Manchester City were stunned by super-sub Stina Blackstenius as Arsenal came from behind to secure a 2-1 win at the Joie Stadium.
Lauren Hemp’s first half goal had given City control at the top of the table, but in a matter of minutes Blackstenius dented their hopes, scoring a brace off the bench.
Gareth Taylor’s side had gone into the game knowing that a win against Arsenal could mean they had a chance to win the league if Chelsea dropped points against Bristol City this evening.
But now, they will now face Villa on the final day of the season with a much bigger job on their hands than they would’ve hoped for.
Speaking on Chelsea and the title race, Taylor said: ‘’They opened the door the other night and now we’ve opened the door back up again.’’
He added that he always expected the title race come down to the final day of the season.
The sky-blues had started the game in complete control with Lauren Hemp opening the score line in the 17th minute.
She fired a shot past Manu Zinsberger before running over to skipper Steph Houghton, who’s retiring at the end of this season, on the touchline.
It was the dream start to City’s final home game of the season, and their backline had done well in the first half to reduce Arsenal to just one shot on target.
They were much less dominant in the second half however and Keating was called into action denying Beth Mead, Caitlin Foord and Laia Codina all before she was beaten twice by Blackstenius.
With just one minute of regular time to go, Manchester City failed to clear the ball as Foord headed the ball towards goal to be finished off by Blackstenius in dramatic fashion.
The winning goal then came just three minutes later, and this time it was substitute Kim Little providing the chance for the Swede.
Blackstenius headed the goal past Keating marking the end of City’s 14-match winning streak and earning all three points for her team.
On his side’s late comeback, Arsenal head coach Jonas Eidevall said: ‘’You could see they were believing one hundred per cent.’’
He added: ‘’The players mentality was unbelievable.’’
Arsenal now sit second in the WSL table above Chelsea who have two games in hand.
For City, the title race has undeniably been blown wide open, and with Chelsea facing relegated side Bristol City this evening, there is still much more drama to come.
Featured image courtesy of Emilie Mwanza.