That’s it for our FA Cup final blog. Thanks for your company and emails, and don’t forget to read Suzanne Wrack’s match report from Wembley. Goodnight!
Sam Kerr’s verdict
“The Double: it’s amazing feeling to be part of this club. It’s the best club in the world and I’m just so proud.”
Yep, she was very keen to do one and join in the celebrations.
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Chelsea have won the FA Cup!
Magda Eriksson and Millie Bright share the honour of lifting the trophy, and the players all start jigging around to the bloody Fratellis. I know the song’s called Chelsea Dagger, but come on. Even with that dubious choice of music it’s a delightful scene, when an entire season’s toil can finally be celebrated. We’ll never fully understand the sacrifice that great sports teams make, or how good moments like this feel as a result.
It's official, Chelsea are FA Cup winners 2021/21.
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) May 15, 2022
Millie Bright and Magdalena Eriksson lift the old cup together. 🏆
📺💻📱 Live on @BBCOne, @BBCiPlayer & @BBCSounds#WomensFACup #BBCFACup #BBCFootball #CHEMCI
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A smiling Emma Hayes leads her team up to collect their winners’ medals. She has now won 11 major honours: five league titles, four FA Cups and two League Cups. By any standards, she is an all-time great.
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🔵 @ChelseaFCW are having a party at @wembleystadium 🎉#WomensFACupFinal pic.twitter.com/dFF0dsDlc2
— Vitality Women's FA Cup (@VitalityWFACup) May 15, 2022
Suzanne Wrack’s match report
Erin Cuthbert’s verdict
“I struggle to find words to sum that up. What a performance from the girls. We knew it would be a tough slog. It’s so hard when you concede five minutes from time; it really does take the wind out of your sails. We had to regroup at the start of extra time, and we found a level that we’ve not found in ourselves.
“D’you know what, I honestly don’t score many goals. It’s an amazing honour. I thought it was gonna be the winning goal and it wasn’t! It doesnae matter if it was a good goal or not – Sam’s was a deflection and that’s as important because it was the winner.
“We’ve faced a lot of adversity this year – Covid, injuries – and we’ve had to use the squad. I think that really helped us today. I’m just so proud to end the season on a high. [Waves her POTM champagne around] I’ll be drinking this all tonight, thank you!”
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The player of the match is Erin Cuthbert. Not content with being an elemental force in midfield, she put Chelsea 2-1 up with a stunning goal.
The other two were scored by the inevitable Sam Kerr, who has apparentlybeen credited with the winning goal. Four goals in a week, to win the two biggest prizes in English football: yeah, she’d have taken that.
Your 2021-22 #WomensFACup CHAMPIONS: @ChelseaFCW! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/dteVg8ydSm
— Vitality Women's FA Cup (@VitalityWFACup) May 15, 2022
One Step Beyond, the Chelsea anthem, is blaring out across Wembley. They’re a great side, who deserve everything they get, but you have to feel for City. The margins are so fine. One split-second misjudgement from Alanna Kennedy, one deflection off Alex Greenwood. And like that, it’s gone.
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That was a marvellous, which could have gone either way. The only sadness is that a game full of outstanding goals was settled by both a mistake and a deflection. The manner of the winning goal haunt Alanna Kennedy for a long time.
Full time: Chelsea 3-2 Manchester City
Chelsea have done the Double Double! For the second year in a row, and the third in five, they have won the WSL and the FA Cup. They also won the Continental Cup last year, so technically this season has been an abject comedown, but they’ll get over it.
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120+1 min Roebuck stays back in the end, and the corner is driven straight into the arms of Ann-Katrin Berger. There are two minutes of added time.
120 min City win a corner on the right. It’s now or never, and Ellie Roebuck is coming forward...
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118 min: City substitution Vicky Losada on, Keira Walsh off.
118 min: Chelsea substitution Maren Mjelde is on for Ji So-yun, who came on as a sub in the second half of normal time.
116 min Hemp’s cross is cleared by Carter but only to Weir, who spanks high and wide from 25 yards with her right foot. That wasn’t the right decision.
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114 min Chelsea have parked the bus and frankly I don’t blame them. It’s been an exhausting match, mentally and physically.
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113 min Bronze is fouled by Andersson on the right wing. Greenwood’s free-kick is headed away well by the backpedalling Cuthbert.
