We’ll sign off with Khadija Shaw, the match-winner and best player of the season, speaking to TNT:
“I trust myself, I know what I can do and when the ball popped up one thing was on my mind and it was put it on target.”
“It’s been a mad week. Lots ups and downs but I don’t care. I enjoy my time at Man City and I always want to do the best that I can to get club back to where it needs to go. Obviously we won the league and now we are one step closer to the FA Cup.”
Here’s Suzanne Wrack’s report from Stamford Bridge.
Khadija Shaw’s smile is broad and she finds the energy to jog on and celebrate. The champions are on their way to Wembley. Hannah Hampton’s desolation says it all for Chelsea. Sam Kerr tells the referee that her first-half gaol should have been allowed.
Full-time: Chelsea 2-3 Manchester City (aet)
Khadija Shaw was the match-winner, her extra time goal completing a comeback that looked beyond City when Sam Kerr scored for Chelsea. The double is on, and City will face Brighton in the final after an epic day of semis.
120+4 min: Bronze has to come out to clear the ball as City gain territory. Time is ticking on and on.
120+2 min: Chelsea try to engineer the space to shoot, and eventually Walsh fires wide and over. City will make a double change. On come Murphy and Coombs. Shaw goes off, and looks as if she wouldn’t be able to take a penalty if they were to happen.
120 min: Four minutes will be added on, and Beney’s injury will add further time to that.
119 min: Nusken couldn’t believe that didn’t go in. There’s a break in play as Beney is down hurt. She will be replaced.
118 min: Beever-Jones turns and shoots, and City hurry the ball away. Shaw receives it and has no energy left. At the other end, Keating makes a brilliant, brilliant save from Nusken’s header. It was dropping in but is clawed away. Redemption for her part in that Sam Kerr goal.
117 min: Fowler, back and defending, hoiks the ball away. It’s getting to that stage of the game where anywhere will do.
115 min: Not long now, and Bronze steps forward. Sam Kerr and Lauren James look nonplussed to have both been subbed off.
113 min: Cuthbert fires wide and also pulls up with cramp. Rose got in the way, and she too has cramp.
112 min: Alex Greenwood is cramping up and will probably have to come off. Chelsea have used up all their subs.
111 min: Chelsea want a penalty when Beever-Jones is baulked by Hemp, they have to settle for a corner. Baltimore takes and it swings off the post.
109 min: Niamh Charles almost gets Hannah Hampton in trouble with Shaw on the scene. The ball is cleared, just about.
108 min: Rose makes a hurried clearance as Chelsea build up some pressure, only for Carpenter, on the overlap, to be caught offside.
106 min: We go again. Can City see this out? Or do they go for more?
That’s the end of the first half of extra time. Only a minute extra played. Chelsea have 15 minutes to save themselves.
105 min: It’s been a classic game just as Brighton winning at Liverpool turned out to be.
Goal! Chelsea 2-3 Manchester City (Shaw, 103)
Funjino and Fowler set up a chance for Shaw, she misses the target BUT within seconds, Shaw climbs highest to head in a Hemp cross. Another comeback, and the double is back ON!
Updated
102 min: With Shaw still on and Kerr now off, City the likeliest to find a winner?
100 min: Lovely pass from Fujino, fired wide by Shaw.
99 min: City change: Lohmann on for Blindkilde Brown. Both teams very different to how they kicked off. Hemp is at left-back for City; Bronze is centre-back for Chelsea.
98 min: It’s been nothing like as furious a contest as the first half. Another Chelsea sub as Buchanan goes off, and Kaptein comes on.
97 min: Lucy Btonze has taken a knock after a foul from Fujino, for which the City player is booked.
96 min: Penalty to Chelsea? Did Keating foul Beever-Jones? No, says the referee, and awards the free-kick to Chelsea.
94 min: City keeper Keating gladly collects the ball after a scramble in her penalty box.
93 min: Both teams received lengthy team talks from their respective coaches. It’s restarted in bitty fashion.
91 min: Back we go at the Bridge. Beever-Jones, a late arrival in the 90, is first to take the fight to City.
Full-time: Chelsea 2-2 Manchester City
What a comeback, Mary Fowler’s goal pegging back Chelsea and Bunny Shaw completing the job. We have extra time and very possibly penalties to come.
