Pressure piles on frustrated Jonas Eidevall as Chelsea best Arsenal at Emirates

They had the majority of the chances in the second half with the home fans up on their feet every team their attackers neared the penalty area. However, it simply wasn’t to be for the home side as they were denied by an unrelenting Chelsea rearguard.

While Sonia Bompastor, Chelsea’s manager, spent 90 minutes on the edge of her box, cheering on her side and passionately celebrating her team’s goals, Eidevall cut a frustrated, defeated figure.

Questions were raised around how Chelsea would fare in their first season post-Emma Hayes, but Bompastor’s team have taken off with a flying start. They are yet to draw or lose and are currently top of the WSL with nine points after three games, while Eidevall’s side has picked up just five points from four matches.

He has been sufficiently backed by the Arsenal board and has a wealth of talent at his disposal, so his team’s shaky start to the season points to wider issues around his tactics and player management.

And despite the home crowd cheering on their side until the final whistle, there are signs that fans are beginning to turn on their manager of three years, perhaps most evidently demonstrated by one who appeared to turn up to the game with Eidevall’s P45 in hand.

A midweek Champions League tie against Valerenga awaits Arsenal before they make the short trip to West Ham next Sunday. Nothing short of two wins will satisfy the fans or provide any sort of respite to the pressure Eidevall now faces.

“I gave absolutely everything today in preparation for this game,” the manager said at full-time. “You can see that the players gave everything on the pitch and I think that’s the part you can control as a coach.

“That’s the part we can control and we just need to focus on the next match.

“We need to make sure we recover, make sure we prepare, and to make sure that we’re giving absolutely everything.”