Three Lessons Learned in Arsenal Women 1- 1 Against Chelsea
1. Mead and Miedema are irreplaceable, but Arsenal must make do without them
In the end, the Gunners lacked the end product that their two injured forwards so often provide, and despite creating plenty of chances, especially in the first half, Arsenal just didn’t display the ruthless touch that was required against a top side. This resulted in the Gunners’ loss.
Caitlin Foord and Lina Hurtig posed a threat out on the flanks, but Stina Blackstenius does not appear to be able to instill genuine fear in the defensive units of opposing teams. The only thing that can tell us how the team led by Jonas Eidevall will recover from these injuries is time.
2. Arsenal has truly made the Emirates their home
It was Arsenal who flew out of the blocks, accompanied by a superb crowd, to really put Chelsea under pressure in the first half, and there were a total of 46,811 tickets sold for the game, including a sold-out contingent in the away end.
Stamford Bridge is not a regular venue for the Blues, whereas the Arsenal players will likely become accustomed to performing in front of increasingly large crowds as the season progresses.
It will be interesting to see if the reverse fixture could be moved from Kingsmeadow to the Bridge because there is definitely a demand for it to be moved there.
3. Seize the moment while the iron is hot
With the title race being as close as it is, you simply have no choice but to take your chances when playing against teams like Chelsea that make mistakes. During the first half, players such as Maanum and Blackstenius had a number of great chances to put the shaky Zeira Muovi to the test, but they were unable to capitalize on those chances in front of goal.
Kim Little’s penalty kick allowed Arsenal to finally break the deadlock, but the team missed some real opportunities while it was playing freely. Sam Kerr’s well-taken header put an end to Arsenal’s hopes of restoring parity at the top of the WSL standings in a game that they dominated. The score line remained at just 1-0 for the majority of the game, which allowed Chelsea to grow into the game more and more.
Three Lessons Learned in Arsenal Women 1- 1 Against Chelsea