Updated
90+9 min: City force a corner, can this be the moment?
90+8 min: A glimmer of a chance for Chelsea but Rytting Kaneryd is very slow to react when the ball is there to be hit.
90+7 min: Sam Kerr does not look too happy at being subbed off.
90+6 min: Shaw drops deep, Bronze clinging to her but unable to get the ball.
90+4 min: It’s turned into an epic. Will there be a winner before extra time? There, there will be tired legs.
90+3 min: The strength Shaw showed in holding off Bronze and Buchanan was something else. Sam Kerr has been subbed off. She will play no part in the drama to follow.
Goal! Chelsea 2-2 Manchester City (Shaw, 90+2)
The equaliser! Shaw turns and shoots, and Hampton can’t keep it out. Shaw has scored against the club she is set to join.
Updated
90 min: Hemp gives the ball away but City soon win it back. They will surely get another chance; there’s seven minutes of time added on to be played. The announcement yields boos from the home fans.
88 min: City have a spring in their step, Chelsea need to reset. Lucy Bronze, on as a sub, will aid the rearguard effort.
87 min: Could we be on for another comeback after that Brighton win against Liverpool?
Goal! Chelsea 2-1 Manchester City (Fowler, 86)
City play hurry-up offence and that change makes instant dividends as Fowler, with her first touch, smashes it where Hannah Hampton can’t reach it.
85 min: City change, off goes Ouahabi, Fowler on, an attacker for a defender, as it’s desperation stakes. There will be a longish injury time after Lauren Heap’s hooter took that blow.
84 min: Sonia Bompastor is asking her players to close this one out. Her tactical plan is going well so far.
83 min: Chelsea on a go-slow, Hannah Hampton taking her time on the ball before they launch into the attack with Sam Kerr whizzing down the flank. Then Lauren James tries from long range. There’s a smile after it whips wide.
82 min: Fujino, after Shaw creates the chance, fires wide for City.
80 min: Lauren James is booked for a hefty tackle. Chelsea changes: Thompson off, Rytting Kaneryd on.
79 min: Chelsea putting the squeeze on City, who have found it very difficult to create the chances they did towards the end of the first half.
77 min: City’s double bid is fading fast, though there’s still much to celebrate from their season. Chelsea are on course for their own double, though must beat Brighton in the final.
75 min: Shaw turns and spins, and fires over. It’s not been her day so far and the day is almost done.
Updated
73 min: Sam Kerr holds the ball up, turns and is knocked flat by City’s Rose.
72 min: Chelsea remain in full control and continue to push for more.
71 min: Thompson, who has been quieter than in the first half, goes on one of her runs, and smashes just wide. So many decent attackers in this Chelsea team.
69 min: Kerr has the ball in the net for the third time, heading in a Cuthbert ball. Offside, and this time the decision is in no doubt.
67 min: Hemp fizzes a cross across. It’s Shaw territory but she doesn’t get close.
67 min: Two City changes: Iman Beney and Aoba Fujino replace Grace Clinton and Kerstin Casparij.
66 min: Hemp continues to buzz with energy and forces a corner, though it’s wasted, with Grace Clinton not reading it.
65 min: Gordon in Aberdeen is back: “Everyone saying Chelsea were “robbed” of a second goal. It doesn’t matter if the ball was in or out - what is important is that the well-placed Assistant Ref immediately raised her flag - and all the City defenders, particularly Rose, who was about to clear the ball - stopped, with only Kerr playing on. So, not much robbery, actually.”
63 min: Changes are afoot on the City bench. Something needs to alter; Chelsea have been much the better team.
62 min: Chelsea want more. City have a mountain to climb but have plenty of firepower. Shaw turns and shoots over when she would have been better advised to let the ball run to Hemp.
60 min: You can’t hand chances like that to Sam Kerr, though perhaps an element of karma for that incorrectly disallowed goal.
Goal! Chelsea 2-0 Manchester City (Kerr, 59)
Oh, calamity, a fumble of James’ cross from Keating, the City keeper, and Sam Kerr does a Sam Kerr thing.
