This was undoubtedly a big occasion at the Bridge. The fans in the West Stand held their cards aloft to spell out the word 'Blues' ahead of kick-off, and both sets of fans raised their voices in support of their respective sides.

The Gunners took control in the opening stages of the game, hitting the woodwork twice as they dominated possession. But we played patiently and gradually got ourselves back into the contest before an emphatic finish from Thompson put us 1-0 up before half-time, to the delight of the home supporters.

The second half saw both teams exchange chances; however, we pulled together strongly and, helped by our fans, saw out the victory to take all three points against our rivals at the Bridge.

Changes made

Sonia Bompastor made four alterations to her starting line-up from the side that recorded a 1-0 win over Austria Vienna in midweek. Livia Peng, Sandy Baltimore, Veerle Buurman and Sjoeke Nusken made way for Hannah Hampton, Lucy Bronze, Lauren James and Lexi Potter.

Bronze took the captain's armband for the afternoon, and a fit-again Aggie Beever-Jones was named on the bench.

The visitors dominated possession in the opening 15 minutes, taking four shots on goal, but they failed to threaten Hampton with any real penetration or attempts on target.

That was until Gunners captain Kim Little got a fraction in front of Buchanan on the right-hand side of the penalty area and pulled the trigger, striking the woodwork with her effort from a tight angle.

Sparking into life

Then came our first real chance of the game when Ellie Carpenter put in a dangerous ball on the right that Wieke Kaptein couldn't quite reach. The ball fell to Melvine Malard, but a crowd of Arsenal players prevented her getting any clean contact on a shot.

Renee Slegers' side made a quick breakaway straight after that chance, and the ball fell to Mariona Caldentey in acres of space. Her shot crashed against the near post, but it looked like Hampton had it covered.

From that point, the Blues slowly gained a foothold into the game, increasing our possession of the ball and looking much more assured.

The breakthrough

Just as it was looking like the teams would head into the break all square, a brilliant passage of play gave us the advantage.

Arsenal attempted to play out from the back from a goal kick, and the Blues were alive with our press as Wieke Kaptein intercepted the ball, finding Carpenter. The Australian evaded a tackle before Malard laid it off to Keira Walsh, who took a shot from the edge of the penalty area.

When goalkeeper Anneke Borbe could only parry, Thompson seized her opportunity to take hold of the ball and fired in with power from the left corner of the six-yard box.

We could've even had two before the break. Carpenter played a long ball down the channel to Malard. The No. 9 sprinted into the box, forcing a save from Borbe and winning a Chelsea corner.

Pushing for more

The second half began with a looping cross into the box from James, and as Borbe spilt the ball, Malard was almost there to net the rebound, but the offside flag stopped any chance of us doubling our advantage.

Hampton was called into action shortly afterwards to deny a shot from Lisa Baum, the England international getting down well to keep out a strike with plenty of power.

Malard went close again just after the hour mark, receiving a pass from Bronze on the edge of the box before her shot rolled agonisingly wide of the far post.

Both sides continued to have chances as substitute Nusken nearly scored with her first touch, beating Leah Williamson but seeing her chance extinguished by the onrushing Borbe. Up at the other end, Katie McCabe made a crucial block on a shot from Arsenal substitute Chloe Kelly.

Seeing out the win

As the minutes ticked down towards full time, the tension was high inside Stamford Bridge. Steph Catley whipped in a corner, which was punched away by Hampton and hacked clear by Sandy Baltimore. Arsenal were determined to throw the kitchen sink at us in an attempt to snatch a late equaliser.

The referee indicated there would be five minutes remaining and there was a gasp around Stamford Bridge. Carpenter then ran the length of the pitch to put a cross into the box, but in the end, there was no one to meet it.

Yet this helped to ease the pressure on the Blues just a little, as we ran the clock down by keeping the ball down that right-hand flank, and ultimately saw out the win with complete professionalism.

What it means...

The win leaves us just two points behind Women's Super League leaders Manchester City, with an away league fixture against West Ham United to come next Sunday 4 October.

Up next...

We travel to Bompastor's former side Lyon as we take on the French champions in the league phase of the Women's Champions League on Wednesday evening.

The teams

Chelsea: Hampton, Carpenter, Bronze (c), Buchanan, McCabe (Buurman 89), Walsh, Potter, Kaptein, Thompson (Baltimore 88), James (Nusken 67), Malard (Beever-Jones 79)
Unused substitutes: Peng, Girma, Bjorn, Dragoni, Hamano
Scorers: Thompson 39
Booked: McCabe 45, Bronze 45+3

Arsenal: Borbe, Fox, Williamson, Catley, Batlle (Cerci 81), Little (C), Stanway (Blackstenius 61), Cooney-Cross, Caldentey (Foord 61), Baum (Kelly 61), Russo
Unused substitutes: Misa, Wubben-Moy, Smith, Reuteler, Holmberg

Referee: Emily Heaslip