“Wow, wow wow.” Their own manager could not believe it. Emma Hayes turned, back to the pitch, uttered her exclamations and looked bemused. A clearance from a
Chelsea free-kick had just bounced in front of Sophie Ingle and the defensive midfielder had lashed a left-footed half-volley into the far corner past Arsenal’s Manuela Zinsberger to give the Blues a 3-0 lead inside 20 minutes, a game they would win 4-1.
![Sam Kerr opens her Chelsea account as Blues dismiss Arsenal with ease](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/75ff81fa689dd1bea0301e6dab4b86ed6112c090/322_452_2605_1563/master/2605.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=9c6e754337c4cfb4f5b3a7d3ad6d462f)
In front of a sell-out 4,000 fans the title holders were shell-shocked. The title race was blown open. Now, just goal difference separates
Arsenal and
Manchester City, who leapfrogged the Londoners after their 2-0 win at Birmingham, while Chelsea sit invitingly one point behind, with a game in hand.