Emma Hayes’s side steam rolled Arsenal yesterday afternoon coming out as 3-0 winners in the prestigious FA Cup Final, in front of 40,942 fans at Wembley on the 50th anniversary of the competition.
Chelsea began magnificently, consequently Fran Kirby put The Blues ahead in just 3 minutes after a mix up in the Arsenal defence. Arsenal’s attacking players lacked creativity and Chelsea’s defence were dominant. Fran Kirby and also Sam Kerr hitting the woodwork in the first half in which Chelsea would have surely thought that they deserved to be in a healthier lead than they were.
Arsenal came out stronger in the second half but still couldn’t manage a shot on target in the entire game. A Sam Kerr brace later and Chelsea were crowned FA Cup champions for only the third time in their history where all them have been under the watch of boss Emma Hayes. Kerr’s goals were a thing of beauty, especially her last in which she produced an audacious dink over the helpless Manuela Zinsberger which sent the Chelsea faithful wild. So revenge it was for Chelsea after losing to Arsenal in the opening game of the WSL 3-2 they put them to the sword at Wembley in which Magdalena Erikkson lifted the infamous cup.
Player ratings
Ann-Katrin Berger (GK) – 7/10 – As mentioned Arsenal didn’t have a single shot on target so she didn’t have much to do. However her distribution was accurate and precise.
Millie Bright (CB) – 8/10 – Dominant in the air and was calm and composed on the ball.
Jess Carter (CB) – 7/10 – Started of nervously giving away the ball in a number of dangerous positions but she grew into the game and made some great tackles.
Magdalena Erikkson (CB) – 8/10 – A proper captains display organising her defence and guiding her team comfortably to victory.
Erin Cuthbert (RWB) – 8/10 – May have been fortunate not to have given away a penalty, but apart from that she was a constant threat down the right and also defended heroically.
Sophie Ingle (CM) – 7/10 – Ingle’s calm passing gave Chelsea the perfect platform to build their attacks from, overall dictated the game well.
Melanie Leupolz (CM) – 8/10 – Constant pressing and an attacking threat which rattled the Arsenal players made Leupolz a key attribute to Chelsea’s win.
Guro Reiten (LWB) – 7/10 – Full of energy, up and down the left flank causing all sorts of problems for Arsenal.
Jessie Fleming (RW) – 7/10 – Worked tremendously hard off the ball and tended to be the one from the front three to drop the deepest to support the midfield.
Sam Kerr (ST) – 9/10 – What a player! Was so close to the hattrick if she was to have stuck away her big chance in the first half, but instead scored two insane goals in the second half. The Arsenal defenders are bound to have nightmares about her!
Fran Kirby (LW) – 9/10 – Majestic from Kirby as she got her side off to a flying start with a tidy finish inside the first three minutes, and later grabbed an assist for Kerr’s first goal. Brilliant performance!
Substitutes
Pernille Harder – 75′ – (RW) – 6/10 – Not a bad sub to bring on but at this point Chelsea were just looking to keep the ball and run the clock down.
Bethany England – 86′ – (ST) – 6/10 – Had no real time to make a significant impact.
Ji So-Yun – 86′ – (CM) – 6/10 – Had a couple good touches of the ball but at this point Chelsea were coasting to victory.
Drew Spence – 87′ – (LWB) – 6/10 – No real impact on the game at this late stage.
Aniek Nouwen – 94′ – (CM) – N/A – By the time she stepped a foot onto the field the referee was blowing the final whistle.
