Chelsea claim advantage in title race, Manchester United beat Tottenham Hotspur

Sam Kerr scored her first goal since joining the club, while Beth England and Sophie Ingle both netted wonder strikes, leaving Arsenal’s perfect home record in tatters inside 20 minutes.

Guro Reiten added a fourth before Beth Mead netted a consolation goal for the Gunners.

Chelsea were dominant throughout, and opened the scoring after just ten minutes through England’s moment of magic.

The Chelsea striker pulled out to the right, cut inside Louise Quinn and curled a beauty past Manuela Zinsberger from the corner of the box.

Just three minutes later the visitors doubled their lead, Kerr left unmarked at the back post to meet a Jonna Anderson cross and head in her first Barclays FA WSL goal.

Arsenal looked shell-shocked, and there was more to come, Ingle striking a sensational 20-yard volley into the corner of the net when the ball fell to her after a free kick.

Kerr and England both had glorious chances to add to their tallies, but both failed to hit the target from close range.

Reiten then extended the lead with a glancing header midway through the second half to put the game completely beyond doubt.

At the other end, the champions barely mustered a shot in the first half, their best effort coming when Katie McCabe forced Ann-Katrin Berger into a save with her feet.

After the break they showed signs of improvement, and finally pulled one back when Mead’s header was spilled over the line by Berger.

But the damage had been done by then, with Joe Montemurro’s side beaten at home for the first time in a year.

The win takes Chelsea to within a point of Arsenal and Manchester City, with a game in hand over their two title rivals, who meet each other in two weeks.

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Arsenal captain Kim Little said: “We’re very disappointed with our performance, and how we played in the first half especially, but I think credit has to go to Chelsea, they turned up from the beginning of the match, we made mistakes and they scored some very good goals and outperformed us.

“We had to pull ourselves together after 20 minutes, to be compact and make sure we were working as a team, because at the start of the game there were lots of spaces for them, and they took advantage of that.

“They have great players, and they made it very hard for us, got tight to us, gave us very little time, myself personally didn’t do well enough to get out of that at times. They did very well to keep us off the pace in the middle. It’s what I expected, it’s no different to any other game against Chelsea.

“With us, Chelsea and Man City these games are crucial, and today was one of those, but it’s also only one game within the whole season, so we need to look at it in that sesne. There’s big games still to play and it’s still very tight at the top, so it’s disappointing and frustrating right now, in the moment, but we’ll reflect and it’ll give us a realisation of how to be better and how to up our game.”

Chelsea captain Magdalena Eriksson said: “The first half was one of the best halves we’ve ever played. Really clinical, scoring from our chances early on, and then we could just see the game out. I think we could have had a better performance second half, but they were going forward with everything they had, so it’s an amazing result and I’m really, really pleased.

“We’ve built up to this. We’ve had a few games now where the luck hasn’t really been on our side and luck is something you build up, and today we had three amazing goals in the first half. We’ve been working really hard on those kind of goals, as well, it’s not just by chance that they came, there’s hard work behind it.

“Coming to any team, we aren’t afraid. We are the best team in England, and we really believe that, and we know that we can compete with any team. And we just have that belief, that we’re on the front foot from the start. It’s so important, we don’t come to a place like this and start dropping off, and being afraid. We show no respect, and we have huge belief in this team.

“Sam [Kerr] proved today what an amazing player she is. She’s also an amazing team player, she works so hard for the team defensively, she wins the ball, she’s good in the air, good in behind. I could tell you everything - she’s good at everything! So she’s come into the team and made a difference, and she really deserved that goal. She’s had a few chances to score, and we all said ‘save it for Arsenal.'

“This result will only be a springboard if we make it one. If we, from now on, put in this type of performance in every game, there’s no way we’re not going to win the league in my opinion. Wherever we go we have to play like today. It’s not the big games we’ve struggled in, it’s going away and playing the teams where we should win, those are the teams we’ve struggled with. So it’s about treating every game like this, and then I’m confident we’re going to come out on top of the league.”