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110 min Andersson’s corner leads to a game of head tennis in the City area. Eventually Kerr hits a volley that is blocked by Greenwood in the six-yard box.
109 min Raso tries to scurry away from Andersson, who does brilliantly to keep pace and then win a goalkick off Raso.
106 min A half chance for City within 25 seconds of the restart. Bronze’s cutback is collected by Coombs, who smacks the boucing ball over the bar from a tight angle.
106 min Peep peep!
That might go down as an Alex Greenwood own goal, in fact. We’ve just seen a replay which suggested Kerr’s shot might have been going wide of the far post. That would be especially cruel on Greenwood, who has been outstanding and did precisely nowt wrong.
Half time in extra time: Chelsea 3-2 Man City
Sam Kerr’s second goal means Manchester City have go to the well once again.
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105 min: Chance for City! Blakstad’s cross is headed across goal by White and volleyed wide by the off balance Raso.
104 min Here’s Sam Kerr’s second goal of the game, which restored Chelsea’s lead. She’s had a quiet game, actually, and she’s still scored two.
Chelsea have the advantage! 👀@samkerr1’s deflected shot fires past Roebuck in the City net!#WomensFACupFinal @ChelseaFCW pic.twitter.com/GfKq0N4w8e
— Vitality Women's FA Cup (@VitalityWFACup) May 15, 2022
102 min Sheesh, football is cruel sometimes. I’m fairly sure that would have been a comfortable save for Roebuck without the deflection off Greenwood.
Alanna Kennedy is devastated, because it was her mistake that led to the goal. She ran past a bouncing ball just inside the Chelsea half, which allowed Sam Kerr to lead a two-v-one break with Jessie Fleming. Kerr ran to just inside the City area, used Fleming by not using her and hit a right-footed shot that took a big deflection off the stretching Alex Greenwood and wrong-footed Ellie Roebuck.
What an awful moment for Kennedy, a split-second misjudgement that could be so costly.
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GOAL! Chelsea 3-2 Man City (Kerr 99)
Chelsea are ahead for the third time!
96 min: Vital defending by Carter! Bright’s loose straight pass is nicked by Weir, 25 yards from goal. She moves into the area and drives a cross-shot that is taken off White’s toes by Carter. The ball runs through to Berger, who is clattered painfully by White in her follow through. There was no malice in it.
93 min Weir arrows the corner towards the penalty spot, where Bronze backheels a volley well wide. Kennedy was waiting behind her to attempt a more orthodox and less difficult volley. Bronze, usually so majestic, has had quite a disappointing game.
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93 min The relentless Hemp runs Charles on the left side of the area and smashes a cross that ricochets behind for a City corner.
92 min Here’s that nerveless finish from Hayley Raso which took the game to extra-time.
That touch and finish from @HayleyRaso 🔥
— Vitality Women's FA Cup (@VitalityWFACup) May 15, 2022
City are level in the dying minutes! 😱#WomensFACupFinal pic.twitter.com/k6UbkSeGWn
91 min Peep peep! Extra time is under way. Chelsea have brought Jonna Andersson on for Guro Reiten at left wing-back.
Full time: Chelsea 2-2 Manchester City
A fantastic FA Cup final is going to extra-time.
90+3 min Hemp wriggles away from Charles on the left and hits a brilliant cross that just evades the leaping Raso. A Chelsea defender - don’t ask me who - did superbly to lean into Raso and affect her jump.
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90 min Four minutes of added time. This has been a belting game, so we won’t say no to another half an hour.
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Greenwood pinged an angled ball towards Raso, who made a fine run infield from the right. She controlled it magnificently with her shoulder, taking the last defender Eriksson out of the game in the process, and then forced the bouncing ball unerringly past Berger. In the circumstances, that is sensational finishing.
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GOAL! Chelsea 2-2 Man City (Raso 89)
The substitute Hayley Raso equalises with another outstanding goal!
88 min Lots of City pressure now, with Chelsea’s defenders increasingly stretched. Raso plays a good ball to the underlapping Bronze... who is offside. That’s really poor from Bronze.
87 min Weir loses Cuthbert in midfield, moves to the edge of the area but then drives too close to Berger.
