The was not the football we are used to from Chelsea Women. Not in the slightest. For the club as a whole, it was a weekend to put in the rearview mirror.
In a rainy north London on Sunday afternoon, Emma Hayes' Blues were outdone by Arsenal for the first time in the Women's Super League in over two years. Sometimes you have one of those days. Every team has them. Sunday, December 10 was it for this year's Chelsea Women.
Before the whistle blew for halftime, the match was pretty much done and dusted. The west Londoners made three changes ahead of the second 45 minutes, but the hole was already too deep. In front of a record WSL attendance of over 59,000, the home side gifted its fans an early holiday present.
With the help of some extremely poor defending accompanied by a lack of control in the midfield, the west London side conceded three goals in the first 45 minutes for the first time since the Conti Cup final back in March. Hayes' face said it all on the sideline. She put words to that expression in the post-game, expressing the fact that the defending was simply not up to par to earn a result against a top-tier side like the Gunners.
Four Blues not including the goalkeeper surrounded Swedish center back Amanda Ilestedt. Yet, she was still able to smash it into the back of the net with her head. The third goal was the gut punch. A simple through ball between the lines accompanied by an Alessia Russo run in the middle of both CFCW center halves was all that was needed to shred the backline. It was by no means complicated. In reality, it was elementary stuff.
Sunday was the most jarring embarrassment in league play since October 2018 when Jordan Nobbs, and Vivianne Miedema combined for four goals in a 5-0 obliteration of the Chels. The club would not have found this much success if it didn't know what it took to bounce back. That's was the girls in blue do. Before we all turn our attention to the Champions League, here are three things we took away from a disaster at the Emirates.
Reaction from Emma Hayes. 💬 pic.twitter.com/FiOZQXwrO8
— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) December 10, 2023