Sam Kerr and Chelsea make Arsenal pay for missed chances

Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0

“Even with jet lag, she’s better than you!” So sang the Kingsmeadow crowd as Sam Kerr defied the long flight back from Australia to score Chelsea’s crucial second-half goal in this Women’s FA Cup tie.

Five days after playing in Australia’s 3-0 win over Jamaica in Newcastle, New South Wales, Kerr marked her 100th appearance for Chelsea in all competitions with her 82nd goal for the club to secure their passage to the quarter-finals.

“Some players get off of a plane on Thursday night and come in on Friday and they moan. Not her,” said Chelsea manager Emma Hayes of Kerr. “She does everything necessary and possible, and lifts the spirit of the building. She does that when no one is looking. She’s the best in the business, but for me the best in the business isn’t just about [scoring] 82 goals in 100 games, it’s that mentality. That’s why we are winners, because of the mentality displayed by the team.”

Hayes said this fixture was “challenging for both teams” immediately after the international break, but her team gave Arsenal a painful lesson in one of football’s simplest and most fundamental principles: taking your chances.

Visiting teams playing away against the defending league champions very rarely muster up 11 shots on target at Kingsmeadow, nor 20 efforts at goal overall, as Arsenal managed on Sunday, but Arsenal’s profligacy was their downfall as they ultimately fired a blank and find themselves out of the Women’s FA Cup, a competition they have won a record 14 times.

Cup holders Chelsea, comparatively, needed just three attempts on target to score twice, with their clinical mindset exemplified by Kerr’s match-clinching second-half goal. The Australia striker was the coolest person in the ground as she calmly dinked the ball over Manuela Zinsberger and into the far corner, having raced onto Jelena Cankovic’s through ball.

In the first half, Arsenal should have opened up a strong lead but, amidst the long-term absences of Ballon d’Or nominated forward duo Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema, both out with season-ending ACL injuries, they were not ruthless enough. The visitors’ missed chances will make their failed attempts to sign a goal-scorer in January all the more painful for their fans.

Asked if it was too simple to say the story of the game was that Chelsea took their chances and his side did not, Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall replied: “It’s my story. That’s how I see the game. It’s not normal to have so many more goal-scoring opportunities than Chelsea, on their ground. We created enough, in order to win the game. But they [Chelsea] are brutally efficient. Hats off to them for that. And we are not."

Arsenal will not have to wait long to try to exact revenge, as the two teams go head-to-head in next weekend’s League Cup final. But Chelsea, who have now won three of their past five meetings with Arsenal and drawn the other two, will be the favourites.

The rest of Sunday's Women’s FA Cup ties failed to deliver any shocks. There were heavy victories over Championship opposition for both Manchester City and Manchester United, while Aston Villa won on penalties at West Ham. Birmingham City and Lewes will be the sole representatives from below the WSL in the quarter-finals, after their respective wins over Charlton and Cardiff.

Match details

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Berger 8; Perisset 6 (Carter 6, 71), Bright 7, Eriksson 7, Charles 6; Ingle 8, Cuthbert 7; James 7 (Rytting Kaneryd 6, 84), Cankovic 7 (Fleming 6, 84), Reiten 7; Kerr 7
Subs not used: Musovic (gk), Leupolz, Mjelde, Buchanan
Yellow cards: Charles

Arsenal (4-3-3): Zinsberger 6; Wienroither 6 (Maritz 6, 81), Williamson 7, Rafaelle 7, Catley 6 (Pelova 6, 68); Walti 6 (Wubben-Moy 6, 81), Little 7, Maanum 7; McCabe 6, Blackstenius 6 (Kuhl 6, 81), Foord 7
Subs not used: Beattie, Marckese (gk), Gio, Agyemang
Yellow cards: Maritz

Referee: Abigail Byrne (Suffolk)
Attendance: 2,888