85 min Greenwood’s floated free-kick is helped on and wide of goal by Bronze. A half chance at best.
83 min City bring on Julia Blakstad to replace Demi Stokes at left-back.
82 min Chelsea could be eight minutes from their third Double in five years.
81 min The marauding Hemp is taken out unashamedly by Carter, who is booked.
81 min Another change for City: Laura Coombs is on for Georgia Stanway.
80 min A substitution apiece. Chelsea bring on Jessie Fleming for Pernille Harder; City introduce Ellen White in place of Bunny Shaw.
79 min Shaw nutmegs Carter on the right and moves into the area. Her cutback is blocked by Eriksson (I think) and Stanway thrashes the loose ball over from 20 yards.
78 min Harder gallops into space down the right, moves infield and squares the ball to Kerr just inside the area. She misses her kick, and then Reiten shapes a curling shot wide of the far post with her right foot.
76 min: City substitution There is a City change, but it’s not Ellen White. Instead, Hayley Raso has come on for Chloe Kelly.
75 min City have some very good options on the bench, including Ellen White. She must come on soon, surely.
74 min Today’s official attendance is 49,094, a new record for the women’s FA Cup final. It’s a record that won’t last long, probably about 12 months.
72 min What a fortnight Erin Cuthbert has had. She changed the game when she came on as substitute at Birmingham, scored the first equaliser against Manchester United last weekend and may now have belted the winner in the FA Cup final. She has become an elemental force in midfield.
71 min Stokes has a cross-shot headed behind by Bright. Chelsea have indeed gone to a back four, with Carter at left-back and Charles on the right.
69 min: Double substitution for Chelsea Ji So-yun, who is leaving the club this summer, and Niamh Charles replace Beth England and Aniek Nouwen. That could mean a switch to a back four.
68 min Here’s that marvellous goal from Erin Cuthbert.
That is an absolute beauty 😱@erincuthbert_ take a bow, that’s some strike! #WomensFACupFinal @ChelseaFCW pic.twitter.com/hQ0GfdwHTG
— Vitality Women's FA Cup (@VitalityWFACup) May 15, 2022
67 min Weir’s long-range drive is blocked by Bright. City have reacted well to going behind.
65 min City almost equalise straight away, but Shaw fresh-airs a shot on the turn from 10 yards!
Reiten squared the ball to England just inside the area. She laid it back to Cuthbert, who took a touch and dug out a rising drive that hit the underside of the bar and bounced into the net! Roebuck leapt to her right and was so close, but she couldn’t quite get there.
That’s a stunning goal - not just the power and precision but also the speed with which Cuthbert took the shot. One quick touch to control and then, almost in the same movement, bang.
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WHAT A GOAL! Chelsea 2-1 Manchester City (Cuthbert 63)
Erin Cuthbert, one of the stars of Chelsea’s lead, had given them the lead with a screamer!
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63 min Reiten’s cross nicks off Bronze and flashes across the face of goal. And then...
61 min In the first half both teams looked desperate not to give away the first goal; now they look equally haunted by the prospect of conceding the third.
59 min Weir sprays an elegant pass down the left to Hemp, who beats Bright with ease but crosses too close to Ingle.
57 min Kerr’s cross is cleared bravely by Bronze, with Cuthbert lining up for an overhead kick.
54 min Bronze is booked for a foul on Harder.
51 min: Fine save from Berger! City have made a flying start to the second half, as they did the first. Kelly’s cross hits the head of Shaw, slightly ahead of the ball at the near post. City keep the ball alive, with Weir eventually teeing up Hemp for a first-time shot. Her fierce drive across goal is superbly saved by Berger and ricochets just wide of goal.
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47 min Shaw finds Hemp, whose clips a dangerous ball that flashes across the six-yard box.
46 min Peep peep! Bunny Shaw gets the second half under way.
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Half time: Chelsea 1-1 Manchester City
Peep peep! It took a while to get going, but the last 15 minutes of the half were terrific. Sam Kerr put Chelsea ahead with a poacher’s goal; Lauren Hemp equalised with a bit of individual brilliance. More please!
