Leah Williamson and Kim Little Cheer Arsenal’s Win Over Chelsea in Anticipation of the Trophy

Leah Williamson marked the end of Arsenal’s trophy drought when the England captain for Euro 2022 helped the Gunners beat Chelsea in the Women’s League Cup final.

The leader of the Lionesses is Arsenal’s vice-captain, and the 25-year-old was part of the team that won the 2018-19 Women’s Super League.

Sunday’s success at Selhurst Park was the first silverware the team had won since that league championship, when captain Kim Little scored from the penalty spot in a 3-1 win over Emma Hayes’ Blues.

Australia star Sam Kerr gave Chelsea the lead in the second minute, with the west London side looking to follow up their FA Cup victory over Arsenal from seven days earlier.

However, Arsenal turned things around with Swedish striker Stina Blackstenius equalizing in the 16th minute before Scottish midfielder Little converted a penalty eight minutes after Katie McCabe tripped.

A first-half stoppage-time own goal by Niamh Charles proved to be the final goal of the game, giving Arsenal a record sixth victory in the competition.

Williamson said of the result, “I feel good, you have to break the chain at some point, so today was that day.”

Pleased skipper Little told BBC Sport: “I am so proud of the team. Given the results of last week, we needed to turn things around and we had a good week of training and discussed a lot of things we need to be better at.

“After they scored, I thought, ‘What could we do to stop this?’ because it was such a good goal. But because it was so early we just had to reset and we did and the rest of our first half game was pretty special and that’s what gave us today’s win.

“We want to win trophies and we’re disappointed in ourselves that we didn’t do it sooner, but here it is and I’m just happy and proud of the girls.”

Arsenal won the game 1.56 to 1.20 on expected goals despite Chelsea only having eight goal attempts to 14.

Head coach Jonas Eidewall, who delivered silver in just 18 months of his reign, gave his coat after the game to a fan who supported the team after the defeat to Chelsea in the FA Cup.

The Swedish coach explained to arsenal.com: “I said, ‘People like you make this football club great. Your optimism gives me energy, and I can give it to the team, and this will help our game. So you come here and do the same thing next Sunday and we win, you get my coat.

“I’m very happy for him, very happy for us, and now I just need to sort out a new coat.”