“Wow, wow, wow.” Their manager could not believe it. Emma Hayes turned, back to the pitch, and uttered her exclamations. A clearance from a free-kick had bounced in front of Chelsea’s Sophie Ingle and the midfielder had lashed a left‑foot half-volley into the far corner past Arsenal’s Manuela Zinsberger to give the Blues a 3-0 lead inside 20 minutes.

The Arsenal manager, Joe Montemurro, labelled it “the biggest setback I’ve had in my two and a bit years here”.

In front of a sellout 4,000 fans the title holders were left shell-shocked. The title race was blown open. Now only goal difference separates Arsenal and Manchester City, who leapfrogged the London club after a 2-0 win at Birmingham, while Chelsea are a point behind, with a game in hand.

Ashley Westwood winner completes Burnley’s turnaround against Leicester Read more

Hayes said: “I looked at my watch on 22 minutes, when we were three up, and I thought: ‘This is a strange situation to be in.’ We’re hungry, you can see it, this is a team that performs in the biggest games.”

The visiting team exploded out of the blocks, pressing hard, swamping the midfield, a pack of wolves circling every player each time they conceded possession. Every drive forward looked like it would result in a goal, the glaring low sun in the eyes of the Gunners defence and Zinsberger helping them along.

This was a reversal of Arsenal’s 5-0 drubbing of their bitter rivals at Kingsmeadow in October 2018 that signalled the trophy was on the move. If results between the two sides since have favoured Chelsea, none until now have come close to alleviating the bruises that defeat inflicted on their home turf.

Hayes’s rebuilding of her side has perhaps been quicker than expected. After their League and FA Cup double‑winning campaign in 2017-18 and the departure of players such as Katie Chapman, Eni Aluko, Gemma Davison, Claire Rafferty and Gilly Flaherty, many believed it would take time for her to slot players in to replace such key figures. But with last season a blip, Hayes’s motherhood very much impacting the early stages of their campaign, they have since picked up where they left off.

It took only 10 minutes for the Blues to make the breakthrough with Guro Reiten the architect, the Norwegian flicking into the path of Beth England who cut into the box from wide on the right and curled a shot inside the far post. For a team that had conceded first in their previous four league fixtures, and seven times in 11 games, there was relief as much as anything in the celebrations.

The talk before this match had been dominated by the star strikers Sam Kerr and Vivianne Miedema. The former may have edged the encounter, her close-range header from a deep Reiten cross to double the lead, her first goal in Chelsea blue. Miedema, though, could be somewhat forgiven for her struggles with not even the creative muscle of Kim Little and Jordon Nobbs enough to break through the tight lines of Chelsea’s defence, space vanishing around them at every turn as blue shirts nipped at their feet, urged on by Hayes and her coaches.

“We decided to not play with a lot of width,” said Montemurro. “We decided to play with a lot of inside to outside movement. It didn’t work.

“It’s always hard sitting back and seeing a team so powerful putting us under a lot of pressure and creating chances. The disappointing thing is we couldn’t even get the ball down and play. I take responsibility for the set-up.”

With Arsenal pressing harder for a reply they were understaffed at the back and Jonna Andersson’s cross from the left just had to be glanced in by Reiten for Chelsea’s fourth, and a goal for the 25-year-old to add to her two assists. The substitutes Lisa Evans and Beth Mead linked up for the home team’s consolation but it did little to paper over the cracks of a side out of ideas.

“This is an amazing team, these are amazing players and you’re allowed a slip-up every once in a while,” Montemurro said. “But if you look historically at this team it is always one that comes back and will be there.”

Goals from the England duo Ellen White and Kiera Walsh either side of the break ensured Manchester City went top of the Women’s Super League with a 2-0 defeat of Birmingham.

It took White just 34 seconds to pounce, firing her first-time strike after a sharp cross from Jill Scott. Scott provided the assist for the second too, her pull-back to Walsh ricocheting in off the post to kill any hopes of a Birmingham fightback.

Two goals from Katie Zelem helped Manchester United see off Tottenham 3-0 at a foggy Leigh Sports Village. A penalty in the second half from the United captain gave them the lead before Jess Sigsworth capitalised from a corner. Zelem sealed the points late on but the substitute Ella Toone was sent off in added time to dampen the win which takes them above Everton into fourth on goal difference.

A hat-trick from the Everton youngster Chloe Kelly ensured they overtook Reading with a 3-1 win. Fara Williams cancelled out the 22-year-old’s opener but she helped her side regain the lead with a goal direct from a corner before converting a cross for her third.

New recruit Rachel Furness scored the only goal as Liverpool earned their first win of the season to move off the bottom and above their opponents Bristol City on goal difference. An Alisha Lehmann double enabled West Ham to move four points clear of ninth-placed Brighton. Danique Kerkdijk had given the Seagulls the lead but Lehmann struck with 11 minutes to play and then found the winner four minutes later.