Arsenal Women were knocked out of the FA Cup in the repeat of last year’s final with a defeat to Chelsea Women.
Making the difference for Chelsea were Beth England, who scored twice, and Jonna Andersson.
Despite exiting at the fifth round, Joe Montemurro’s side are still fighting to win the WSL and Continental Cup.
The FA Cup holders showed they meant business from the off, going ahead after just five minutes.
Erin Cuthbert, stole the ball from Emma Mitchell and had a free run at goal. With Peyraud-Magnin at her mercy, she squared to England who finished the move.
Arsenal responded in frantic fashion, however.
They peppered the Chelsea goal for the next 10 minutes with Dominque Bloodworth coming close to levelling twice and Katie McCabe hitting the post.
Following the flurry of chances, Chelsea were able to slow the game down to a comfortable pace again.
They almost doubled their lead as Drew Spence curled a couple of efforts just wide in quick succession.
As the half drew to a close, Chelsea secured their two-goal cushion through Andersson.
Receiving the ball outside the box, her shot seemed to surprise Peyraud-Magnin who struggled to deal with the flight of the ball as it flew past her.
Arsenal had another chance to get a goal back before the break but Beth Mead shot straight at Ann-Katrin Berger from the edge of the box.
Chelsea began the second half in a similar mood to the first.
Within a minute of each other, England and Cuthbert both had chances to add Chelsea’s third but their efforts weren’t good enough.
Arsenal’s frustration could be sensed shortly after and a couple of decisions went Chelsea’s way before Van de Donk left one on Sophie Ingle in midfield.
Seconds after, Chelsea capitalised as England scored her second of the game, running onto a flick on and finishing one-on-one.
Emma Hayes decision to bring on Fran Kirby and Ramona Bachmann seemed to add needed energy to Chelsea to keep their hold on the game.
They were able to keep the ball more easily and win it back higher up the pitch.
Arsenal did create more chances, however.
The best fell to Mead who was played in behind the Chelsea defence but couldn’t steer her left-footed effort goalward.
Despite this, Chelsea were able to close the game out with relative ease.
Player Ratings
Arsenal
Peyraud-Magnin – 5. Unfortunate
Janni Arnth – 5. Stationary
Louise Quinn – 6. Okay
Emma Mitchell – 5. Inconsistent
Katie McCabe – 7. Tricky
Dominique Bloodworth – 7. Solid
Danielle Van de Donk – 5. Quiet
Kim Little – 6. Decent
Beth Mead – 6. Persistent
Vivianne Miedema - 6. Distant
Katrine Veje – 7. Outlet
Substitutes
Leah Williamson – 7. Effective
Lisa Evans – 6. Satisfactory
Ava Kuyken – 6. Cameo
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