Chelsea and Arsenal cancel each other out in WSL stalemate

There was only one winner from the first goalless draw between Chelsea and Arsenal since 2015; the title race.

Chelsea manager Emma Hayes had said that a draw or a loss in either direction would not “necessarily be defining” and, with two points still separating the WSL table-topping Arsenal and second-placed Chelsea, who have a game in hand, her prediction that the title race will go to the wire looks even more likely.

Under the floodlights Kingsmeadow, a cagey yet feisty encounter left both sides frustrated yet somewhat relieved.

“I admitted after the FA Cup final that we put a bit too much focus on Chelsea and not on the way that we play,” Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall had said before the game of the 3-0 defeat they suffered to Chelsea in December. “I think you can make a mistake once but you can’t do it twice, you do something different.”

Having limped through Christmas and New Year after a blistering start to the season, Arsenal’s form seems to be improving, aided by the return of their Asian Cup cohort, plus Leah Williamson from injury and the arrival of Stina Blackstenius and defensive players Rafaelle Souza and Laura Wienroither.

After Arsenal duo Vivianne Miedema and Blackstenius combined in emphatic fashion against Manchester United to earn a draw last week, Eidevall began the game with the former in the No 10 role behind the Swedish forward, while Rafaelle partnered Williamson at the back.

“To get quality you need time together, that’s very important in football,” explained Eidevall prior to the game. “If you could just show players on a tactics board and go out and play then you wouldn’t need to train at all together. We’ve played 25 games so far this season and we’ve used 19 different central defender