The Blues did our part on a massive day for the Women’s Super League, which promised to have a big say on the destination of the trophy this season.

In the first of a title-race double-header, with Chelsea going into the day top of the table by two points, we hosted third-placed Arsenal, with the two sides separated by Manchester United, who face Manchester City, currently fourth in the table, in the late kick-off.

We made our intentions clear right from the start, going on the front foot and forcing Arsenal back into their own half. Sam Kerr thought she’d given us an early lead after slotting home confidently, only to see the offside flag go up.

It didn’t take us much longer to find the breakthrough following a long spell of pressure, though, as Eve Perisset found Guro Reiten at the back post with a looped ball and the winger swept a volley into the bottom corner. The potential importance of that opening goal was clear from the Norwegian’s wild celebrations.

Even better was to come as before the break we extended our lead, when Magdalena Eriksson nearly blew to roof off Kingsmeadow on her emotional last appearance at the home of Chelsea Women, with the skipper having announced that she will be leaving the club at the end of the season.

Erin Cuthbert had done brilliantly to keep the move going before the Blues were awarded a free-kick and when Reiten floated it into the box, Sam Kerr headed it down into danger and there was Eriksson to make it 2-0 from close range, making it a perfect farewell from the Swedish defender.

Arsenal briefly threatened to get back into the game, hitting the crossbar before being awarded a penalty for handball, but Katie McCabe sent it wide and the Gunners rarely threatened after that, as Chelsea finished the game in professional, if not entirely comfortable, style.

That briefly left us set to be crowned champions by the end of the day, but Man Utd's late winner in the evening means the race will now go down to the final round of matches, with Chelsea in pole position, knowing victory at Reading will guarantee a fourth successive title.

The selection

Emma Hayes made six changes to the team which beat West Ham United in midweek, starting with Ann-Katrin Berger's return in goal. Eve Perisset and Maren Mjelde both came into the defence ahead of her, besides Magdalena Eriksson and Niamh Charles.

Sam Kerr continued in attack, but was this time supported by an attacking trio of Guro Reiten, Pernille Harder and Lauren James, while Erin Cuthbert returned to the side to partner Sophie Ingle in midfield.

Injured defender Millie Bright showed off the Women’s FA Cup trophy the Blues had won last week on the Kingsmeadow pitch before kick-off, but there was only one trophy on people's minds today, the WSL. It was a competitive start by both teams, but Chelsea were soon looking the stronger of the two sides.

Blues on top

The first sight of goal soon arrived as a clever exchange between James and Kerr released Harder into the box on the right-hand side, but the flag went up for offside and the Dane couldn’t find the target on this occasion anyway.

The possession was shared fairly evenly between the teams, but the game was being played almost exclusively in Arsenal’s half of the pitch. It briefly looked like the intensity of Chelsea’s start would pay off early on, when Kerr was played through on the left and confidently slotted a shot into the bottom right corner 10 minutes in, but again the offside flag came to Arsenal’s rescue.

It was the Blues who needed saving a couple of minutes later, though, when Perisset was caught in possession inside Chelsea’s half, allowing Stina Blackstenius to race into the box, but she was pushed wide by Mjelde and Berger made herself big to make a strong block with her body.

It was all Chelsea after that, though, and fitting with the run of play it was the home team who opened the scoring at the end of a long spell of possession in the opposition half. The Blues patiently probed for a way into the penalty area and, when the ball did come into the box from Perisset, it broke to Reiten on the left and the winger made no mistake, drilling a quickly taken shot past the keeper to make it 1-0 to Blues.

First pressure

Arsenal tried to hit straight back by going on the attack, meaning for the first time in the game the action was being played out in Chelsea’s half. The Gunners nearly found an instant response, too, as Blackstenius smashed a powerful effort from outside the area. Berger palmed it up, but the ball was still dropping into the top corner before our keeper reacted quickly and slapped the dropping ball onto the post and away.

There was another scare when a Berger kick fell kindly for Victoria Pelova 35-yards out and she tried to catch the keeper off her line with an early shot, but Mjelde was back covering and showed great composure to calmly chest the ball down in front of goal for Berger to collect.

Magda’s leaving gift

It was two goals to the good before half-time, though, and who else could it be to provide it but Eriksson, the Blues captain who announced this week she will be leaving the club at the end of the season. It started with a brilliant piece of improvisation from Cuthbert, winning possession with her head while sprawled across the turf, before James was brought down for a free-kick near the half-way line.

The set-piece was floated in towards the back post by Reiten and in the huddle of bodies in the box, it was headed down by Kerr and bounced across goal, where Eriksson was arriving with perfect timing to turn the ball in from close range and double our lead going into the break, before being mobbed by her team-mates rushing to celebrate with the skipper.

An open second half

Shortly after half-time, the other Chelsea player who announced her departure this week, Harder, nearly joined Eriksson on the score sheet. A slick move up the left saw her play a one-two with Kerr and charge in towards goal, but her near-post effort was just saved by Zinsberger. Harder had another go from the resulting corner, with a powerful header on target before the player on the line managed to divert over with their head.

Arsenal then went close themselves, Foord smacking a volley off the crossbar with Berger beaten, as the play started to get stretched, providing opportunities for both teams, a situation the visitors seemed to be the happier with.

The Gunners were then handed a huge chance to get back into the game, when McCabe’s shot thundered off Ingle in the box and the referee deemed it to have struck an arm, blowing for a penalty. McCabe stepped up to take the kick herself, but couldn’t make it count, dragging wide of the right-hand post after sending Berger the wrong way.

Still 2-0 to Chelsea with 30 minutes left on the clock, but Arsenal had been growing in confidence since half-time, even if their efforts on goal were restricted to speculative attempts from range.

However, with the hard part done, the Blues were satisfied to shut up shop and hold on to our lead in relative comfort for the remainder of the game, snuffing out that brief hint of Arsenal hope. There were a couple of half-chances for Kerr, but she was denied by Zinsberger on both occasions, while at the other end Berger was needed to make a good save at her near post late on.

In truth our victory never looked under any threat once Arsenal had missed the lifeline of a penalty, though, during a professional finish from the Blues. That was our job done, with attention then shifting to Manchester, but United's injury-time derby win kept the 2023 title race alive into the final week of the season.

What's next?

There is one final game left for Chelsea Women this season, when we travel to Reading on the last day of the Women's Super League, with a 2.30pm kick-off on Saturday 27 May. A win for the Blues will mean we are crowned champions regardless of results elsewhere.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Berger; Perisset (Buchanan 84), Mjelde, Eriksson (c), Charles; Ingle, Cuthbert; James (Carter 63), Harder (Fleming 73), Reiten; Kerr
Unused subs: Musovic, Leupolz, Abdullina, Cankovic, Rytting Kaneryd
Scorer: Reiten 23, Eriksson 41
Booked: Kerr 35

Arsenal (4-3-3): Zinsberger; Wubben-Moy, Beattie (Queiroz Costa 88), Souza McCabe (c); Maritz (Hurtig 80), Pelova, Maanum; Kuhl (Catley h-t), Blackstenius (Taylor 75), Foord
Unused subs: D’Angelo, Marckese, Goldie, Doe, Godfrey
Booked: McCabe 45+1

Referee: Abigail Byrne

Crowd: 3,456