Heartbreak for Blues as Arsenal grab last-gasp winner

Chelsea suffered stoppage-time heartbreak as Arsenal fought back from two goals behind to sink the Blues at Imber Court on Sunday.

Lianne Sanderson opened the scoring for the hosts with just 16 seconds on the clock and Leanne Champ added a superb second nine minutes later.

Arsenal sub Jennifer Beattie reduced the arrears just after the restart and, after Helen Lander levelled proceedings midway through the half, Beattie broke Chelsea hearts with a 95th-minute winner.

New Chelsea boss Matt Beard said: “I’m gutted we got beat after having such a good start.

“We were confident at half-time. But I’m disappointed at the manner of the goals we conceded.

“We’ve got to regroup and now we’ve got a big game next weekend to keep the season alive.”

Most spectators were still settling into their seats when Chelsea stunned the visitors from the whistle.

Emma Whitter was sent away into the Arsenal box and as her dummy shot fooled the Gunners rearguard, Sanderson fired her precise pass into the net to give the Blues the perfect start.

Chelsea were in fantasyland shortly after. Claire Rafferty’s cross was only headed out as far as Champ and she struck a glorious 20-yard shot beyond Emma Byrne and into the top right hand corner.

The Gunners, however, have spent years expecting to win and Champ had to be equally adept at the other end when she headed Rachel Yankey’s corner off the line after it eluded Blues’ keeper Siobhan Chamberlain.

Gemma Davidson then side-footed wide from close range as Arsenal rallied.

As the breakneck speed continued, Sanderson blazed over following a poor clearance from Ciara Grant, and Byrne showed the Gunners’ disquiet as she verbally ripped into her defence.

As the minutes ticked down, Arsenal pushed up.

Yankey tormented the Chelsea defence with a surging run and only the combined efforts of Eartha Pond and Dunia Susi stopped her from getting her shot away.

Katie Chapman then rattled the post after Casey Stoney’s poor header fell to the England star, before Corinne Yorston also hit the woodwork with a thundering drive which left Chamberlain’s crossbar vibrating.

Two incidents then tipped the balance firmly in the Gunners’ favour.

New Arsenal boss, Tony Gervaise, sent on Beattie for Davidson and then with a minute of the half remaining, Chapman was only yellow- carded for what looked like a stamp on Sanderson.

The let-off galvanised Arsenal and they pulled one back four minutes after the restart.

A fine interchange between Kim Little and Beattie gave Jayne Ludlow the space to deliver the ball to the far post where the towering Beattie headed home.

Little then turned Stoney and only a superb save by Chamberlain prevented the Gunners from equalising.

As Chelsea tried to hit back, Rafferty was inches away from connecting with Susi’s teasing ball into the box, but inevitably, it was the visitors who got the vital fourth goal.

Yankey danced past four Chelsea players and when a desperate Blues foot pushed the ball out to Beattie, her cross was clinically converted by Lander.

With the match finely balanced, Sanderson came within a whisker of regaining the lead for Chelsea, when she volleyed Pond’s pinpoint cross goalwards, only to be denied by an amazing close-range reaction stop by Byrne.

In a farcical last 15 minutes, the referee limped off and with the assessor already called into action following the non-appearance of a linesman, a spectator took over running the line, and it was in time added on for the change when Arsenal netted their winner.

Chelsea’s Danni Buet and Arsenal’s Little had already both seen efforts miss the target in the last five minutes of normal time, but with just seconds remaining in the fifth minute of time added on, Chelsea switched off at a corner and Beattie completed a stunning comeback for the visitors when the Scottish international scored at the near post.

Byrne showed what it meant to the Gunners as she raced to the halfway line to join in the celebrations as the visitors showed again why they will be the team to beat this campaign.

Beard, however, was still upbeat after the match. “My ambition is to compete to win the league title,’ he said.

“I’d like to go to Everton next week and win there, and go to Arsenal and win there.

“There’s no reason why we can’t do that. We’ve shown today we can compete with them.”

Chelsea: Chamberlain, Perry, Rafferty, Stoney, Davies, Susi, Buet, Sanderson, Pond (Kempson 86), Whitter, Champ.

Subs not used: Morphitis, Hills, Cooper, Jane.