Arsenal stun Man City 2-1 in WSL, Chelsea back in title hunt

MANCHESTER, England :A superb late brace by substitute Stina Blackstenius gave Arsenal a 2-1 win over Manchester City that re-ignited the Women's Super League on Sunday, throwing a lifeline to Chelsea in a title race that had appeared to be done and dusted.

With 21 of their 22 league games played, City top the standings on 52 points, three ahead of Chelsea and five ahead of Arsenal, but the Blues have a game in hand and they obliterated City's goal difference advantage with an 8-0 thrashing of already-relegated Bristol City late on Sunday.

Chelsea travel to Tottenham Hotspur on May 15 and Manchester United three days later for their final two games, with City away to Aston Villa on the final day of the season.

On Wednesday Chelsea boss Emma Hayes glumly conceded defeat in the league after her stuttering side's 4-3 loss to Liverpool, but Sunday's results breathed new life into their quest for a fifth league title in a row.

Lauren Hemp, who recently signed a three-year contract extension at City, broke the deadlock in the 17th minute with a superb turn and shot that caught Arsenal keeper Manuela Zinsberger off guard and flew into the net.

City then made the mistake of taking their foot off the gas in the second half, and Sweden striker Blackstenius came off the bench to stun the home crowd, scoring the equaliser in the 89th minute before bagging the winner three minutes later.

That result in Manchester was the shot in the arm Chelsea needed and they ruthlessly dispatched Bristol City in the late kickoff, with Norwegian winger Guro Reiten netting four goals and Aggie Beever-Jones adding two more in Hayes' final home game in charge.

The glut of goals enabled Chelsea to wipe out City's goal difference advantage, and the Blues