LONDON — Arsenal defeated Chelsea 3-1 in the first leg of the UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-final in London.

Stina Blackstenius opened the scoring for Arsenal by heading Katie McCabe's free kick into the goal. Chloe Kelly scored for Arsenal with a long-range strike that struck the back of the net.

Chelsea pulled one back through Lauren James, who scored with a curling strike into the top corner. Veerle Buurman's header was disallowed by referee Alina Pesu for a foul on Laia Codina.

VAR did not overturn referee Alina Pesu's decision to disallow Veerle Buurman's goal. Lucy Bronze commented on the decision, saying, "But I think as soon as the ref gave it, VAR are not going to overturn it."

"It was disappointing because I feel like we could have swung the momentum back a little bit and then it just took a little bit longer," Bronze said about the disallowed goal. "It would have been an important goal to score at half-time."

Arsenal created 11 scoring opportunities throughout the match, six of which were on target.

Arsenal are the reigning UEFA Women's Champions League winners. Last summer, Arsenal beat Barcelona in the final to win their second UEFA Women's Champions League title. Chelsea have never won the UEFA Women's Champions League.