Chelsea’s season ended triumphantly as Sonia Bompastor’s team won the Women’s FA Cup final, beating Manchester United 3-0 at Wembley to secure the domestic treble and bring their record-breaking season to a close.
Watching from the royal box were tennis superstar Serena Williams and her husband, Alexis Ohanian, who this week announced he had bought a minority stake in Chelsea Women. TV cameras showed the applauding American couple as Chelsea broke the deadlock just before half-time.
It was Sandy Baltimore who put Chelsea ahead from the penalty spot. At the end housing the United fans, she calmly sent Phallon Tullis-Joyce the wrong way, punishing Celin Bizet for a clumsy foul on Erin Cuthbert.
Though United were competitive, Chelsea never looked troubled once they took the lead. Catarina Macario’s powerful second-half header doubled the lead, and Baltimore got her second late on from close range as the west Londoners completed the incredible feat of going unbeaten across their 30 matches in the Women’s Super League (WSL), League Cup and FA Cup this season.
Serena Williams poses for a selfie with husband Alexis Ohanian and daughter Olympia before kick-off (Justin Tallis / AFP via Getty Images)
Was that a silly foul from Bizet?
The short answer is yes. The first half was set to limp to a close until Bizet chopped Cuthbert down in the penalty area.
As the preceding 40-plus minutes of a tense half had established, this final was always going to be decided by someone blinking first and it was cup holders United, having started the match well, whose eyes closed.
Bizet in particular had struggled with the lively Cuthbert a few times and found herself once again unable to deal with the midfielder, sticking a leg out high and wild in the box — an ill-judged decision to make against a team who were awarded five penalties in the WSL this season, missing only one.
Baltimore deserves credit for stepping up and sending Tullis-Joyce the wrong way, particularly against a cacophonous backdrop of angry United fans behind that goal.
Megan Feringa
Cuthbert’s crucial contribution
Erin Cuthbert put in a display worthy of her Chelsea Player of the Season award (Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Like many FA Cup finals, this was a scrappy affair lacking in outright quality. It was a game of duels, fouls and stoppages. And, in a way, that suited Cuthbert.
That sounds like a backhanded compliment, and the Scot’s technical quality shouldn’t be underestimated. But there’s also nobody better in the WSL at battling in midfield, making tackles, winning fouls and slaloming away from opponents in a congested midfield zone. The decisive moment of the game was Cuthbert getting to the ball ahead of Bizet and winning the penalty for Chelsea’s opener. It wasn’t a pretty contribution, but it was crucial.
There was a moment in the second half when Cuthbert dispossessed opposite number Grace Clinton, then dribbled away from her, got her body in the way and won a free kick. It’s the little things like that, as much as her driving runs, which make her so valuable.
She was a deserved recipient of Chelsea’s Player of the Year award this season. It was the second time she’s won it, with the first being six years ago. She’s also now won eight league titles and five FA Cups with the club, yet probably remains slightly under-appreciated.
Michael Cox
Baltimore the hero
Sandy Baltimore left the pitch in injury time to a deafening noise, a crescendo of applause for a player who carved the final in her image.
Baltimore scored two for Chelsea (Julian Finney/Getty Images)
A converted penalty in the first half, an exquisite cross headed home by Macario towards the end of the second, and then, deservedly, a second goal herself — Baltimore seeming to almost smile before thrashing it beyond Tullis-Joyce. The final touch of a flawless performance.
Baltimore has been one of Chelsea’s most important players this season, used across the left side wherever required by the head coach. Deservingly, on the biggest of stages in England, the 25-year-old was granted the time to showcase that importance.
Megan Feringa
Skinner makes bold substitutions
Marc Skinner’s substitutions ultimately did not pay off as Manchester United were beaten by Chelsea (Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Nobody could accuse Marc Skinner of not going for it. The United manager’s first two substitutions today both involved bringing on an attacker for a defender.
At the break, Ella Toone replaced centre-back Millie Turner, with Dominique Janssen dropping from the holding role into defence, and Toone playing at the top of midfield. Then, 20 minutes from time, Melvine Malard was introduced in place of right-back Aoife Mannion, with Bizet moving from the right wing to a somewhat unfamiliar position on the right of defence.
And to United’s credit, they had a decent spell at the start of the second half, injecting that extra attacking quality without a sense they had lost their shape. At the same time though, they rarely looked like breaking down a Chelsea defence that has looked solid all season, either with a back four, or the back three which coach Sonia Bompastor has favoured in recent weeks.
Ten minutes from time, Skinner went further. Bizet herself was hooked as he summoned his eternal Plan B striker, 37-year-old Rachel Williams.
At that point, United did feel top-heavy. Chelsea found spaces to break into and, ultimately, scored twice more to win by a bigger margin than the balance of play for much of the game would suggest.
Michael Cox
What did Sonia Bompastor say?
“Almost the ideal season,” Bompastor said in the post-match press conference. “Only dropped six points in the league, won the two cups. I think when you analyse that, in terms of results, it’s ideal, perfect almost.
“It feels really great. When you are able to achieve the treble domestically and able to dominate as much as we have, we really need to enjoy that.
“In the first 10 minutes we struggled. These moments, with this stadium, the atmosphere, even if we have a lot of experience, the pressure is high and we didn’t start the way we wanted to, but we were confident enough to turn things around. After the first 10 minutes, we were the better team.
“We deserved to win the game, we were in control for rest of the game. All the credit to my players, they performed really well. We had a strong performance, we showed our mentality and our values, and to end our season with a perfect scenario, an almost sold-out stadium and a strong performance, it was a perfect way to end the season.”
What did Marc Skinner say?
Skinner told reporters: “We started well. We matched them physically. All in all, I wanted us to be braver with the ball. Credit to Chelsea, but I think we could have been better in those moments.
“The game swung on set pieces — it’s a penalty that’s poor from us, a set piece that’s poor from us. It’s player individuality. We have work to do.
“Chelsea are pretty good at set pieces. They’ve got monsters in there and it’s not easy. They have quality in delivery, and in the moment you have to take responsibility. I think the young team I’ve got, they’ll learn from this. It’s disappointing but we’ve had a fantastic season, to do what we’ve done, to get Champions League qualification. We’ve had a fantastic season. In big moments, we have to take individual responsibility.”
(Top photo by Richard Pelham via Getty Images)
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