HEMPO that was MAGIC ✨
— Vitality Women's FA Cup (@VitalityWFACup) May 15, 2022
What a finish from the @ManCityWomen winger#WomensFACupFinal pic.twitter.com/WLCRf9x4VD
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45+2 min City again appeal unsuccessfully for a penalty, this time after Shaw goes over after a challenge from Nouwen. I’d like to see that again - it was a clumsy tackle from Nouwen, and at first glance I thought she tripped Shaw.
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45+1 min Stanway has a couple of shots blocked in the space of five seconds. The second leads to a handball appeal against Carter that is turned down. It certainly hit Carter’s right arm, though it was close to her body.
45 min Three minutes of added time. This game has really come to life since Sam Kerr gave Chelsea the lead.
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That’s a brilliant equaliser. Shaw turned Nouwen smartly on the halfway line, moved forward and played the ball left to Hemp. Carter’s challenge put Hemp off, forcing her to go a bit wide. But she retrieved the ball, cut back inside Bright and curled a superb right-footed shot into the far corner.
That is one of the reasons why Hemp is so lethal - she can now beat a defender on either side. I think she is, by a distance, the most exhilarating player in the WSL.
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GOAL! Chelsea 1-1 Man City (Hemp 42)
City have got more from Lauren Hemp!
40 min City need more from Lauren Hemp, who has been kept very quiet. In her defence, I’m not sure how much service she has had. The rest of the forward line, Bunny Shaw and Chloe Kelly, have also struggled to have much influence.
38 min Harder shoots wide from distance. This is a nervy spell for City.
36 min That was such good anticipation from Kerr, who got the wrong side of Bronze to head Bright’s cross into the net.
Chelsea in front at Wembley! 🔵@samkerr1 with the slightest of touches!#WomensFACupFinal @ChelseaFCW pic.twitter.com/SV13hPt3Ox
— Vitality Women's FA Cup (@VitalityWFACup) May 15, 2022
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34 min Another chance for Chelsea! Roebuck is challenged by Kelly, with the ball ricocheting to Reiten 30 yards from goal. She lofts a first-time shot over the bar. That was a good chance with Roebuck out of her goal, though there was at least one City defender on the line.
A free-kick from the left was half cleared, with the ball recycled to Bright on the right. She seemed to overhit a booming cross that sailed over the leaping Roebuck and was headed in from a yard by Kerr. At first I thought it had gone straight in, hence the description of it as a freak goal, but the ruthless Kerr definitely got the last touch.
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GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Man City (Kerr 33)
Chelsea take the lead with a freak goal!
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30 min Alanna Kennedy is booked for an agricultural tackle on Pernille Harder.
29 min I don’t know what to say. It’s not a poor final by any means, it’s just low on entertainment because both teams are a) playing a little cautiously and b) defending extremely well.
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27 min Kelly and Hemp have swapped wings.
26 min Kerr’s long through pass towards Reiten is well intercepted by Kennedy.
24 min Nothing much is happening. There’s a bit too much mutual respect, and both teams are playing with the handbrake on.
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21 min It’s developing into a pretty cagey game, with both teams desperate not to concede the first goal.
18 min: Kerr has a goal disallowed for offside. It was a classy finish, as you’d expect, but she was a fair way offside.
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16 min City are almost caught playing out from the back. Cuthbert intercepts Roebuck’s pass 30 yards from goal but can’t control it on the bounce.
14 min Stanway is a bit fortunate not to be booked for a poor challenge on Harder.
12 min Cuthbert’s back on. It’s pelting down at Wembley, by the way.
11 min Erin Cuthbert is down after a collision with Stokes. I think she’ll be fine, and the breather might do Chelsea some good.
9 min Kelly’s cross is headed away well by Carter, with Hemp waiting behind her. City have been the more relaxed, confident side so far.
7 min Chelsea are starting to feel their way into the game after that difficult start.
4 min: Just wide from Weir! City have made a blistering start. Stanway cleverly lost two players in midfield and found Hemp on the left of the area. She cut back inside Carter and had a right-foot shot blocked by the stretching Bright. The ball rebounded to Weir, whose fierce follow-up hit Bright and flew just wide. That was heroic defending from Millie Bright.
3 min Weir scored twice in City’s Continental Cup final win over Chelsea in March. That was a pretty decent chance, especially as it was on her left foot.
