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And here’s our report from Wembley. Thanks for reading!
Fran Kirby: “It’s amazing. We worked so hard after the international break so make sure we got it tactically right. Second half we sat off a little bit more but I think we blew them away first half especially. My goal settled our nerves a little bit. When you’re through on goal its a stressful situation but I managed to stay composed and put it in but it was a magnificent performance from everyone - keeping a clean sheet in the final is amazing. Overall I think we deserved to win and could have cored a few more goals. It’s a massive day for women’s football. Today was about not forgetting the trailblazers who helped us get here. Hopefully the performance today made everyone proud and hopefully more people want to get involved in women’s football.”
And here’s Emma Hayes: “I’m extremely proud of everyone in our organisation. Our performance was out of this world today. we were dominant from start to finish. I was upset we weren’t up by more than one at half-time but it was convincing in the end. That’s the best performance I’ve seen from Fran [Kirby], she ran the show. The midfield was set up to do a job and allow Fran and Sam [Kerr] to go and play. It’s nice to paint Wembley blue tonight. It’s a Chelsea day. The fans deserve that. Winning the treble is an amazing achievement and I will sit down and enjoy that this evening. Women’s football was banned 100 years ago. I said to the girls before the game: today we play for everyone who’s made the women’s game what it is. Women’s football is out livelihood but it’s also our passion and today that win was for every woman who’s been involved in women’s football in this country.”
Last up is Magdalena Eriksson, who collects the cup and goes to join her teammates in the huddle, hoisting it aloft and being instantly soaked in a tidal wave of champagne. Lovely stuff.
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And Chelsea make their way back onto the pitch to collect their medals. Wembley’s PA system resounds with hellish EDM music but even that can’t detract from the genuine atmosphere generated by the fans in the stands.
Sam Kerr speaks: “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.”
CHELSEA WIN THE DOMESTIC TREBLE FOR THE FIRST TIME!
Full time: Arsenal 0-3 Chelsea Peep peep! Three is the magic number for Chelsea: three goals, their third FA Cup victory, and their first ever domestic treble. They even hit the woodwork three times. Fran Kirby’s third-minute goal set the tone, and Chelsea could have been out of sight long before Sam Kerr scored twice – the second a delicious chip – in the second half.
It’s been a humbling day for Arsenal, whose next game is against the European champions Barcelona. But they are still top of the WSL, and they’ll hope to write this off as a bad day. It was last season anyway.
It’s a great day for Chelsea, one of their greatest. I’m off to blog Aston Villa v Leicester but Alex Hess will bring you all the reaction from Wembley – thanks for your company and emails.
90+4 min Another late change for Chelsea: Aniek Nouwen on for the tireless Sophie Ingle.
That’s outrageous! 🤯@samkerr1 with an incredible chip over Zinsberger 🍟@ChelseaFCW #WomensFACupFinal pic.twitter.com/uFEDQlSVbG
— Vitality Women's FA Cup (@VitalityWFACup) December 5, 2021
88 min McCabe, who has aleeady been booked, is very lucky not to walk for a high tackle on Spence. It’s been a miserable day for McCabe, who has played more like her 2020-21 self than the star of this season.
87 min And a change for Arsenal: Lotte Wubben-Moy off, Simone Boye Sorensen on.
86 min A triple change for Chelsea: Drew Spence, Beth England and Ji replace a beaming Sam Kerr, a beaming Melanie Leupolz and a beaming Guro Reiten. That’s a nice touch from Emma Hayes to involve as many players as possible, even if it’s only for a few minutes.
85 min Foord beats Cuthbert and lifts a dangerous cross that is cleared by, yep, Jess Carter. Moments later, Miedema heads well wide from McCabe’s cross. A quarter chance at best.
83 min Parris tries to run Carter, and soon realises the futility of that particular gesture. Carter has had a stormer.
81 min Nikita Parris comes on for Frida Maanum and is immediately booked for a foul on Reiten.
80 min Kerr and Kirby have stolen the show, and nobody would begrude them, but all of Chelsea’s spine - particularly Carter and Leupolz - have been superb. They have given Arsenal nothing.
