On Thursday, Emma Hayes warned that Lauren James could miss Chelsea's crunch Women's Super League meeting with Arsenal through illness. And if this is James some way off 100 per cent, the rest of the WSL should be shaking in fear, with the Lionesses star stealing the show during her team's highly-impressive 3-1 win over the Gunners.
After an utterly bizarre 30-minute delay, caused by a socks-related mix-up, the hosts flew out of the traps. It took Chelsea just 15 minutes to find the breakthrough, with James showing expert composure before smashing home at the near post - though Manuela Zinsberger should have done better.
James was involved in the second goal shortly after, teeing up Erin Cuthbert whose shot on goal was poked into the net by Sjoeke Nusken. Nusken grabbed another before the break in strange circumstances, with Johanna Rytting Kaneryd's shot rebounding in off her backside.
Arsenal rung the changes at half-time, but it had little effect on the direction of traffic. Kaneryd saw two decent efforts saved in the second period and James went close too, before a Catarina Macario own goal trimmed the home side's lead to two late on. It was a winning margin that did not do justice to an injury-ravaged Chelsea's dominance, with this result moving them six points ahead of their London rivals in the WSL title race.
GOAL rates Chelsea's players from Stamford Bridge...
