ARSENAL became a laughing sock as they were forced to make a late dash to the Chelsea megastore ahead of tonight’s 3-1 defeat.
The heavyweight WSL showdown was due to kick off at 7pm but the action was delayed at Stamford Bridge due a kit clash.
Chelsea were playing in their blue shirts while Arsenal were lining up in their red ones, leaving supporters bemused at what the hold up was.
Along with a series of laughing emojis, one post read: “One team plays in blue. One in red.
“Delayed due to kit clash. Only in the Barclays WSL.”
Another asked: “Kick-off has been delayed due to a kit clash. It’s not clear yet how long kick-off has been delayed for????? Eh? How?”
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“Total joke,” commented another while a fourth called it “amateurish”.
And a fifth wrote: “The match won’t begin at 7pm as scheduled, apparently because of a kit clash. Eh? Don’t they wear blue and red?”
However, the problem soon emerged that both teams had white socks on, leading to referee Rebecca Welch to intervene.
During the previous meeting at the Emirates, due to being hosts, Arsenal wore white socks with their red kit while Chelsea had blue.
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That was due to be switched around this evening, with even Mikel Arteta’s Gunners donning red socks when they played Mauricio Pochettino’s side there in October.
However, Arsenal had allegedly forgotten about the change and had not brought their red ones – which led to a trip to the Chelsea megastore.
Soon the away team were back out on the pitch going through a second warm-up wearing black Chelsea socks, which had been purchased from the Blues’ club shop, with tape over the Nike logo.
The socks were on offer at a reduced price of £12.99 a pair.
Arsenal legend Ian Wright was quick to slam the scenario, posting on X: “Embarrassing this. Ridiculous.”
While those watching from home were left twiddling their thumbs, the Stamford Bridge DJ entertained the crowd with some classic tunes such as Failure by Swans, The Beast in Me by Nick Lowe and Gravity by Coldplay.
But finally, after a half hour delay, the action finally got underway at 7.30pm in the bumper WSL title clash.
And the cheeky Chelsea social media admin even turned Wright’s frown upside down as they posted a sock emoji at kick off along with the words: “Ready to work our socks off.”
A record crowd of 32,970 then watched on as Sjoeke Nusken helped Chelsea sock it to Arsenal.
While the kit clash caused chaos, there was nothing chaotic about Emma Hayes’ side display.
The Blues boss demanded a Chelsea standard performance and that is precisely what she got with the team going 3-0 up in 32 minutes.
Lauren James opened the scoring running onto Nusken’s pass wrongfooting her markers to fire past goalkeeper Manuela Zinsberger.
Arsenal’s tough start got worse with Nusken poking the ball beyond the shot stopper with the visitors looking shellshocked
The Gunners were caught out again with Rytting Kaneryd pouncing on the ball following Leah Williamson’s free-kick before making a powerful run into the box, and her shot was deflected home by Nusken.
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The second spell saw Alessia Russo, Frida Maanum and Emily Fox enter the fray in place of Steph Catley, Victoria Pelova and Stina Blackstenius.
The Gunners nabbed a late consolation through a Kim Little volley but the league leaders held out to seal the win and open a six-point gap over Arsenal.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
