Manchester City thrashed Brighton & Hove Albion 4-0 at Wembley Stadium, London, to claim their fourth Women’s FA Cup title.
Khadija Shaw’s 38th-minute header and Alex Greenwood’s free-kick in the sixth minute of first-half injury time put Andree Jeglertz’s City into a comfortable half-time lead, having had to weather Brighton’s strong initial attacking press.
Second-half goals from Aoba Fujino and Vivianne Miedema wrapped up City’s fourth Women’s FA Cup title with a 67th-minute finish, as the Cityzens achieved a first domestic Women’s Super League and Women’s FA Cup double – having previously done WSL and Women’s League Cup double plus the domestic cup double versions previously
Despite featuring in their maiden Women’s FA Cup Final, Brighton relished their underdog tag early on as Fran Kirby saw a fifth-minute shot blocked, before Kiko Seike fired over on the rebound.
Brighton’s press almost dealt City a 13th-minute blow as Ayaka Yamashita collided heavily with Madison Haley, but the Japanese goalkeeper was soon able to continue after treatment whilst Greenwood blocked a follow-up shot to further spare City’s blushes.
Maisie Symonds and Seike put further shots wide whilst Marisa Olislagers forced a 26th-minute save from Yamashita to prevent her tame flicked effort going into the net.
City eventually settled on the half-hour mark and almost took a 35th-minute lead after Shaw slipped Grace Clinton forward, but the midfielder’s tame shot was saved by Chiamaka Nnadozie.
Nnadozie however couldn’t keep City out three minutes later as a move up the left flank fell to Greenwood who was able to swing a cross, which was nodded into the top right corner by Shaw to put City in front as Nnadozie attempted to make a save.
Brighton refused to cave in before half time as Manuela Vanegas forced a 45th-minute save from Yamashita.
Dario Vidosic’s Seagulls however were dealt a huge blow in their hopes of a maiden Women’s FA Cup title after Symonds brought Shaw down in the fifth minute of first-half injury-time, which allowed Greenwood to extend City’s lead with a free-kick into the bottom right corner.
City subsequently soaked up Brighton’s early second-half pressure whilst Clinton saw another tame shot saved by Nnadozie.
Brighton eventually saw their dreams of an unlikely comeback evaporate in the 67th minute as Andree Jeglertz’s City burst forward, with Shaw’s cutback pass allowed to roll past Vivianne Miedema towards Fujino who cut into space and fired a powerful left-footed shot in to clinch victory.
Fujino almost netted her second goal in the 83rd-minute from a short pass from a corner, yet Nnadozie was alert at her near-right post to deflect the shot away.
Miedema eventually put the icing on City’s third domestic double with a 87th-minute header from Kerstin Casparij’s cross, albeit via a deflective touch from Nnadozie as she failed to stop the ball crossing the line with her outstretched right hand.
The result also meant that City’s Laura Coombs ended her career on a winning note following her decision to retire at the end of this season, having made a late substitute appearance in place of Shaw in the 85th minute.
Teams
Brighton: Chiamaka Nnadozie, Charlize Rule (Mpome 71′), Caitlin Hayes, Moeka Minami, Manuela Vanegas, Kiko Seike (Rafaji 71′), Maisie Symonds, Jelena Cankovic, Marisa Olislagers (McLauchlan 79′), Fran Kirby (Noordam 80′), Madison Haley
Substitutes: Sophie Baggaley, Carla Camacho, Rosa Kafaji, Rachel McLauchlan, Maelys Mpome, Nadine Noordam, Bex Rayner, Fuka Tsunoda, Olaug Tvedten
Manchester City: Ayaka Yamashita, Kerstin Casparij, Jade Rose, Alex Greenwood, Rebecca Knaak, Laura Blindkilde Brown (Lohmann 77′), Yui Hasegawa, Kerolin (Fujino 61′), Grace Clinton (Miedema 61′), Lauren Hemp (Fowler 77′), Khadija Shaw (Coombs 85′)
Substitutes: Laura Coombs, Eartha Cumings, Mary Fowler, Aoba Fujino, Sydney Lohmann, Vivianne Miedema, Lily Murphy, Leila Ouahabi, Gracie Prior
Referee – Melissa Burgin
Leave a Reply