign.

Our first chance for redemption comes this time next week, when we host Everton at Kingsmeadow in front of our own fans.

There was a familiar look to Hayes’ team for her 250th match as Blues boss, which she described as ‘just another game’ ahead of kick-off. New signing Aniek Nouwen had to settle for a place on the bench and our other addition to the squad, Lauren James, is out injured, so it was a case of calling on the players who led us to glory on two fronts last term, albeit in a slightly tweaked system.

Ann-Katrin Berger started in goal behind a back three of Jess Carter, Millie Bright and captain Magda Eriksson. The width came from Niamh Charles and Reiten, who lined up either side of Leupolz and Ji So-Yun. In attack, Cuthbert and Harder provided support for our leading scorer in both 2018/19 and 2019/20, Bethany England, who was selected to lead the line, with Fran Kirby and Sam Kerr among the substitutes.

It was an impressive stage for new Arsenal boss Jonas Eidevall to take charge of his first WSL game, having been appointed in the summer, as his side hosted us at the Emirates Stadium for the second time in the space of a month, following the pre-season friendly at the start of August.

The Gunners have been busy since then, with Champions League qualifiers giving them a slight edge over the Blues in terms of match fitness, but we had them on the back foot inside the first 30 seconds when Cuthbert was played in down the right and only just failed to pick out the run of England in the centre.

Both sides had their moments in the opening quarter of an hour, but it was Arsenal who went in front, courtesy of a goal from Miedema. The Dutch forward found space on the left-hand side of the box and she sent Carter one way before drilling a low shot back through the defender’s legs and past Berger at the near post.

There were bright moments for Hayes’ side as we looked to conjure up a response. We countered on the home side at pace, but our attacking play was just lacking a little of its usual precision, with passes often lacking a bit of weight or a yard the wrong side, and we weren’t able to test Zinsberger outside of a long-distance header by Eriksson that was easily saved.

Indeed, the better chances were coming at the other end of the pitch, the best of which fell to Iwabuchi. Fortunately for those of a Blues persuasion, the Japanese forward blazed her shot over the bar with the goal at her mercy.

As the half edged towards a conclusion, Chelsea began to take control of possession and we were pinning Arsenal back in their defensive third. With the home defence getting deeper and deeper, Harder tried her luck from distance, firing in a shot that took a touch of a defender and forced Zinsberger to push it past the post.

Our attacking sharpness had returned, and though Ji couldn’t make the most of the best move of the half, we were level soon after. Arsenal only just kept our No10 at bay after she cheekily let the ball through her legs and ran onto the return pass, but from the resulting corner we made the breakthrough our positive football deserved.

The Gunners half-cleared the set-piece as far as Bright on the edge of the box, who put it onto the penalty spot for Leupolz to spin her marker and lay the ball off to Cuthbert for a controlled side-footed finish into the far corner. The Scot had been our brightest player in the final third and this was just reward for her first-half performance.

It hadn’t been a vintage Chelsea display by any stretch of the imagination, but we went in at the break all-square. That didn’t last long, however, as Arsenal retook the lead only four minutes into the second half through a spectacular goal by Mead.

Reiten had almost given us a dream start to the second 45 when her cross to the back stick floated over Zinsberger’s head and came back off the crossbar, and the Gunners made the most of that reprieve when Mead smashed an unstoppable shot past Berger.

The England winger almost made it three a couple of minutes later when she was played through on goal by Miedema, but the Blues keeper was out quickly to keep her out with a fine save. Hayes wasted little time before responding to going behind for a second time, sending on Kerr, Kirby and Ingle in place of Charles, England and Leupolz.

However, before they had a chance to have an impact, Arsenal extended their lead. Mead looked to be half a yard offside when Iwabuchi played her in, but she made the most of the lack of VAR in the WSL, clipping the ball round Berger and slotting into an empty net.

Chelsea looked to hit back straight away, after Arsenal brought on summer signing Nikita Parris, as Bright hooked a volley at goal that didn’t miss the target by much, but we didn’t have to wait long to pull one back. Cuthbert added an assist to her earlier goal, as she fashioned a yard of space down the right and clipped a teasing cross onto the head of Harder, who made no mistake. Game on.

We came agonisingly close to drawing level with 15 minutes remaining, when Harder’s cross was just over the head of the unmarked Kerr in front of goal, but Arsenal were holding firm and for all our neat build-up play, the final pass wasn’t found. A red and white wall had been placed inside the penalty box and we simply could not find a way past it.

The sight of the fourth official holding up a board indicating six minutes of stoppage time briefly raised hope, but that gilt-edged chance simply didn’t come our way. It had been 90 minutes of entertainment from a neutral’s perspective, but we’d finished on the wrong end of a five-goal thriller to start our WSL campaign.

We’re back in action next Sunday when we welcome Everton to Kingsmeadow, which will be the first time our fans can see the Blues in the flesh in a competitive fixture in KT1 since last December. Kick-off for that one is 12.30pm – click here to buy your ticket now!

Chelsea (3-4-3) Berger; Carter, Bright (Fleming 87), Eriksson (c); Charles (Kirby 56), Leupolz (Ingle 56), Ji, Reiten (Andersson 83); Cuthbert, England (Kerr 56), HarderUnused subs Musovic, Nouwen, Spence, FoxScorers Cuthbert 44, Harder 64Booked Eriksson 66

Arsenal (4-3-3) Zinsberger; Maritz, Williamson, Beattie (Boye 78), McCabe (Catley 61); Walti (Wubben-Moy 84), Maanum, Little; Iwabuchi (Parris 61), Miedema, Mead (Patten 83)Unused subs Williams, Cull, GoldieScorers Miedema 14, Mead 49, 59Booked McCabe 23, Parris 85

Referee Rebecca Welch

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