Arsenal 0-3 Chelsea
Sam Kerr’s player of the match performance at a damp, cold and breezy Wembley Stadium inspired a dominant Chelsea, as they defeated London rivals Arsenal to win the FA Cup for the third time.
The game was played on the 100th anniversary of the FA’s banning of women’s football, and tribute was paid to the sport’s trailblazers. The captains from the first FA Cup Final in 1971, Southampton’s Lesley Lloyd and Stewarton Thistle’s Elsie Cook, brought the trophy onto the pitch pre-game, and both were visibly emotional at the ovation they received.
Lloyd was quoted as saying earlier in the week that when it came to playing football in the 1970s, she wanted “to make the most of it as I could because I thought the FA would ban it again”, words that will eternally damn the game’s governing body in England. In addition to the presentation of Lloyd and Cook pre-game, half-time saw many cup-winning captains and players from past finals parade around the famous stadium.
Chelsea were on the front foot from the start and led within three minutes. That reward came as a direct result of their trademark high press. Fran Kirby, Sam Kerr, Jessie Fleming and Erin Cuthbert pressured the Gunners backline until Jen Beattie mis-directed her header, with Kerr regaining the ball and feeding Kirby to smash home the opener.
Lotte Wubben-Moy caught Kerr during that move and the Matilda needed extensive treatment before limping back onto the pitch. Within seconds of her re-entry, the Western Australian was fed by a combination of Sophie Ingle and Kirby, but Manuela Zinsberger saved.
The game then settled down after its explosive start. Arsenal showed signs that they had ridden out the storm and earned their first corner after a quarter of an hour, with Kerr heading clear.
Despite Arsenal starting to feel their way into the game, it was still the South Londoners who were creating more chances. Kerr and Kirby combined again on 19 minutes when Cuthbert’s long ball down the right-hand side allowed Kerr to scamper into the box. Despite being brought down by Beattie, Chelsea’s number 20 laid a pass off to Kirby, who was denied by the Gunners. Beattie’s challenge could have been punsihed with a penalty kick on another day, and Blues boss Emma Hayes pointed this out to the officials from her touchline position.
Five minutes later, Guro Reiten danced along the left side and played a ball towards Kerr. The Australian let it run for Kirby and her low shot was brilliantly pushed away by Zinsberger. From the resulting corner, Magda Eriksson broke free at the back post, however her header was well wide.
With half an hour gone, Chelsea had created enough goalscoring opportunities to be at least three goals clear. The giant scoreboards at either end of Wembley displayed 1-0, leading some to think that Chelsea could regret their inability to take chances.
At the heart of Arsenal’s problems was the fact that both Katie McCabe and Beth Mead, two of their brightest lights, were having to counter Cuthbert and Reiten. Without those two gaining their usual amount of possession in an attacking sense, the Gunners were lacking key momentum builders. Frida Maanum and Lia Wälti were also starved of possession in midfield, making it clear why Arsenal found it so hard to get going and subsequently failed to register a single shot on target all afternoon.
Chelsea missed another golden opportunity on 36 minutes when Kerr ran onto a through ball, shrugged off Wubben-Moy and dinked a shot which came back off the bar. However, the Blues then had a huge slice of luck with five minutes of the half remaining – Cuthbert clearly handled the ball inside the area as she slid on the ground when trying to hold off Mead.
The second half opened in an identical manner to the first, with the only difference being the lack of an early goal. Chelsea were pressing high, using Reiten and Cuthbert to full impact on the flanks.
The defending FA WSL champions created their first opportunity of the second half with 55 minutes played. Cuthbert received Eriksson’s pass, beat her marker and put in a teasing cross from the right, but Kerr was denied by Zinsberger’s fifth save of the match.
Finally, the second goal arrived courtesy of Australia’s master goal poacher. Kirby’s pass released Kerr down the left side, and the East Fremantle-born star ran at Wubben-Moy before bending a shot through the defender’s legs and into the net.
