Arsenal Women beaten 1-0 at Chelsea as WSL goal wait goes on

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Arsenal Women were beaten 1-0 by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, a result that leaves them seventh in the Women's Super League and still without a goal in the competition this season.

Renee Slegers named Anneke Borbe in goal, with Mariona starting from the left and a midfield trio of Georgia Stanway, Kim Little and Kyra Cooney-Cross behind Alessia Russo.

The Gunners dominated the opening half hour. Baum was the game's most dangerous player early on, seeing one effort blocked over by Katie McCabe on 10 minutes and another blocked by Keira Walsh two minutes later, before driving past McCabe and slipping a reverse ball into Little, whose deflected effort rattled the post.

The clearest opening arrived on 26 minutes. Russo held the ball up, found Baum, and Baum released Mariona on the left — but her shot came back off the near post.

A gift at the other end

Chelsea's goal on 39 minutes came from an Arsenal error. Steph Catley slipped while playing short, Ellie Carpenter cut out the pass, Malard won the clearance off Laia Batlle and Kaptein shot. Borbe parried, and Thompson followed in to slam home with Leah Williamson and Emily Fox not tracking the rebound.

Chelsea could have added a second before the break, with Borbe blocking Malard's low drive and then saving Lucy Bronze's header from the resulting corner.

Slegers made a triple change on 61 minutes, introducing Chloe Kelly, Stina Blackstenius and Caitlin Foord for Baum, Stanway and Mariona, with Russo dropping into the number 10 role. Melchie Dumornay's absence aside, the reshuffle produced one real opening on 69 minutes, when Kelly's shot was blocked by McCabe and Fox's follow-up cleared the bar.

Reuteler and Cerci came on for Batlle and Little on 82 minutes, but Arsenal saw out five added minutes without forcing Hannah Hampton into a meaningful late save.

Seven points adrift already

The defeat leaves Arsenal seven points behind leaders Manchester City. As noted in Arseblog's match report, the start mirrors the one Jonas Eidevall made two seasons ago, a campaign that ended with his resignation. Winning the title was Slegers' stated objective before the season began.

The pattern of the afternoon — territorial control without clear-cut chances, punished by a single defensive lapse — has been a recurring theme of Arsenal's opening WSL fixtures, with the side still yet to find the net in the league.

There is little respite in the schedule. Arsenal travel to Paris FC in midweek before an away trip to Manchester City next weekend, a fixture that could define how the rest of the autumn is framed.