Matildas superstar Sam Kerr scored twice as Chelsea clinched the league title on the final day, coming from behind to beat Manchester United, 4-2.
The Blues had been neck-and-neck with Arsenal through the backend of the season, with neither side dropping points, and Chelsea came into this clash assuming that only the full three points would be enough.
Trailing 2-1 at the break, Kerr lashed a vicious left-footed volley from the edge of the area within a minute of the restart to get a packed Kingsmeadow on their feet.
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But the best was yet to come.
Norweigan international Guro Reiten put Chelsea ahead 3-2 just five minutes after Kerr scored, before the Australian’s second put the result beyond doubt.
Reiten seized on an errant clearance from Manchester United keeper Mary Earps, and before the ball even hit the ground, Kerr controlled it, spun around and volleyed it over the head of the helpless keeper.
“The second one was world-class, it was outrageous, audacious,” Chelsea boss Emma Hayes said afterwards.
“She’s the best for a reason and she stepped up once again for this football club.”
Arsenal duly obliged with a 2-0 win over West Ham – Australia’s Steph Catley scoring the second – but they would ultimately finish the season on 55 points, to Chelsea’s 56.
It was a third successive league title for Chelsea, and their fifth overall.
Kerr said afterwards that the nerves of the occasion had got to the players in the first half, before they snapped out of it after the break.
“In the second half it was just about playing how we play,” she said.
“That’s why we’re champions – when we play like that no one can stop us.”
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