Leah Williamson toasted an end to Arsenal’s trophy drought as England’s Euro 2022 captain helped the Gunners topple Chelsea in the Women’s League Cup final.
The leader of the Lionesses is vice-captain of Arsenal, with the 25-year-old having been part of the side that won the 2018-19 Women’s Super League.
Sunday’s success at Selhurst Park was the first silverware the team have won since that league championship, with captain Kim Little scoring from the spot in a 3-1 win over Emma Hayes’ Blues.
Australia star Sam Kerr headed Chelsea into a second-minute lead, with the side from west London looking to follow up their FA Cup victory over Arsenal from seven days earlier.
However, Arsenal turned it around, with Swedish forward Stina Blackstenius slotting a 16th-minute equaliser before Scottish midfielder Little netted a penalty eight minutes later after Katie McCabe was tripped.
An own goal from Niamh Charles in first-half stoppage time turned out to be the game’s final goal, giving Arsenal a record-extending sixth triumph in the competition.
Williamson said of the result: “I feel good, you’ve got to break the chain at some point so today was that day.”
THE ARSENAL pic.twitter.com/glakJmnDkt
— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) March 5, 2023
Satisfied skipper Little told BBC Sport: “I’m so proud of the team. Off the back of last week’s result we needed to turn it around, and we had a good week’s training and talked about a lot of things we needed to be better at.
“I was thinking after they scored, ‘what could we have done to stop that?’, because it was such a good goal. But because it was so early we just needed to reset and we did that, and the rest of our first-half performance was pretty special and that’s what won us the match today.
“We want to win trophies, and we’re disappointed in ourselves that we’ve not done that before now, but here it is, and I’m just happy and proud of the girls.”
Arsenal edged the game by 1.56 to 1.20 on expected goals, despite having just eight goal attempts to 14 by Chelsea.
Head coach Jonas Eidevall, who has delivered silverware just 18 months into his reign, gave his coat away after the game to a fan who had offered the team encouragement after the FA Cup loss to Chelsea.
The Swedish coach explained to arsenal.com: “I said, ‘People like you are what make this football club great. Your optimism gives me energy, and I can give that back to the team and it can help our performance. So, you come here and do the same thing next Sunday and we win, you’ll get my coat.’
“I’m very happy for him, very happy for us and now I just need to sort out a new coat.”
Tonight, @Eidevall gave away his coat to a loyal supporter…
The reason? Well, just watch this pic.twitter.com/qAUHK7ZJlh
— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) March 5, 2023
