First blood went to Sonia Bompastor's side thanks to a moment of quality from Thompson. The USA international used her pace to break beyond the Arsenal midfield, played a one-two with Johnna Rytting Kaneryd and clipped a delightful finish over Arsenal goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar.

The Blues had the better of the first half but, in the second, had plenty of defending to do. The Gunners tried again and again to breach the Chelsea defence and finally managed to do so in the final minutes as Russo drove an effort beyond Hannah Hampton.

It meant the points were shared, although Bompastor continues to be unbeaten against domestic opposition. Chelsea also remain top of the Women's Super League table.

Flying off the mark

Bompastor made five changes to the side that began our 2-0 win over London City at Stamford Bridge last weekend, bringing in Niamh Charles, Rytting Kaneryd, Wieke Kaptein, Catarina Macario and Thompson.

Two of those fashioned our first chance of the game. With just two minutes gone, Macario turned and slipped Rytting Kaneryd through on goal, and although the Sweden international beat van Domselaar with her shot, she was unlucky to see it ricochet off the post.

And after Nathalie Bjorn made a crucial tackle to prevent Russo from getting into a one-on-one situation against Hampton, the Blues went up the other end and made the breakthrough.

The chance was fashioned by the pace of Thompson, who ran at the Gunners' defence and fed the ball through to Rytting Kaneryd. She knocked the ball back to Thompson, who looped her shot into the top corner to open the scoring.

Defending the lead

Arsenal immediately pushed on to find an equaliser and a Beth Mead corner forced Hannah Hampton to make a crucial save. Lucy Bronze then produced a last-ditch block on a Russo attempt on the rebound.

Bompastor's side remained as sharp in defence as they were in attack, and another Russo opportunity was thwarted by the combination of Bjorn and Bronze on the half-hour mark.

And as Arsenal attempted an foray down the opposite side, Millie Bright intervened against Stina Blackstenius with a tackle, before Hampton dived on the ball to snuff out the danger.

Surviving a scare

After the break, the Blues pushed forward once more. Kaptein forced a double block from Lotte Wubben-Moy before Van Domselaar got down well to save a follow-up shot from Charles.

The home side then fired a big warning shot, as Blackstenius fired the ball into the back of the net following a Mead corner. But what Arsenal thought was an equaliser was chalked off for handball.

Blackstenius threatened once again with a shot inside the penalty area just after the hour mark, and only a save from Hampton and a hooked clearance from Walsh kept the clean sheet intact.

As the game headed into the final 15 minutes, substitute Ellie Carpenter burst forward down the wing, got to the byline and pulled the ball back for Sam Kerr, also a second-half substitute.

The striker played a backheeled pass to Erin Cuthbert, but it was just behind the Scotland international, and she couldn't get her shot away before the ball was cleared.

Arsenal level

The home side wouldn't lie down, and Bjorn just scooped away a shot from Frida Maanum before a series of blocks and clearances from the Blues in the face of relentless attacks.

However, with three minutes of normal time to play, Arsenal found their equaliser as Russo volleyed beyond Hampton following a neat pass from Frida Maanum.

The Gunners then thought they'd won this derby contest, as Maanum dinked a shot over Hampton and into the net, but the flag quickly went up and the attempt was ruled out for offside.

A high-level encounter finished all square, with Chelsea having shown their quality all over the pitch. Our unbeaten record in the WSL era under Sonia Bompastor remains intact.

What it means...

Chelsea remain at the top of the table, but could be overtaken by Manchester City if they beat Everton on Sunday.

What comes next...

Chelsea travel to Austria to face St. Polten in the Women's Champions League on Tuesday evening.

The teams

Chelsea: Hampton, Bronze (Carpenter 61), Bright, Bjorn, Charles, Walsh, Cuthbert, Kaptein (Jean-Francois 86), Rytting Kaneryd, Thompson (Baltimore 86), Macario (Kerr 71)
Unused subs: Peng, Buurman, Nusken, Girma, Hamano
Scorers: Thompson 9

Arsenal: Van Domselaar, McCabe (Hinds 62), Fox, Catley, Wubben-Moy, Caldentey, Pelova (Cooney-Cross 71), Mead (Smith 62), Foord, Russo, Blackstenius (Maanum 71)
Unused subs: Borbe, Codina, Kelly, Nighswonger, Harwood
Scorers: Russo 87
Booked: McCabe 55, Pelova 64
Referee: Melissa Burgin