Manchester City's continuing injury crisis was exposed to full effect as they gifted Chelsea a comfortable win in their FA Cup semi-final.
Still without six first team regulars — and with Georgia Stanway suspended — City's makeshift defence was made to pay for some self-inflicted errors as they missed out on another Wembley trip, losing 3-0 on a disappointing afternoon at the Academy Stadium.
This was another unusual scenario in an unusual season for City so far, playing a semi-final in October as the FA Cup campaign from the previous season is completed. City have reached two of the last four finals in this competition, and were bidding to kickstart their faltering season by making it a third in four years.
Manager Gareth Taylor is slowly welcoming back his army of injured players, with Vicky Losada and Hayley Raso on the bench. That crisis has left City with four points from five games in the league, and they are already 11 points off top spot.
A cup final would have been a welcome distraction from that disastrous, injury-hit league campaign so far.
However, despite a good start, City's problems against Chelsea were mainly of their own doing, and they lost the semi-final in the space of four first half minutes.
City didn't start like a side out of form, pressing Chelsea well and keeping them pinned back; the visitors only getting a sight of goal when City were trying to play out from the back and over-complicating things. Ellen White twice went close, with Lauren Hemp dangerous on the left.
But City made one mistake too many in defence when Sam Kerr was able to get through on goal, and Jill Scott had to come to the rescue with a last-gasp tackle. From the corner, though, Chelsea played it short and took the lead when Erin Cuthbert fired into the far corner, with Karima Taieb questionable in the City goal. It went through her hands, but credit should go to Cuthbert for a fierce strike.
Taieb could have nowhere to hide with the second goal, however, which followed just four minutes later.
City again gave away possession in their own half, allowing Melanie Leupolz to fire towards the bottom corner. Taieb got there, but allowed the ball to bounce over her hands and nestle tamely in the back of the net.
A couple of strong saves from Taieb followed to slightly redeem herself, but her errors had knocked any momentum out of City's stride. Their insistence with playing out from the back was gifting Chelsea chance after chance, and inviting pressure that was preventing any chance of the Blues getting out of their own half.
It was clearly an instruction from Taylor, but he arguably didn't have the players to pull off such a tactic against Chelsea's press. He would argue he was missing three of his preferred back five through injury, with a third choice goalkeeper behind a veteran midfielder at centre-back and a winger playing at right-back struggling to replicate the passing style City are used to.
Jess Park's introduction at the break injected a bit of energy into City's play, and Taieb's redemption continued with a strong save one-on-one. City created a number of half-chances, but nothing Chelsea couldn't deal with, and the shaky passes between the back five wouldn't go away.
In truth, Chelsea never really got out of second gear, and were gifted their first two goals.
From the moment the second went through Taieb's hands, City's cup campaign was effectively over. Even with City's absentees, this was a worrying reminder of the distance Chelsea have put between these sides this season after both have battled so closely for the WSL title in recent years.
They replaced key duo Sam Kerr and Fran Kirby with plenty of time remaining, and Beth England's late header on the break confirmed their deserved place in the 2020/21 FA Cup final.
Taylor may point again to the injury problems, though he should take responsibility for persisting with the possession issues in defence. But he can't account for individual mistakes, and that is what ultimately proved the difference and cost City another Wembley trip.
With a Champions League campaign ending before the group stages and a WSL title challenge that looks over already, this was a disappointing end to City's chances of a morale-boosting trophy before Christmas.
The nightmare season, continues, though, and those injured players can't return quick enough.
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