Sam Kerr’s 68th minute winner saw Chelsea defeat Manchester United 1-0 to secure their fifth Women’s FA Cup title.
Kerr fired Chelsea ahead from Pernille Harder’s 68th minute pass after the substitute pounced upon Guro Reiten’s short pass.
Chelsea eventally clung on to clinch their fifth Women’s FA Cup title in front of a world-record domestic club-level crowd of 77,390 spectators at Wembley Stadium.
Utd meanwhile are now winless in 10 meetings across Chelsea in all competitions, despite having dominated this Final despite several wasteful chances throughout the match.
Despite possessing the experience of six FA Cup final appearances behind them plus three changes from their midweek Women’s Super League win over Leicester, Chelsea knew that they couldn’t underestimate fearless Man Utd.
That instinct proved founded after just 20 seconds into the match as Alessia Russo played a short curled pass forward for Ella Toone, with the midfielder eventually teeing Leah Galton to sweep in from close range but the goal was disallowed due to Toone being offside when she met Russo’s pass.
Utd nevertheless continued to dominate early possession as Galton and Nikita Parris tangled when chasing a sixth minute pass up the left flank, which ultimately culminated in Russo’s header being blocked by in Ann-Katrin Berger after the England international met Katie Zelem’s cross.
Chelsea meanwhile struggled to find a foothold into the match aside from momentary break-ups in play and were lucky to not fall behind in the 15th minute, as Parris picked up Toone’s pass but curled straight into Berger’s arms.
Man Utd’s first serious piece of defending however came two minutes later as Hannah Blundell conceded a free-kick with a foul on Lauren James, from which Maren Mjelde headed Eve Perriset’s cross wide across goal.
Emma Hayes’ Blues though were again lucky to not concede the opening goal as Utd won a 32nd minute free-kick just inside their half, which was whipped directly into the box and fell for Millie Turner to shoot upon turn but Berger punched away from the bottom-right corner.
Galton was the next to test Chelsea’s resolve as she met Russo’s 37th minute pullback cross from the right flank into the box, yet she could only mishit her shot over the bar from close-range.
Utd however almost fell behind four minutes from half-time after James flicked a header towards the top-left corner, which Mary Earps was luckily well-placed to save with a quick reactionary move across her goal line.
Chelsea eventually clung on into half-time with the score goalless despite Turner heading over in injury-time for Marc Skinner’s Red Devils, having met Zelem’s free-kick at the far post after Niamh Charles had fouled Parris on Utd’s right flank.
Any hopes of an early second-half improvement from the reigning champions in response to a sluggish first-half were soon flattened, as Mjelde was intercepted just five minutes into the restart but Russo whose long-range shot was saved by Berger.
Utd thereafter continued to pile the pressure upon Chelsea with Berger once again saving the Blues’ skin with a 54th minute save, as she denied Galton after the 28 year-old pounced upon Maya Le Tissier’s long ball.
Eve Perriset then denied Russo a close-range header fron Parris’ cross with her own headed clearance, before the latter pair combined from the corner-kick as Russo’s header across goal was flicked wide by Parris.
Chelsea eventually created their first chance of the half in the 59th minute after Le Tissier nodded a direct ball into the path of Sam Kerr, from which the Australian teed up Harder but the Danish striker’s shot was denied by Earps.
That chance eventually sparked the four-time winners into life and Harder saw a 66th minute shot blocked by Blundell, only as far as Erin Cuthbert who rifled over the bar on the rebound.
Utd ultimately were made to pay two minutes later for their wasteful end product as Guro Reiten slid a short through ball forward for Harder, from which she swept across for Kerr to smash in to break the deadlock.
Substitute, Sophie Ingle missed a huge chance to wrap up a fifth Women’s FA Cup title for Chelsea, as she smashed a 81st minute cutback pass from Kerr over the bar.
Come the final whistle, Chelsea clung on to secure a third consecutive title which marked their fifth overall triumph in this competition, this time in front of a historic crowd of 77,390 fans, bettering the 60,739 fans who witnessed Atletico Madrid against Barcelona in Spain in March 2019.
Speaking post-match to BBC One, Chelsea Women’s manager, Emma Hayes joked that Wembley is “home”, due to reaching the home of English Football on more occasions than they’ve played at Stamford Bridge.
Hayes proceeded to praise her team for their performance, as she continued: “You can’t underestimate the game accumulation, we looked so tired in the first half. We had to kick each other at half time.
“We know how to stay in a game and even if we weren’t at our best we have to work out how to change it. We had to possess the ball better and then find the quality in the final third.”
What’s Next?
Chelsea are back in WSL action on Wednesday 17 May as they head to West Ham knowing a win would move them onto the top of the table, and just two wins away from the title unless they beat Arsenal and Man Utd slip up next weekend.
Skinner’s Red Devils meanwhile host cross-city rivals, Manchester City in a crucial WSL showdown at Leigh Sport Village, in a 6:45pm BST kick-off on Sunday 21 May live on Sky Sports in the UK where a win would likely take the title fight down to the final day of this season.
Teams
Chelsea: Ann-Katrin Berger, Eve Perisset, Maren Mjelde, Magdalena Eriksson, Niamh Charles (Carter 72′), Melanie Leupolz (Ingle 57′), Erin Cuthbert, Jessie Fleming (Harder 57′), Lauren James (Buchanan 88′), Guro Reiten, Sam Kerr
Substitutes: Zecira Musovic, Sophie Ingle, Jess Carter, Katerina Svitkova, Johanna Rytting-Kaneryd, Pernille Harder, Kadeisha Buchanan, Alsu Abdullina, Jelena Cankovic
Manchester United: Mary Earps, Ona Batlle, Maya Le Tissier, Millie Turner, Hannah Blundell (Garcia 79′), Hayley Ladd (Thomas 90+1′), Katie Zelem, Nikita Parris (Williams 61′), Ella Toone (Mannion 79′), Leah Galton, Alessia Russo
Substitutes: Aoife Mannion, Vilde Boe Risa, Martha Thomas, Jayde Riviere, Lisa Naalsund, Lucia Garcia, Rachel Williams, Estelle Cascarino, Sophie Baggaley,
Referee: Emily Heaslip
Attendance: 77,390
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