79 min Mead’s deflected shot goes behind for a corner. Arsenal have been hammered; they’ll have no complaints.
What a majestic finish from Sam Kerr. Maanum overran the ball in midfield and was coolly dispossessed by Leupolz, who moved forward and put Kerr through on goal in the inside-right channel. Kerr took two touches to set herself up and then, with Zinsberger on the six-yard line, chipped the ball slowly, teasingly over her and into the net.
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GOAL! Arsenal 0-3 Chelsea (Kerr 77)
Sam Kerr clinches the treble with an exquisite finish!
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76 min: Another save from Zinsberger! Harder dances away from Wubben-Moy in the area but takes the ball slightly too wide and can only lift a shot that is comfortably saved by Zinsberger.
74 min A very dangerous cross from Little is slid behind by Cuthbert, a vital interception with Foord waiting behind her.
73 min A change for Chelsea: Pernille Harder replaces the magnificent Fran Kirby.
72 min: Kirby hits the post! What a tremendous effort from the best player on ther pitch. She received the ball from Kerr, 40 yards out, and ran straight at the backpedalling Wubben-Moy. Kirby got as far as the D, then shifted the ball onto her left foot and smacked it off the post. Zinsberger didn’t move.
71 min McCabe has gone to left-back, with Catley moving into the centre of defence.
70 min Jonas Eidevall isn’t going to die wondering: he has brought on Caitlin Foord, a forward, for the centre-half Jen Beattie.
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69 min Kirby is down as well, having been caught by a high challenge from Wubben-Moy.
68 min Catley’s cross is missed by Berger, who was relieved that there were no Arsenal players behind her. There’s a break in play as Berger receives treatment for cramp, which is a bit strange given how little she has had to do today.
65 min McCabe’s corner is headed away at the near post. Chelsea break and McCabe is booked for a cynical foul on Kirby.
64 min McCabe’s dangerous low cross is cleared by Cuthbert, who collides with Bright in the process. Corner to Arsenal...
64 min It’s easy to forget, as this is last season’s competition, that Chelsea are 26 minutes away from their first ever domestic treble. The flipping treble!
61 min Ingle fizzes a pass out to Reiten, whose deep, hanging cross is headed back across by goal. There are no Chelsea players in the middle, though, and Arsenal have time to clear.
61 min A change for Arsenal in midfield: Lia Walti is replaced by Mana Iwabuchi.
60 min This has been a masterclass from Emma Hayes, whose switch to 4-2-3-1 has befuddled Arsenal.
59 min Kirby and Kerr, who’d have thought.
Inevitably, it came on the break. Kirby slid a long pass down the line to Kerr, who made an excellent run from centre to left. Kerr cut inside Wubben-Moy, shaped to shoot across goal and then dragged a low shot past Zinsberger at the near post. Zinsberger was already committed to moving to her left and was unable to change direction. Sad to say, especially after her first-half heroics, but that’s a goalkeeping error.
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GOAL! Arsenal 0-2 Chelsea (Kerr 58)
Sam Kerr doubles Chelsea’s lead!
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56 min Arsenal are dominating possession now, though Chelsea seem comfortable enough playing on the break. Ann-Katrin Berger still hasn’t had a save to make.
55 min Zinsberger makes a comfortable save from Kerr’s header. It was a difficult chance, with Cuthbert’s cross slightly behind Kerr.
54 min Eriksson’s deep, driven cross is headed behind by the stooping Catley, with Fleming waiting behind her. The resulting corner is headed away by Lia Walti.
51 min Mead turns Eriksson brilliantly on the edge of the area and is about to shoot when Carter lunges in to make a vital tackle. That’s excellent defending. Mead has been Arsenal’s brighest attacker by a distance.
50 min It’s been a calmer start to the second half for Arsenal, who are having a more even share of the match.
48 min Miedema slides the ball into the area towards Little, but Carter reads the play well and comes across to cover. Little does get to the ball first but can only slide it wide of the near post on the stretch.
