Arsenal’s best result of the week came in a match they were not a part of. After two Arsenal losses against last season’s Champions League finalists – a 3-0 FA Cup final defeat to Chelsea and a 4-0 defeat to Barcelona – Chelsea suffered a shock 1-0 league defeat to Reading. Arsenal now have the upper hand in the title race, extending their lead to four points after a 4-0 victory over Leicester.
Chelsea had played in the cup final, as well as a fiercely contested 0-0 draw with Juventus in midweek, meaning their trip to Reading was their third match in six days. It was the perfect cocktail for an upset given Reading’s improved form and the fact the cup final itself had come straight off the back of an international break, where the likes of star striker Sam Kerr had played two matches in Australia.
Bizarrely, Reading had complained of the difficulties in creating momentum in the build-up, having had no matches for 20 days before the Chelsea clash, the same length of time as the scheduled winter break from December 19 to January 8
It is clear the schedule needs re-evaluating, complicated by the additional Champions League group stage matches and broadcaster demands this season. Emma Hayes, the Chelsea manager, has complained at the length of the winter break not being long enough in the past, but perhaps the solution is to scrap it entirely, spreading out the WSL matches more evenly.
It may not prove the most popular suggestion, but in a week that Eidevall, the Arsenal manager, explained in order to beat Barcelona he felt special training sessions would need to be designed to combat their counterpress, it may be necessary if an English club wants to win the Champions League.
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Women’s FA Cup prize money
Just a week after the pandemic-delayed 2020/21 FA Cup reached its conclusion, the third round of this season’s competition began. One team made history by reaching that stage. Clapton Community FC, from the Greater London Premier League, became the first seventh-tier club to compete in the third round.
They lost 5-0 to Plymouth Argyle, who play in the Southern Premier division of the women’s National League, four leagues above Clapton. While Clapton’s fairytale ends, they do not have the financial reward to mark it.
They earned the measly sum of £315 for losing to Argyle, less than a men’s team would have won for losing in the very first extra preliminary round (£375). The question is not of equal prize money, but merely enough funds for Clapton to cover their own costs — having to crowdfund to travel to Plymouth is unacceptable.
Dramatic start for Darren Carter
Birmingham City twice took the lead against Manchester City before falling to a 3-2 defeat in Darren Carter’s first game as interim head coach. Carter, the former Birmingham City player, saw his side, who are yet to pick up a win in the Women’s Super League, fall to an 89th minute winner from Ellen White.
The victory is crucial for City, who close the gap on the Champions League places to four points, having seen Keira Walsh and Janine Beckie test positive for Covid-19 and Lucy Bronze ruled out as a close contact.
