Bompastor handed Kerr her first league start since her return from a long-term knee injury, but it wasn’t a performance to remember from her or anyone else in Chelsea blue and she was subbed off just before the hour mark.
Kerr is slowly approaching full match fitness, having scored five goals and added one assist in his previous six games. However, she was largely lacking service here, and she and strike partner Alyssa Thompson were too isolated from the rest of Chelsea’s underperforming line-up to be a constant threat.
The 32-year-old was greeted by a huge, anticipated roar from the crowd of 30,545 when she first touched the ball – but gave it away when heading in the opening goal in the 55th minute. With the home fans rightly arguing for a foul, Arsenal marched briskly down the other end and Beth Mead converted to give the north Londoners a deserved lead.
In response, Bompastor immediately pulled off a visibly angry Kerr for Lauren James – but just six minutes later the Gunners scored again through Spain international Marion Caldentey to put the game to bed and send the fans into a frenzy.
Chelsea embarked on a fruitless late search for goals, not helped by the absence of Kerr’s formidable threat in the box. She did what she could while she could and importantly for the Matildas, like Catley, she came through the match physically unscathed.
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Four Australian players who started here – Arsenal’s Caitlin Foord and Chelsea’s Ellie Carpenter were the others – will leave their clubs in about a month to link up with Montemurro and the rest of the Matildas ahead of the Asian Cup, which starts in Perth on March 1, at a pivotal moment in England’s season.
However, this tournament is currently on the back burner for all of them; their priority is to ensure that when they leave their clubs, they do so with them in the best possible position on the WSL table.
“I’m looking forward to it, but I’m making sure I count every minute until I have to leave,” Catley said.
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