46 min Beth Mead, who ended the half strongly on the left, has moved back to the right wing at the start of the second half.
46 min Peep peep! Chelsea begin the second half, with no changes on either side.
“ I suppose that if the Arsenal team have a sports psychologist in the dressing room they’ll be able to explain why the players’ technique seems to all but have deserted them,” says Charles Antaki. “Has this team ever had a half hour filled with so many mis-controls, bad passes, futile lunges and general confusion? It got a bit better, but from an alarmingly low base. Credit to Chelsea’s harrying, I suppose, but it seems somehow that the Arsenal players just managed to spook themselves into incompetence.”
I don’t think the pitch is helping. Chelsea have dealt with it a lot better, mainly by being more direct at times.
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Half-time reading
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Half time: Arsenal 0-1 Chelsea
Peep peep! Chelsea lead at Wembley thanks to Fran Kirby’s early goal. They should already be out of sight: Kirby hit the post*, Sam Kerr hit the crossbar and Manuela Zinsberger made a number of vital saves. The good news for Arsenal is that they were much better in the last 10 minutes of the first half, and that it’s only 1-0.
* I didn’t realise at the time, but her shot inthe 19th minute was pushed onto the outside of the post by Zinsberger. At the time I thought she’d palmed it straight behind for a corner.
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45+2 min Chelsea break three-on-three, only for Kirby to overhit her through pass to Kerr. That was yet another chance, and an unusually sloppy ball from Kirby.
45+1 min Three minutes of added time. Cuthbert has been booked for that foul on Mead.
45 min Cuthbert fouls Mead and hurts herself in the process. I think she’s okay but there’s a break in play while she receives treatment.
43 min McCabe’s free-kick hits the wall.
42 min McCabe is fouled by Leupolz 25 yards out. It might have been a dive actually, I’ll like to see it again. Either way, Arsenal are having their first good spell of the match, and this is a good opportunity...
40 min: Big penalty appeal from Arsenal! Mead runs at Cuthbert in the area, then twists back inside onto her right foot. Cuthbert, who is already committed to the tackle, slides into the ball and makes contact with her arm. The referee must have been unsighted because that was a clear penalty. Chelsea should have had one earlier as well.
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39 min “Hi Rob,” says Dan in Kennington. “What time do Arsenal kick off? Chelsea are playing by themselves at the moment. Awesome stuff from them.”
The daft thing is, if it’s 1-0 to Chelsea at half-time, Jonas Eidevall will be the happier manager.
38 min Arsenal have finally switched their wingers; I’m surprised they didn’t do it 20 minutes ago. Mead, on the left now, runs at Cuthbert and wins a corner.
36 min: Kerr hits the bar! This is getting silly. Kerr runs onto a long punt forward, muscles Wubben-Moy off the ball - Arsenal thought it was a foul - and lifts a shot onto the crossbar from eight yards. That was another brilliant opportunity for Kerr, whose finishing today has been strangely indecisive.
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33 min Bright, up for a set piece, volleys off target from 20 yards. It was well struck, with excellent technique, but drifted a few yards wide.
29 min Now Leupolz tees up Kirby, whose shot from the edge of the area is deflected behind. Arsenal are being thrashed 1-0.
28 min Yet another chance for Chelsea! Kirby, who is having a stormer, breaks forward and plays in Reiten to her left. She moves into the area but then the ball gets stuck under her feet and Arsenal’s defenders are able to get across. The pitch saved Arsenal there.
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Zinsberger keeping Arsenal in this. Another save from Kirby. I don’t think her or Kerr will miss again if they keep getting space like this.
— Tim Stillman (@Stillberto) December 5, 2021
27 min McCabe is lucky not to be booked after leaving one on the Chelsea keeper Ann-Katrin Berger. That was a bit snide.
26 min Cuthbert’s corner is headed wide of the far post by Eriksson, another excellent chance for Chelsea! This could, no exaggeration, be 5-0 to Chelsea.
