If the mood among fans is anything to go by, Jonas Eidevall’s future at Arsenal is hanging by a thread, after two goals in 12 minutes did the damage in a loss to Chelsea that gave the Gunners a mountain to climb in a crunch game at the Emirates.
Four games into the season, Arsenal already sit four points behind the champions, who have a game in hand, having picked up just five points. Meanwhile, they suffered a bruising 5-2 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League in midweek, off the back of a poor 0-0 draw with Everton. For a team wanting to challenge for titles, that is being viewed as just not good enough.
The home team can be buoyed somewhat by their second-half performance, roared on by an anxious 45,860 fans, but the damage had already been done, a lacklustre and chaotic start acting as a microcosm of their season so far.
Eidevall has repeated the line “pressure is not just a privilege, it’s a necessity” throughout the start of the new campaign but this kind of pressure is neither.
Arsenal’s Swedish manager had spent a good portion of his pre-match interview with the BBC talking about the work they had been doing on defending set pieces, aware of the threat posed by Chelsea in this area. It was somewhat ironic then, that the Blues would take the lead within four minutes via a corner.
Lotte Wubben-Moy and Alessia Russo came together, clearing the ball as far as the head of Millie Bright, and the centre-back flicked it towards Mayra Ramírez who, with her back to goal, scooped the ball over her head and it looped softly down and in.
It took a moment before the corner of Chelsea fans erupted in celebration; the dipping ball so slow to settle in the net. Ramírez swept away in celebration, stopping to face the Arsenal fans, arms crossed, head nodding while Sjoeke Nüsken slid between her legs to pose on her stomach with her face in her hands. It was a celebration full of the swagger that mirrored Chelsea’s performance.
Chelsea’s second saw Lauren James swinging away from the byline to send a cross to the back post where an unmarked Sandy Baltimore headed in with Arsenal defenders noticeable by their absence. Arsenal were being torn apart, the defensive fragility that was exposed in Wednesday night’s defeat to Bayern on display once again.
Chelsea have yet to be truly tested defensively too though, and while the Gunners have struggled to break down teams that set up in a low block, here they had more room to play with.
The hosts would go agonisingly close to reducing the deficit in the 36th minute, Katie McCabe’s corner missed by Russo and Wubben-Moy before Leah Williamson, who struggled to cope with the strength and technical quality of Ramírez throughout, scuffed a sidefooted effort wide.
Arsenal would pull one back before the break though, Caitlin Foord mirroring a move she had made earlier in the half, before having her effort deflected over, by wriggling past a surprisingly lightweight Lucy Bronze challenge at the byline and curving the ball past Hannah Hampton and into the far corner from the tightest of angles.
The home side looked much more coherent in the second half, but the bar had been set low. Russo had a shot blocked by Bright after Foord had won the ball on the left but they just couldn’t find the equaliser.
The arrival of Frida Maanum and Stina Blackstenius had an immediate impact, with the pair combining twice in quick succession only for an overhit pass towards Maanum to send the ball out of play before a defender got across to clear before Blackstenius could connect shortly after. Blackstenius would hit the crossbar with five minutes of normal time remaining, but this was Chelsea’s game to lose, the Blues happy to bank back against the team that has struggled to break down low blocks.
What next for Eidevall and Arsenal? They host Norwegian side Vålerenga back at the Emirates on Wednesday. There is not a lot of time for introspection, but they need to make the time.