As Chelsea hadn’t conceded a goal in their previous six matches, Arsenal were faced with one of the biggest uphill battles in the game. In a bid to trouble Chelsea’s defence, Arsenal brought on Caitlin Foord with 20 minutes left, but it was the Blues who fired the next shot on goal. Kirby ran through with Wubben-Moy backing off, allowing the Lioness to smash a shot against the post. That was Kirby’s last action of the game as she hobbled off soon afterwards, making way for Pernille Harder’s return from injury.
The Blues then sealed victory with a glorious strike from Kerr. Arsenal coughed up possession in the middle of the pitch and Leupolz played the Matilda through on goal. Kerr coolly drew Zinsberger, lifting the ball over the Arsenal keeper and into the net.
Chelsea didn’t take their foot off the pedal in the remaining 13 minutes. The ruthlessness and determination to make a statement after their FA WSL opening day loss to the Gunners was there for all to see.
The final whistle ensured that Chelsea now hold all three domestic trophies. On this form, it will be difficult for any team to stop them repeating the feat in the 2021-22 campaign.
Arsenal boss Jonas Eidevall explained why the game went the way it did: “It was a combination of Chelsea being a very good football team when they get the time and space in the final third we gave them, and us making way too many mistakes.
“We can perform much better than we did today. There can be a number of reasons why we didn’t perform and that is my job now to sort it out. We need to look forward, we need to learn and do things better, we face Barcelona now in the week.”
Speaking after the game, an ecstatic Sam Kerr, who has now scored nine goals in her last five games for the Blues, said: “I think we deserved it. Me and Fran scored but the defence was amazing, it was a team effort and we’ll enjoy this one. We felt like we dominated but they defended well in the first half and we couldn’t put away some easy chances so we knew we had to score again to put the game to bed, and we did.
“Arsenal put their bodies on the line but if we kept pushing we knew we’d get the win and at Wembley in front of a massive crowd – it can’t get any better. We’ve conceded not many goals in the last few games and scored a bunch – I think we’re the best team in England.
“We’ve been playing well. We went in as underdogs after they beat us to start the season. In the first half it wasn’t going in the net, it could have been four or five. I just want to go out now and party! The champagne will be going down in three!”
Chelsea head coach Emma Hayes was unsurprisingly delighted after the game: “I thought we got it spot on. We predicted what Arsenal would do and they certainly did what we thought. We painted Wembley blue today.
“Our front two were out of this world. I said to Fran that it is the best game she’s played for us and Sam is at the top of her game. To think we are treble winners is an amazing thing. I’m extremely proud. We have built this team over several years.”
Asked about Sam Kerr’s plans to party tonight, Hayes put a damper on her striker’s plans: “There’s zero per cent chance of that happening! We’re getting on the coach and they’re all going home. We’ve got a Champions League game on Wednesday night at home to Juventus.”
A beaming Fran Kirby said: “It was amazing. It was everything we could have asked for. You could see how calm we were before the game. Our start helped us, all the nerves were settled. I didn’t think we’d blow them away in the way we did.
“Today is amazing. Winning trophies is why I came to this club. It’s so special. All winning is on the same level.”
Teams: ARSENAL (4-3-3): Zinsberger, Maritz, Wubben-Moy, Beattie, Catley, Wälti, Little, Maanum, Mead, Miedema, McCabe. Substitutes: Patten, Nobbs, Parris, Williams (GK), Foord, Boye-Sorensen, Schnaderbeck, Iwabuchi, Goldie
CHELSEA (3-4-3): Berger, Bright, Carter, Eriksson, Cuthbert, Ingle, Leupolz, Reiten, Kirby, Kerr, Fleming. Substitutes: Musovic (GK), Nouwen, England, Ji, Charles, Harder, Spence, Andersson, Fox
Scorers: Kirby 3′, Kerr 57′, 77′
Referee: Helen Conley
Attendance: 40,942