25 min: Another fine save from Zinsberger! Reiten moves down the left and slides the ball infield to Kerr on the edge of the area. She lets it run to Kirby, who opens her body and shapes a curler towards the bottom corner. Zinsberger gets down smartly to her left to push it behind, and then thumps in the post in frustration at how much work she is having to do.
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23 min After some snappy passing from Arsenal, Miedema shoots high and wide from 20 yards.
23 min Chelsea have been much the better team so far. A 3-0 lead wouldn’t flatter them.
21 min Emma Hayes is understandably fuming about that penalty decision. I suspect she’s as angry about the lack of VAR in such a big game as she is about the specific incident.
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19 min: Fine save from Zinsberger! Kerr runs onto a long pass down the right from Cuthbert and moves into the area. She cuts the ball back to Kirby and is taken out, a split-second later, by the sliding Beattie. Play continues and Kirby hits a rising drive that is pushed onto the outside of the near post by Zinsberger. That should have been a penalty to Chelsea, but there’s no VAR today. Not like it’s a big game or anything.
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17 min Zinsberger makes another point-blank save from Kerr, though this one wouldn’t have counted as she was fractionally offside.
16 min McCabe’s corner is cleared by Cuthbert.
15 min Arsenal are starting to find their feet. An intricate move involving McCabe, Miedema and Little leads to their first corner...
13 min A half-chance for Kerr, who wriggles away from Beattie on the right side of the box but can’t find Kirby in the middle. I’m surprised she didn’t have a shot - the angle was tight, but not prohibitively so, and the ball fell nicely for her.
12 min A long-range shot from Miedema is blocked.
11 min Chelsea are playing a 4-2-3-1, with Cuthbert aand Eriksson as orthodox full-backs. That’s a bit of a surprise, but it has worked well so far - Kirby, playing as a No10, scored the goal and almost made a second for Kerr.
10 min Arsenal haven’t got going as an attacking force. The pitch isn’t helping either side; it’s so slow.
8 min Beth Mead is booked for a very clumsy tackle on Eriksson.
8 min The pitch isn’t in great condition, by the way. The ball is moving pretty slowly, presumably because of all the rain in the last 24 hours.
7 min: Big save from Zinsberger! Kerr, back on the field, plays a slick one-two with Kirby, moves through on goal but then puts her shot too close to Zinsberger. That was such a good chance for Sam Kerr.
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6 min There’s a break in play while Sam Kerr receives treatment. She’s limping quite heavily, though it looks like an impact injury so she might be able to run it off. I think she was injured during the build up to the goal.
4 min There was so much space for Kirby to run into. Wubben-Moy was drawn across to challenge Fleming (I think), and Maritz didn’t have time to cover from right-back.
Out of nothing, Fran Kirby has given Chelsea the lead. The ball ricocheted off a couple of players, 35 yards from the Arsenal goal, and bounced favourably for Kirby. She scampered straight through the middle, drew Zinsberger and clipped the ball calmly into the corner. Whatever the stage, she is a nerveless finisher.
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GOAL! Arsenal 0-1 Chelsea (Kirby 3)
What a start for Chelsea!
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1 min Peep peep! After the players take the knee, Arsenal kick off from right to left.
The players of both sides are introduced to Lesley Lloyd, captain of Southampton’s cup-winning side of 1971. Then it’s time for the national anthem. It’s a cold, drizzly day, not exactly cup final weather, and the players look keen to get down to business.
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“Both teams were indeed rusty for the league game, but Arsenal had had a couple of European matches to warm up with; things will be more balanced now,” says Charles Antaki. “Arsenal fans will still be fretting over the unavailability of Leah Williamson, though Lotte Wubben-Moy has stepped up impressively. And the bench looks terrific - Iwabuchi, Nobbs, Foord - so, Arsenal-style heavily-qualified sort-of positive anticipation…”
Part of the reason last season’s Women’s FA Cup Final is being played today is because the tournament was delayed by covid last season. But the FA chose today specifically because it’s the 100th anniversary of the FA banning women’s football, a ban which lasted for 50 years.
— Tim Stillman (@Stillberto) December 5, 2021
This is a fine piece on that 1971 final, including some striking details about the state of the pitch and the nutrition.
