Manchester City and Chelsea will go head to head in the Women’s FA Cup Final after an entertaining weekend of women’s football.
Chelsea Women & Manchester City Women Advance to FA Cup Final
One-Sided Win
Manchester City Women easily beat West Ham in the first semi-final clash. Ellen White and Chloe Kelly put them in the lead before Lisa Evans pulled one back for West Ham.
Two second-half goals from Lauren Hemp saw three-time winners City advance to a third final in four seasons.
Manchester City manager Gareth Taylor, speaking to BBC Sport, said: “I feel really proud of this team. We’ve had a lack of preparation time off the back of the international break.
“Compared to our performance previously I thought some of our play was really good. We had some scary moments at times but we deserve our place in the final. It’s great to look forward to a Wembley final.”
Arsenal’s Game to Lose
Chelsea and Arsenal were unsurprisingly well-matched throughout the contest. In fact, Arsenal carved out the better chances of the two early on, with many wondering how they managed to avoid scoring.
Arsenal allowed mistakes to creep into their game and Chelsea eagerly capitalised, first through Sam Kerr, with Ji So-Yun doubling the lead just ten minutes later.
Chelsea manager Emma Hayes, speaking to BBC Two, said: “The first 20 minutes, we were horrific. But once we executed the game plan, we stifled them and they struggled. The goal came at the right time and we dominated them.
“We got a clean sheet and we limited them to one chance in the first half. Defensively we were solid. That’s our foundation.
“This win means nothing for the league. We’re in the final, at Wembley. That’s where we want to be.”
Massive Rematch
Chelsea and Manchester City recently compete against one another in the Conti Cup final with Manchester City emerging victorious to break Chelsea’s win streak in the competition.
City will be aiming to do that once again as Chelsea aim to go back-to-back in the FA Cup with a win here. In the league, Chelsea seems to have Manchester City’s number but it is City who takes the spoils in recent cup clashes.
Whatever happens, two of the strongest teams in English women’s football will clash in the Women’s FA Cup final.
Despite both teams’ domination of this tournament since Arsenal last won it in 2015, they have never faced off in the final of the Women’s FA Cup,
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