Chelsea Women was far from having their best night against Arsenal, failed to capitalize on the quality of Lauren James, and fell to the city rival in the UWCL; now, it will have to turn it around at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea, hampered by various injuries and physical issues, came close to taking the lead in the seventh minute, when Lucy Bronze set up Alyssa Thompson on the right wing; the American winger cut inside, and her shot was deflected onto the post by Laia Codina.
The early pressure continued when Lauren James got away from Codina and found space to shoot, but her strike hit the same post that Thompson had struck moments earlier.
Against the run of play, however, Arsenal broke the deadlock. A free kick from Katie McCabe found the head of Stina Blackstenius, who slipped between Erin Cuthbert and Keira Walsh to head home against a helpless Hannah Hampton.
Chelsea found itself two goals down in the 32nd minute. A well-crafted move ended with Chloe Kelly collecting the ball unopposed 25 meters from goal, and her speculative shot slipped under the arms of Hampton.
The Blues put the ball in the net just before halftime when Veerle Buurman rose above Codina to head home a free kick after a deflection from Kadeisha Buchanan left goalkeeper Anneke Borbe stranded. However, the referee whistled for an alleged foul by Buurman and, inexplicably, VAR saw no reason to review the play, causing an uproar on the sideline.
With 25 minutes remaining, Chelsea pulled one back in spectacular fashion. Arsenal thought it had cleared the ball after a corner, but James appeared 25 meters from goal and sent the ball into the top corner with a sensational shot with her left foot, her weaker one, on the half-volley.
That reprieve was short-lived, however, as Arsenal restored its two-goal advantage. On a quick counterattack, Buchanan came out to pressure Blackstenius, who instead passed the ball to Alessia Russo to finish.
James forced Borbe into a great save with another magnificent long-range strike as Chelsea looked to cut the deficit again, and they saw another goal disallowed for a foul after Buchanan kicked the Arsenal goalkeeper to push the ball into the net from a corner.
At the other end, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd made a crucial goal-line clearance to deny Lotte Wubben-Moy, and so ended a hard-fought first leg with a 3-1 scoreline.
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