Updated
58 min: Hemp remains a central character, and whips the ball across. Could Kerolin have made a better effort to head that. Shaw had dropped deep to set up the move.
56 min: In the next breath, Kerr is again involved. Chelsea starting the second half like they did the first.
55 min: From the next corner, Hemp bravely blocks off Kerr.
54 min: Hemp back on, with no number on her shirt. As she arrives, she’s asked to head a ball and there’s a scramble, Sam Kerr fully involved, the ball bouncing hither and thither.
52 min: Hemp will come back on, once she’s changed her shirt.
50 min: This is a lengthy delay…and treatment continues, looks like there’s been some blood spilled. Lauren Hemp has cotton buds up her nostrils.
48 min: Hemp took an almighty clump in a collision with Ouahabi, her teammate. It looks like a head injury. Some concern for Sarina Wiegman.
46 min: Back we come into the action and the good news for City is the return of Bunny Shaw, who is straight back into the throng.
Half-time: Chelsea 1-0 Manchester City
Chelsea would be two up if the officials had not gone out for Sam Kerr’s disallowed goal. They’ve created the better chances, even if their goal had a touch of luck to it. Big half to come if City are to rescue their double bid. Will Khadija Shaw be back to play her part?
45+1 min: Looks like Shaw will be coming back on though is still rubbing her neck as she arrives, and Sam Kerr whips a shot wide from an acute angle.
45 min: There’s head shaking from Shaw, and her day could be done. She leaves the field rubbing her neck. Three minutes added on.
44 min: Bunny Shaw is down, and looks dazed after a collision with Buurman.
43 min: Oof, something of a slice from Hannah Hampton but she gets away with it. At the other end, a James shot is deflected behind.
Updated
41 min: James fires over and isn’t happy that the ball she hit didn’t have enough purchase on it.
40 min: Chelsea hold on the ball rather than adopt their previous wildcat attacking strategy. Then, patience almost pays off as Sam Kerr gets space, though that’s closed down.
38 min: Good save from Hampton following a deflected shot by Blindkilde Brown. Chances coming at both ends.
36 min: Hampton’s long ball from goalkeeper causes real problems, and as Kerr lurks, it takes a Greenwood intervention to stop what looked a certain goal. Chelsea look dangerous on every attack but then again so do City on their more rare excursions.
34 min: But, after a move started by Grace Clinton, the ball is headed over by Shaw. City are not done yet, by any measure.
33 min: Thompson is in the mood, her cross aimed at Kerr, but just headed over. Chelsea are back in the ascendancy.
32 min: What a run from Alyssa Thompson, dancing feet, like Ricky Villa, and it takes a well-timed tackle from Rose to stop her. Rose hurt herself in the act but plays on.
31 min: Kerr darts into the area, before the ball is cleared rather hurriedly.
30 min: Carpenter gets to the byline again but the ball is overhit this time. That disallowed second goal feels a while ago now.
28 min: Millie Btight pictured in the stands, hood up. It’s cold out in London today. Cold in, too. Considering putting the heating back on.
27 min: A sighter for Shaw, laid up for her by Kerolin but the striker can’t get over the ball and misses the target. Think everyone expected better there.
25 min: A brief lull in play but Lauren James soon sets off one of her runs, only to lose her footing. The contest has evened out after that early blitz.
24 min: Thompson has been lively for Chelsea, and is robbed by Rose after shaking off Alex Greenwood’s close attentions.
23 min: Clinton makes a fine run forward, and lays up Karolin for a shot on goal; it goes wide. That could have been far better.
22 min: James zips in a shot, and it takes another deflection, this time drifting wide. So much firepower out there today.
20 min: Sonia Bompastor can be heard issuing terse instructions to her team, they have surrendered their early dominance.
18 min: Shaw slides the ball wide to Hemp, and the shot is blocked but the FWA player of the year is growing into this game.
17 min: Sam Kerr has been lively. It’s possible, of course, that Khadija Shaw will replace here as the Aussie great is out of contract this summer.
16 min: City have to up the tempo and are doing so, Shaw finding space down the inside left, and it takes a fine Buchanan tackle to stop her.
15 min: A City corner causes a modicum of trouble for Chelsea before Hannah Hampton climbs up to claim the ball.
