The Chelsea manager, Emma Hayes, was full of praise for the depth and versatility of her team after a thunderbolt from the substitute Maria Thorisdottir earned a precious victory and ended the 11-game winning run of the Women’s Super League champions, Arsenal.

“If you get it right you’re an unbelievable manager, if you don’t you’re a pile of shite,” Hayes said with a grin. “I got it right today, that for me is what wisdom is about, you’ve got to get more right than not, more often.”

The visiting team took an early lead through Daniëlle van de Donk but Beth England, who scored on her first start for the Lionesses on Tuesday, levelled in style. With Chelsea’s stronger bench undoubtedly the difference, the fresh legs of Ramona Bachmann and Thorisdottir combined to seal the win in front of 4,149 fans.

“I said to the players at half-time: ‘I promise you, you score a goal and you watch this house lift,’ and it just went vroom, and I thought there’s only one outcome, 4,000 people in here, we are going to smash it, happy days.”

If Chelsea were out for revenge for the 5-0 drubbing Arsenal dealt out at Kingsmeadow almost exactly a year ago, then it showed. The Blues exploded out of the blocks, Fran Kirby looking particularly fresh as they drove into the box from kick-off. The champions needed just nine minutes to open the scoring. Vivianne Miedema, who has scored four of Arsenal’s 18 goals in all competitions this season, danced into the box before slipping the ball to Van de Donk to slot past Ann-Katrin Berger.

It was something of a relief for the Gunners, who looked bright going forward but struggled to contain the pace and invention of Kirby, Guro Reiten and the magical Ji So-yun. Chelsea searched for the reply, and Ji was at the heart of every positive attack.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Chelsea’s Erin Cuthbert (right) slides in for a tackle. Photograph: Tess Derry/PA

Lia Walti, making her first league start as Arsenal ease her back into action following injury, was robbed by Ji in the middle and the South Korean broke into the box, turned round Jen Beattie but lashed her left-footed shot just wide from 20 yards out.

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After the break Chelsea came out with the bit between their teeth. “I said that we’re going to have to be more aggressive,” said Hayes. “This is a really tricky one because I don’t want to tell you how I did it, because the manager is then going to read those comments and make sure he doesn’t do it again. But I did something. That’s for you to analyse. That’s your job, not mine.”

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They pressed with an intensity that forced Arsenal into sloppy mistakes, with more time on the ball for Ji becoming critical.

England, who was a little anonymous in the first half, was the first to trouble the Arsenal back line, picking up Ji’s pinpoint cross but firing over. With Arsenal looking a tad shellshocked, it felt inevitable they would relinquish the lead, and it was England who capitalised.

Jennifer Beattie was dispossessed and a hungrier Kirby steamed into the space left by Katie McCabe before squaring to England who, with her back to goal, flicked it up, swivelled and volleyed past Manuela Zinsberger from close range.

If Arsenal needed a wake-up call then the equaliser provided it, but Chelsea continued to press with intent. To add intensity in the midfield battle, the Arsenal manager, Joe Montemurro, swapped Lia Walti for the fresh legs of Jordan Nobbs but with Chelsea throwing on Bachmann and Thorisdottir, the edge stayed with the Blues.

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With five minutes left to play Bachmann squared to the Norwegian Thorisdottir, who slammed home from 25 yards to send the heaving crowd wild. “Yes,” said Montemurro bluntly when asked whether the score reflected the game. “We were good in the first half but they were better in the second.

“We couldn’t keep the ball and our intensity is all ball-based. We were making a lot of fundamental errors which is unlike us and we got punished for it. With the squad that Chelsea have got, with the individual talent they’ve got, with the size of the squad that they’ve got they should be up there every year. So today is obviously an indication of who they are, they’re a good team, they’re a powerful team.”