The Gunners made numerous changes from their win over Lyon, but fell apart at Villa Park in dramatic circumstances
Arsenal's Women's Super League title bid was brought to a shocking end on Wednesday as Aston Villa inflicted an incredible 5-2 defeat on the Gunners to allow Chelsea the chance to secure their sixth-successive league triumph against Manchester United – a chance the Blues took.
Renee Slegers' side went into the game off the back of a remarkable 4-1 win in Lyon on Sunday, one that secured their place in the Champions League final, and knowing that any slip-up could hand Chelsea the title just a few hours later. But some familiar faces stunned the north London side as they conceded five goals in a WSL game for the first time in over seven years.
That instance in September 2017 was away at Manchester City, then the champions of England. This instance, meanwhile, came against a Villa side that has been embroiled in a relegation battle for most of the season. There were few signs of those struggles here, though, as the Villans put a performance that lived up to the star quality in their squad.
Jordan Nobbs, who played over 250 games for Arsenal, broke the deadlock after Villa had dominated the opening half an hour, before Kirsty Hanson added a deserved, and spectacular, second in first-half stoppage time. Before the hour, it was four, with goals from Chasity Grant and Rachel Daly putting the Gunners on course for a defeat that would have equalled their heaviest in the WSL era.
Then the comeback began. Stina Blackstenius pulled one back with 22 minutes to go and Alessia Russo got another quickly afterwards, having been introduced at half-time. It was unfortunate for Sabrina D'Angelo, the former Arsenal goalkeeper, to have lost her clean sheet, having made some great saves to preserve it until that point, but Grant's second of the day provided the sucker-punch to ensure that the most important thing – the win – was safe, taking the wind out of the Gunners' sails just as it was building.
It left Chelsea needing just one point from their final three games to secure the title and the Blues didn't waste any time in getting over the line, beating Man Utd just a couple of hours later to secure the trophy with two weeks to spare.
GOAL rates Arsenal's players from Villa Park…
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Manuela Zinsberger (3/10):
Had several poor moments on the ball in what was a really sloppy performance from the entire Arsenal team when it came to playing out from the back. Unconvincing in one-v-one situations.
Katie Reid (4/10):
Played some bad passes in dangerous areas and lost track of Daly completely for the fourth goal. Did play a nice ball into the box for Russo's goal, though.
Lotte Wubben-Moy (3/10):
Struggled with the Villa press on her return from injury, was lucky one really poor pass didn't directly result in a goal for the opposition and should've done more to put Hanson off for the second goal. Off at half-time.
Steph Catley (4/10):
Better on the ball than those around her but caught out in an extremely costly manner for two of Villa's goals.
Katie McCabe (3/10):
Another who was sloppy on the ball and made a shockingly uncharacteristic error to gift Villa their third.
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Kyra Cooney-Cross (4/10):
Should've done much more to thwart Salmon in the build-up to Villa's opener. Hooked at half-time.
Mariona Caldentey (5/10):
It said a lot about Arsenal's sloppiness on the ball that it even got to the Spain star.
Victoria Pelova (6/10):
Looked sharp again and offered a threat in behind with some intelligent runs from deep. Off at the break as she continues her return from a long injury lay-off.
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Chloe Kelly (4/10):
Struggled to make an impact in the final third and lost the ball in a dangerous area in the build-up to Villa's second.
Stina Blackstenius (6/10):
Showed good movement at times but lacked consistent service. Took her goal well.
Beth Mead (5/10):
Was one of Arsenal's brighter attacking players but faded as the scoreline ran away from them. Should've scored just before Villa broke the deadlock.
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Leah Williamson (5/10):
Instantly improved the quality on the ball at the back when introduced at half-time and was only denied a goal by a superb D'Angelo save, though wasn't immune to some sloppy defending.
Kim Little (5/10):
Another sub at the break, she couldn't wrestle back control of the game as Slegers would've hoped, though Villa's third goal straight after the restart didn't help her.
Alessia Russo (6/10):
A good improvised finish to get on the scoresheet.
Caitlin Foord (5/10):
Introduced on the hour, she brought positivity but lacked end product.
Renee Slegers (4/10):
She could do little about significant individual errors, but was guilty of making too many changes at the back in particular and that certainly disrupted her team's ability in possession. Subs weren't given much of a chance to have an impact due to McCabe's error mere seconds after half-time.
