Guro Reiten's late penalty allowed Chelsea to continue their incredible start in the Women's Super League with a 1-0 home win over rivals Arsenal.
Sonia Bompastor's side remain top of the division after winning eleven of their twelve games to start the season. With this victory they are nine points ahead of second place Manchester City and ten points ahead of Arsenal.
Lauren James won the penalty in the 84th minute 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 of the streets when Erin Cuthbert threatened Van Domselaar's goal three times.
Arsenal grew into the match, however, as Beth Mead squandered two first-half chances before Emily Fox's drive almost caught Hannah Hampton off guard.
Lively Catarina Macario tested Van Domselaar's hands at the other end before half-time, while Johanna Rytting Kaneryd fired tamely at the Arsenal goalkeeper shortly after the break.
James returned before the hour mark before Arsenal substitute Frida Maanum squandered a glorious chance with 16 minutes remaining by shooting over.
The decisive moment came when Kim Little brought down James, with Reiten converting to take a monumental win after McCabe was shown two yellow cards within seven seconds for dissent 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 vs 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 win against Arsenal in February 2021.
Bompastor's side have also won all eight league matches at Stamford Bridge, equaling Arsenal's impressive WSL record.
Chelsea became only the second team to win 11 of their first 12 games in a season, joining Arsenal who achieved the same feat in the 2019/20 season.
The hosts will also consider it a deserved win, having amassed 2.72 expected goals (xG) to Arsenal's 1.05.
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