Arsenal edged possession for long periods of a cup tie which was full of intensity right from the start, but didn't take advantage of their chances, particularly during a lively finish to the first half.

In contrast, Chelsea punished them ruthlessly by making the most of our opportunities to come out of a tight contest victorious.

The first goal arrived midway through the first half, when Lauren James had seemingly the entire Gunners defence backing off as she ran across the box, creating space for Sophie Ingle to pick her spot and curl a shot in off the left-hand post.

The Blues came out strongly in the second half too, with Sam Kerr killing off much of Arsenal's fight by making it 2-0 with a goal of the highest quality. James was involved again, using her strength to win the ball high on the right and feeding Jelena Cankovic in acres of space. The Serbian playmaker used it to the fullest, sliding a perfectly weighted pass through to Kerr, who calmly lifted a finish over the onrushing keeper.

The selection

Emma Hayes made one change to the side which thrashed West Ham United in the Continental League Cup semi-finals last time out, with Jelena Cankovic replacing Fran Kirby, who picked up an injury in that game.

That meant Ann-Katrin Berger continued in goal with a defence of Niamh Charles, Eve Perisset, Millie Bright and captain Magdalena Eriksson in front of her.

Sophie Ingle anchored a midfield which also included Erin Cuthbert, Cankovic, Lauren James and Guro Reiten, with Sam Kerr leading the attack as a lone striker.

Arsenal start strong

There was an early scare for Chelsea after just one minute of play at Kingsmeadow, as Frida Maanum broke free in the left channel and cut inside before curling a shot towards the top corner, but Berger was equal to it and palmed the ball behind for a corner, which was cleared comfortably by Eriksson.

We were soon on the attack ourselves, with Eriksson involved at the other end of the pitch when she got her head on Cankovic’s ball into the box following a clever short free-kick routine, but the Blues skipper was stretching and couldn’t direct her effort on target.

This cup tie started to build a real ebb and flow, as first Chelsea and then Arsenal enjoyed periods on top, probing for an opportunity to open the scoring. For our part of that, the ball wouldn’t quite drop for Kerr during a series of crosses from the left flank, but the Gunners came the closest in the first 15 minutes when Eriksson and Berger got in each other’s way dealing with a low ball across goal, requiring Charles to cover and clear a few yards from the line.

Arsenal should have taken the lead shortly afterwards via the direct route. Bright couldn’t get a clean head on a Gunners long pass and the ball broke loose in behind, with Stina Blackstenius racing clear onto it, but she sent her shot high and wide when one-on-one with Berger.

Blues in front

That meant it was slightly against the run of play when Chelsea were the ones to find the game’s first goal, but there was no questioning the quality of the opener. James did really well to put the Arsenal defence on the back foot with a darting run across the edge of the box on the ball, drawing in the defenders before sliding the ball left to Ingle.

The Welsh international took a touch into the box and opened up her body to curl a placed low shot towards goal. The keeper got a hand to it, but could only divert it onto the inside of the post and it bounced into the back of the net.

However, despite our goal, the momentum soon swung back to Arsenal as the majority of the game was being played in our half.

Opening up

A highly competitive first 30 minutes of this FA Cup had been fairly low on chances at either end, but that started to change in the last 15 minutes before half-time, with the visitors having the better of the opportunities on balance.

Blackstenius got free down the left again and it looked like a great chance with Maanum open down the middle, but the pass across goal was hit just beyond the sliding striker's outstretched leg as Berger scrambled across her line.

The Gunners threatened once more, this time Maanum getting beyond the Chelsea defence on the right and finding Foord. Her shot from an angle was saved by Berger, who couldn’t hold it, but the keeper reacted well to dive in among the feet to smother the Arsenal follow-up.

Between those two Gunners chances, Chelsea could have extended our lead. Trying to play out from the back, Arsenal struck an attempted cross-field pass right at Kerr in the middle of the pitch. The Australian did well to control on her chest and charge towards the box before teeing up Cankovic, but the goalkeeper anticipated the near-post finish well to save.

Clinical Kerr

It only took 10 minutes of the second half for Chelsea to extend our lead to two and put one foot in the next round of the FA Cup, and no surprise that Kerr was the one to score it with her first real sight of goal, continuing her excellent run of form.

She wasn’t the only one deserving credit, as James did well to win a 50-50 by the right touchline and find Cankovic in space in the middle. Our No28 took her time and slid a lovely pass through the Arsenal defence for Kerr, who patiently waited for the keeper to rush out and lifted a smart finish over her to nestle inside the left-hand post.

It was a goal which summed up much of what Chelsea had done well throughout the game, as we picked our moments and took advantage of our limited opportunities ruthlessly, despite Arsenal seeing more of the ball.

Another chance went begging for the Gunners, although there was a large slice of luck involved. Foord did well to spin around Perisset and drive into the box, but when she drilled it low across the six-yard box it took a double ricochet off Bright and Eriksson and was goalbound before hitting Berger in the face.

Seeing out the win

However, now behind by two, Arsenal were starting to lose some of their earlier intensity and the Blues were enjoying a larger share of the possession. It looked like we might extend our lead further, too, as we raced away three-on-two in the opposition half with James wide open on the right, but the move was halted by a dubious offside flag raised against Kerr.

With much of the sting taken out of the game, Chelsea were able to manage the closing stages relatively comfortably. Arsenal were still having plenty of efforts at goal, but nearly all of them were from range and failed to test Berger, who was able to just keep gathering up the ball and take her time as the clocked ticked towards the final whistle and a Blues victory which keeps our hopes of a quadruple alive.

What's next?

Chelsea face the same opponents again in a week's time, with the first trophy of the season up for grabs for the winner. We meet Arsenal in the final of the Continental League Cup at Selhurst Park on Sunday 5 March, with kick-off at 3pm.

Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Berger; Perisset (Carter 71), Bright, Eriksson (c), Charles; Ingle; James (Fleming 84), Cankovic (Rytting Kaneryd 84), Cuthbert, Reiten; Kerr
Unused subs: Musovic, Buchanan, Mjelde, Leupolz
Scorers: Ingle 21, Kerr 56
Booked: Charles 45

Arsenal (4-3-3): Zinsberger; Wienroither (Maritz 81), Williamson, Rafaelle, Catley (Pelova 68); Walti (Wubben-Moy 81), Little, McCabe; Maanum, Blackstenius (Kuhl 81), Foord
Unused subs: Beattie, Marckese, Queiroz, Agyemang
Booked: Maritz 90+4

Referee: Abigail Byrne