Chelsea win Women’s FA Cup to complete domestic treble
Chelsea completed the domestic treble for the first time in their history as Sam Kerr’s double sealed an emphatic 3-0 victory over Arsenal in the 2020/21 Vitality Women’s FA Cup final.
Emma Hayes’ side were dominant throughout the delayed showpiece game at Wembley and won their third FA Cup to add the trophy to their Barclays FA Women’s Super League and Continental Tyres League Cup titles from last season.
In the battle of the WSL’s top two, Fran Kirby got the West Londoners off to a flyer when she calmly dispatched a one-on-one opportunity just three minutes in.
The 28-year-old buried her shot convincingly into the corner past Arsenal shot-stopper Manuela Zinsberger to give the Blues the perfect start.
The Blues had a hatful of chances but could not add any more goals until after the break when Kerr scored twice to take the game away from Arsenal, who failed to register a shot on target.
Kerr set up Kirby and then had to shake off an injury scare before she should have made it 2-0 four minutes later.
She had only the keeper to beat but Zinsberger stood firm to keep Arsenal in touch. Kerr again hit one straight at Zinsberger in the 18th minute after she was slipped in by Kirby but the offside flag had come to Arsenal’s aid.
Kerr turned provider after Erin Cuthbert’s long ball, pulling it back to Kirby who slammed a fearsome shot towards Zinsberger’s near post but the Austrian pulled off a smart reflex save.
The pattern continued with Arsenal’s goalkeeper moving well down to her left to keep out a curling Kirby effort that looked destined for the bottom corner.
Emma Hayes’ side continued to pile the pressure on their London rivals and Norwegian Guro Reiten spurned a golden chance when she got the ball stuck in her feet in the Gunners’ box.
Kerr must have thought she was destined never to score when she beat Zinsberger for the first time only to be denied by the crossbar after 35 minutes, having shrugged off Arsenal defender Lotte Wubben-Mooy.
Arsenal were denied what looked like a penalty five minutes before half-time when the ball struck Cuthbert’s hand as she slid on the ground inside the box.
But once Helen Conley had made her decision, Jonas Eidevall’s side were prevented from having a chance to equalise against the run of play, and Chelsea went into the break in front.
The second half brought more of the same and Chelsea had one hand on the Cup when Kerr finally got her goal in the 57th minute.
After running onto Kirby’s ball down the line, Kerr cut inside past Wubben-Mooy and beat Zinsberger at her near post.
Arsenal rallied and looked more threatening with the ball but failed to find the kind of set-piece delivery to regularly threaten Ann-Katrin Berger in the Chelsea goal.
Kirby came ever so close to wrapping it up in the 72nd minute when a fine left-footed shot from outside the box slammed into the post with Zinsberger rooted to the spot.
She succumbed to injury soon after but smiled as she was replaced by Pernille Harder.
When Kerr dinked a fantastic chip over Zinsberger to record her second the result was secure and Hayes knew it, with her emotion clear to see as she began jubilantly fist pumping on the sidelines.
Arsenal were unable to muster a clear-cut chance to get one back late on as Chelsea’s defence reigned supreme, now having gone 683 minutes without conceding, to give them a well-deserved victory.
To follow the action and sign up for The FA Player’s live Barclays FA Women’s Super League coverage visit womenscompetitions.thefa.com
