Women’s Super League: Why summers of change beckon for Arsenal and Chelsea
Chelsea entered Saturday two points behind Arsenal and finished the game in the same place.
In the first half of the final day’s matches, it became clear that they had little to play for, given that Arsenal were already three ahead on Liverpool and eventually won 3-1 with Alessia Russo scoring twice.
Meanwhile, at Stamford Bridge, Kerr celebrated his final appearance against Manchester United with a fine finish to score the only goal of the match.
It was his 116th goal for the club, equaling Fran Kirby’s record for most goals scored for Chelsea in all competitions.
Kerr, who was mentioned with a transfer to the USA, said that playing for Chelsea was the “greatest honour”.
“I have so many great memories and I will carry them with me forever,” he told Sky Sports. “Chelsea and London will always be my home from now on.
“My little boy was born here and I have so many great friends at this amazing club. It will be hard to leave but I have only good things to say about this amazing club.”
Arsenal have outperformed Chelsea on two fronts this season; it both knocked them out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals and prevented them from automatically reaching the Champions League next year.
Although failing to catch City left it on a sour note for Arsenal, their league performance this season was better than last year as they picked up a further three points throughout the season.
McCabe managed to make an assist in his last game for the club and expressed his happiness at captaining the team one last time before leaving.
“I was enjoying every second,” he said. “My team talk was to go out and enjoy it and play like Arsenal, play our football and we certainly did that. We were playing with smiles on our faces. I’m delighted to be able to end up with the win.”
Both sides will regroup in the summer and Chelsea need a striker to replace Kerr. They are the favorites to sign Khadija Shaw, who is out of contract at Manchester City.
Arsenal, meanwhile, will likely be looking for squad depth to help them cope more easily with the congested fixture schedule next season.
They have also been heavily linked with some big signings such as Bayern Munich and England midfielder Georgia Stanway and Barcelona full-back Ona Batlle.