2 min: Chance for Weir! City could have taken the lead inside 100 seconds. Hemp ran at Carter - what a duel that will be - and hit a cross that deflected towards Weir in the area. She ran onto the ball but lashed it over with her usually precise left foot.
2 min Chelsea have started, as expected, in a 3-4-1-2 formation. Pernille Harder is being Sam Kerr and Beth England.
1 min Peeeeeeeep peeeeeeeeeeep! Chelsea’s Sophie Ingle gets the FA Cup final under way.
The players are on the field, being introduced to the various dignitaries. It’s almost time for the 52nd women’s FA Cup final.
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Ten minutes to kick off!
Let’s have a reminder of the teams
Chelsea (possible 3-4-1-2) Berger; Bright, Nouwen, Eriksson; Carter, Cuthbert, Ingle, Reiten; Harder; England, Kerr.
Substitutes: Musovic, Ji, Kirby, Fleming, Mjelde, James, Charles, Spence, Andersson.
Manchester City (4-3-3) Roebuck; Bronze, Kennedy, Greenwood, Stokes; Stanway, Walsh, Weir; Kelly, Shaw, Hemp.
Substitutes: Keating, Coombs, Angeldahl, Raso, Park, Losada, White, Mace, Blakstad.
Referee Kirsty Dowle.
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I knew doing simultaneous MBMs would catch up with me. As you were.
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We're here! 🏟📍#ManCity | #WomensFACupFinal pic.twitter.com/OEGmaGL8xu
— Man City Women (@ManCityWomen) May 15, 2022
Team news
Two changes for Chelsea from the title-winning victory over Manchester United last Sunday. Aniek Nouwen and Beth England replace Niamh Charles and Jonna Andersson, which probably means Guro Reiten will play at wing-back.
One change for City, with Demi Stokes returning at left-back in place of Julie Blakstad.
There are some serious players on both benches, including Fran Kirby, Ji So-yun, Ellen White and Vicky Losada.
Your Chelsea team! 🤝#CFCW | #WomensFACupFinal pic.twitter.com/zoHNbEkElv
— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) May 15, 2022
🔵 #WomensFACupFinal Team News 🔵
— Man City Women (@ManCityWomen) May 15, 2022
XI | Roebuck, Bronze, Kennedy, Greenwood (C), Stokes, Walsh, Stanway, Weir, Kelly, Hemp, Shaw
SUBS | Keating, Coombs, Angeldahl, Raso, Park, Losada, White, Mace, Blakstad#ManCity | @HaysTechnology pic.twitter.com/aKBToYyuw4
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In the building. 👊#CFCW | #WomensFACupFinal pic.twitter.com/p975b1Dlxq
— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) May 15, 2022
Pre-match entertainment
This is really good, and you are most welcome.
Early team news
Chelsea magician Fran Kirby, who has been unavailable since February due to extreme fatigue, is in their squad today. “She looked like she hadn’t even been away, she looked that good in training,” said Emma Hayes. “It was nice to see a smile on her face and she’s participated in everything. She’s been in training all week so I’m over the moon to be honest.”
City are without Karen Bardsley, Steph Houghton and Esme Morgan, though Demi Stokes and Jess Park could be available.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the FA Cup final between Chelsea and Manchester City at Wembley. It’s a mouthwatering prospect, and long overdue. These two teams have won the competition in each of the last five seasons, yet they’ve never played each other in the final. Not in those five years, not ever.
Both teams have a double in sight. For Chelsea it would the Double, the league and FA Cup, for the third time in five seasons. City want to add the FA Cup to the Continental Cup that they won so impressively in March. They were 1-0 down at half-time before blowing Chelsea away with three goals in 20 minutes.
The teams have already met in the FA Cup this season, sort of. In October, Chelsea hammered City 3-0 in the semi-final of last season’s competition, a game delayed because of Covid. City were at a low ebb then, ravaged by injury and searching desperately for any kind of optimism. They recovered admirably, and in 2022 have won 19 games out of 21 in all competitions.
In fact, both sides have lost only one game since the turn of the year – to each other. Two great teams in great form in front of a record crowd for a women’s FA Cup final; this, surely, can’t fail to be good.
Kick off 2.30pm.
Today's scene. 📌#CFCW | #WomensFACupFinal pic.twitter.com/vVyR4TTRqo
— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) May 15, 2022
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