Chelsea 1-0 Arsenal: Late Reiten penalty keeps Bompastor´s side flying

Guro Reiten’s late penalty saw Chelsea keep up their incredible Women’s Super League start with a 1-0 home win over rivals Arsenal.

Sonia Bompastor’s side remain top of the division after winning 11 of their 12 games to start the campaign, with this win moving them nine points clear of second-place Manchester City and 10 ahead of Arsenal.

Lauren James won the 84th-minute spot-kick on her return from an injury-enforced absence, with Katie McCabe sent off in the aftermath before Reiten sent Daphne van Domselaar the wrong way.

Chelsea, who announced the world-record signing of Naomi Girma just before kick-off, came racing out the blocks as Erin Cuthbert threatened Van Domselaar’s goal three times.

Arsenal grew into the contest, though, as Beth Mead passed up two first-half chances before Emily Fox’s drive almost caught Hannah Hampton off-guard.

The vibrant Catarina Macario tested Van Domselaar’s hands at the other end before the interval, while Johanna Rytting Kaneryd fired tamely at the Arsenal goalkeeper soon after half-time.

James returned prior to the hour before Arsenal substitute Frida Maanum wasted a glorious opportunity with 16 minutes remaining by blazing over.

The decisive moment arrived when Kim Little felled James, with Reiten converting to snatch a monumental victory after McCabe was shown two yellow cards for dissent in seven seconds in the aftermath of the penalty decision.

LONDON IS BLUE!! #CFCW pic.twitter.com/4RStXqeOzT

— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) January 26, 2025

Data Debrief: Chelsea match Arsenal record

Chelsea have now won 41 of their last 43 home games in the WSL (D1 L1), a run that started with a 3-0 victory against Arsenal in February 2021.

Bompastor’s side have also won all eight of their league matches at Stamford Bridge, and have matched Arsenal’s impressive WSL record in doing so.

Chelsea became just the second team to win 11 of their opening 12 games in a campaign, joining Arsenal, who managed the same feat in the 2019-20 season.

The hosts will feel it was a deserved victory, too, having accumulated 2.72 expected goals (xG) to Arsenal’s 1.05.