13 min: First involvement from Shaw against her prospective employers, and Hemp zips a shot wide.
11 min: City need to ride the luck they’ve just been handed. That was not great from the officials. We may hear more later. Kerr gave the assistant the wagging finger. And it was justified.
Sam Kerr has goal disallowed
9 min: Sam Kerr has the ball in the net, and it’s ruled out. The assistant referee said the ball was out when Carpenter crossed from the byline. Replays show the ball was not out….no VAR so Chelsea denied there.
Goal! Chelsea 1-0 Manchester City (Cuthbert, 8)
A Kerr flick lays up Thompson, and Cuthbert’s low drive comes off City’s Rose and goes in.
Updated
7 min: City at least getting out of their half but Chelsea still full of energy. Ellie Carpenter has to come across to stop a Hemp run.
5 min: Sarina Wiegman is looking on, lots of Lionesses on view, with Grace Clinton of City among the players she is running the rule over. Another, Lauren Hemp, skids a ball across goal, Hasegawa just fails to connect.
3 min: Powerful run from Lauren James and a booming shot just wide. Chelsea have gone from the b of the bang.
2 min: Chelsea on the attack already, Thompson forces a fine save from Keating, the City keeper. The corner causes problems but is finally knocked behind for a goal kick.
Away we go in the second FA Cup semi
1 min: A reminder there’s no VAR here. Who will make it to Wembley?
Millie Bright is in the stadium, the Chelsea legend having retired last month.
Gordon gets in touch: “I am wondering if the Chelsea players will give their opponents today a guard of honour after City became WSL champions?”
Let’s see, perhaps that would only happen in an actual WSL match.
The Manchester City manager Andree Jeglertz on TNT on Khadija Shaw: “There has been speculation about our players for a long time, and her especially. They are used to handling that. We don’t speak about it inside of the group. She’s here today to play for us and win the game for us. It has not affected us.”
The big news is Khadija Shaw starts for City, as would be expected. Missing is Rebecca Knaak, with a shoulder injury sustained scoring the goal against Liverpool that placed one hand on the WSL title.
For Chelsea, Lionesses in Hannah Hampton and Keira Walsh come in though Lucy Bronze is benched.
The teams
Chelsea: Hampton, Carpenter, Buurman, Buchanan, Charles, Walsh, Nusken, Cuthbert, James, Thompson, Kerr. Subs: Peng, Spencer, Baltimore, Kaptein, Rytting Kaneryd, Bronze, Potter, Beever-Jones, Sarwie
Manchester City: Keating, Rose, Greenwood, Clinton, Shaw, Hemp, Kerolin, Ouahabi, Casparij, Blindkilde Brown, Hasegawa. Subs: Cumings, Coombs, Fowler, Wienroither, Fujino, Lohmann, Beney, Prior, Murphy.
The former Chelsea player Fran Kirby of Brighton has beem speaking after that Brighton win: “Absolutely. I don’t know. It would be great to play some of the girls I’ve played with over so many years. But, you know what, may the best team win.”
Brighton will the opponent for whomever wins at Stamford Bridge in this game.
They have beaten Arsenal and now Liverpool to get to Wembley.
And Tom’s story on Shaw’s departure:
On the champions of England, from the excellent Tom Garry.
Nineteen of City’s 58 goals have been scored by Shaw, who has been the star of the show. The focal point of the attack, she has looked unstoppable and will surely be named as the WSL’s player of the season. City have also had great weapons down the flanks, with the England winger Lauren Hemp on one side and the Netherlands right-back Kerstin Casparij surging forward on the other. They are lethal from set pieces, too, aided by the deliveries from Greenwood, whose career total of 19 WSL assists from set pieces is a record.
Preamble
It’s been a big week for Manchester City’s women’s team, crowned champions when Arsenal failed to beat Brighton, and then the news that key player Khadija Shaw will be heading elsewhere once the season is over. That Chelsea are the favourites to sign Shaw only adds to the heady mix of this cup semi; City are going for the double. Chelsea are attempting to rescue a disappointing season in the WSL and Champions League by adding the FA Cup to the League Cup. This is massive, frankly.
Kick-off is at 3.30pm UK time. Join me.
