Arsenal put the Women’s Super League title race on a knife-edge and handed Emma Hayes’s Chelsea a lifeline, coming from behind to earn a thrilling 2-1 win away at Manchester City.
Stina Blackstenius’s late double cancelled out Lauren Hemp’s first-half opener to leave the home team – hoping for their first league title since 2016 – six points clear of Chelsea, who have two games in hand. Goal difference will come into play should Chelsea win their three remaining games and City beat Aston Villa on the final day.
“I always said I thought it would go to the final game and it’s never changed,” said the City manager, Gareth Taylor. “Of course, it would have been nice to win the game today. We have another opportunity now at Villa. We have to win the game first and hope that’s enough to win the title. They [Chelsea] opened the door the other night [with defeat at Liverpool] and we’ve opened it back again a little bit. It is what it is, but nothing has changed in our thought process. We knew we had to go to Villa to win on the last day of the season.”
Meanwhile, Arsenal will be left wondering what if, with nine points from their games against City and Chelsea the best record of the three against each other this season. Defeats by West Ham, Chelsea and Tottenham have cost them a serious title challenge.
“We have been lacking consistency, but we have shown a really high potential and that’s where these results come from,” said the Arsenal manager, Jonas Eidevall. “If we take our eyes away from the league table for a moment, for us, coming here, getting a win – which is seven years since we did – it was not only about this season but about us setting a footprint for next season. We were able to show what we have progressed and developed.”
At a sold-out Joie Stadium the pyrotechnics were rolled out, fireworks readied, and music blared ahead of kick-off. There was a party atmosphere, and fears that a somewhat staggering Arsenal could spoil it seemed surprisingly absent.
Taylor’s side had met Arsenal twice this season already, suffering a 2-1 away defeat in the reverse fixture in November before earning a 1-0 win over the Gunners to knock them out of the FA Cup fifth round. Since the league defeat, City have been flying, not conceding more than once in any of their 15 games. Defeat by Arsenal was followed by a 1-0 loss to Brighton, but they regrouped and have won every league game since.