These teams have met once in the 2021-22 season, a 3-2 win for Arsenal on the opening weekend. Both teams were rusty, though, so I’m not sure how much we should read into it.
“What an array of talent in front of us today,” says Bill Hargreaves. “I saw Beth Mead talking through the goals of the season so far: some belters. Play up!”
What’s your favourite goal from 2021/22 so far? 🔥
— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) December 1, 2021
Take it away, @BMeado9 😎
Indeed, six of the top 11 in this year’s Ballon d’Or are involved today: Sam Kerr, Vivianne Miedema, Pernille Harder, Jessie Fleming, Fran Kirby and Magda Eriksson.
The teams in (probable) formation
Arsenal (4-3-3) Zinsberger; Maritz, Wubben-Moy, Beattie, Catley; Walti, Maanum, Little; Mead, Miedema, McCabe.
Substitutes: Williams, Goldie, Boye, Patten, Schnaderbeck, Nobbs, Parris, Iwabuchi, Foord.
Chelsea (3-4-3) Berger; Bright, Carter, Eriksson; Cuthbert, Ingle, Leupolz, Reiten; Fleming, Kerr, Kirby.
Substitutes: Musovic, Nouwen, England, Ji, Charles, Harder, Spence, Andersson, Fox.
Arsenal might play a 4-2-3-1, with Kim Little as a No10. Expect the wide forwards on both sides, especially Arsenal’s, to switch wings at some stage.
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No surprises in the Arsenal team, which is unchanged from the 2-0 win over Manchester United a fortnight ago. The outstanding front three of Katie McCabe, Vivianne Miedema and Beth Mead - who literally weren’t born when the Crash Test Dummies wrote a song about them - will be their main threat.
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And here’s the Arsenal team
🏆 𝗙𝗔 𝗖𝗨𝗣 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦 🏆
— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) December 5, 2021
The Arsenal @ Wembley Stadium ❤️ pic.twitter.com/bBd0C49tPW
Emma Hayes makes one change from Chelsea’s lsat game, a 5-0 WSL win over Birmingham before the international break. Sophie Ingle is preferred in midfield to Drew Spence. That means Pernille Harder, who is still feeling her way back from injury, is on the bench.
The Chelsea team is in
Your Chelsea team news is in! 🙌#CFCW #WomensFACupFinal pic.twitter.com/T3rGngeUvk
— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) December 5, 2021
Preamble
Sunday 9 May 1971 was a big day in the Bolton and District Cricket Association League. Atherton CC were skittled for 68 by Astley and Tyldesley Collieries, who sneaked to victory by one wicket. I know this because the scores from that league were printed in the Guardian the following day. So were results from the Cross Cup, and the Glossop League, and the Shettleston Marathon, and the North of England Lacrosse League, and the Longwood 10-mile Road Race, and I’m genuinely not making any of this up.
One sporting event was, or rather is, conspicuous by its absence: the inaugural Women’s FA Cup final. Nada. Zilch. Sweet bugger all. Not even the scoreline. (Southampton beat Stewarton Thistle 4-1, with Pat Davies scoring a hat-trick.) The world has changed since the heyday of DCI Gene Hunt, and it’s not just the Guardian that has embraced women’s football. Today’s final between Arsenal and Chelsea will be a celebration of 50 years of the FA Cup, and of how good the sport has become.
The sheer quality of both teams makes this the perfect final. It’s also a riddle of the future: in which season did the two best teams in the country meet in the FA Cup final, having finished first and third in the league?
The answer, obviously, is 2020-21. This match belongs to last season, when Arsenal finished behind Chelsea and Manchester City, and is being played now because of the backlog caused by Covid. Arsenal have replaced City as Chelsea’s main rivals this season, whatever Emma Hayes says publicly, and the two are involved in a cracking race for the title.
One of them will make history today. Either Arsenal will win the FA Cup for a record-extending 15th time, or Chelsea will do so for the third – and, more significantly, complete their first domestic treble.
Most importantly of all, the result will be in every newspaper tomorrow.
Kick off 2pm.
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