‘We knew it was going to be very tight’ – Slegers reacts to Arsenal’s narrow derby defeat | OneFootball

Arsenal head coach Renée Slegers’ 13-match unbeaten run came to an end on Sunday afternoon as her side went down 1-0 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Guro Reiten’s late penalty was enough to separate the two sides and extend Chelsea’s lead over The Gunners to 10 points.

When speaking to the media in the post-match press conference, Slegers gave an honest assessment of the game.

“I think it was a top game in women’s football,” Slegers said. “I think overall, if I distance myself from my role, I think that was good for women’s football.

“I think from our end, we had to get through that first period of the game, the first 10 minutes and we knew that Chelsea were going to come out fast and get in-behind us and go forward. That’s what they did, they’re very powerful.”

Arsenal’s slim Barclays Women’s Super League title hopes now look to be over but Slegers saw positives in her side’s performance.

She said “Of course, I’m very disappointed. I wanted to win today and I think we were close enough to get something out of the game but then we will have to move on.

“I’m happy the girls got through that phase of the game and then I think we started to establish ourselves. We took more and more control and I think we played the game that we wanted to play, even though a little bit sloppy maybe, more than what we usually would be.

“I think we played some really good football at times and what was lacking today was the goals. I think we created one or two good enough chances to score, but you know you’re not going to get a lot against Chelsea. For next time, be a little bit more clinical with the chances.”

Chelsea were awarded a penalty late in the second half when Kim Little fouled Lauren James. Guro Reiten converted from the penalty spot, giving The Blues the lead.

Commenting on the penalty decision, Slegers said that her side’s positioning could have been better during Chelsea’s attack.

She said “I think what we could have done better is that we should have positioned ourselves better behind the ball to stop the counter-attack for that.

“I think we’re improving as a team and how we handle different phases of the game. I think we do that better and better and that we’re psychologically in a state where we can stay in the game whatever happens. I think that’s important in top games like this, so I’m very happy with that development and if we could play the game again, I think we are good enough to do more against Chelsea if we are more clinical with the chances.”

While Chelsea hold a 10-point advantage over The Gunners, Slegers is still hoping that the South West Londoners will slip up.

She said ‘There are 10 points now between us, that’s going to be a much bigger mountain to climb and we are very aware of that, but we also say that we had our slips at the start of the season. You never know when other teams are going to slip.

“What we want to do is just keep on playing our games and winning our games, that’s all we can do. We knew it was important for us if we wanted to keep sparks in the title race to win today and we didn’t do that, but we never know of the future.”

Arsenal are next in Barclays Women’s Super League action on Sunday when they travel to Manchester City.