And finally Manchester City make it up the stairs to receive their shiny prize! Cushing leads his team to the ledge. The FA Cup is handed to Steph Houghton. She takes the lid off carefully, because she wants to hoist the cup into the air with force and feeling. Up it goes! And down comes the ticker tape! Wembley erupts in honour of Manchester City, who thoroughly deserved to win today’s final, and as holders of all three domestic trophies, have established themselves as the dominant force in the English game. Next on the tick-list: Europe. But let them enjoy this achievement first, eh.
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Birmingham come up to collect their runners-up medals. Grim looks etched across disappointed faces, but at least they showed what they are capable of in the second half. Bottom line, they came up against the best team in England, one that’s a class apart right now. Hopefully the experience will stand them in good stead going forward.
And now here’s the world player of the year, Carli Lloyd! “It was a fantastic team performance. This group has been trying to get this trophy for some time. I’ve come in and helped push that along, but it was a total team effort. It was a quality win. It’s just a great group of girls, the organisation is brilliant, and I’ve enjoyed my time here!”
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Manchester City manager Nick Cushing speaks! “The aim after winning the double was to win the FA Cup. We were good in every round, but our performance here today was exceptional. I don’t have to do a lot of mental preparation for these players. I trust them, I know they are big-game players. They just had to find their experiences of big games and repeat them. And they did that. The expectation they put on themselves is greater than anything from outside. I said after we won the double that the next trophy we won would be the most satisfying, because it reinforces that we are the dominant team in England. I thought Keira Walsh’s performance was exceptional!”
Manchester City midfielder Keira Walsh has been named as player of the match. She speaks to the BBC. “It feels unbelievable, it’s the biggest trophy in England, and a great feeling to take the trophy back to Manchester.” Her captain Steph Houghton comes over to pitch in: “This is what this team is about, big players for the big occasion. Our first-half performance was unbelievable! Now we’ve got to retain our titles, and take the next step in the Champions League. This girl [Walsh] is young and makes our team tick!”
FULL TIME: Birmingham City 1-4 Manchester City
And that’s that! Manchester City have won their first FA Cup after blowing Birmingham City away! They did all of the hard work in 16 first-half minutes, coasting home thereafter! They now hold all of English football’s major trophies at the same time: WSL, League Cup and now the FA Cup! It’s the first time that’s ever happened; no wonder their smiles are wider than Wembley itself!
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90 min +3: Lloyd drops deep, draws a couple of Birmingham players, and dinks a lovely pass down the inside-left channel for Stanway, who can’t quite burst clear but stops 25 yards out, spins, and sends a shot high over the bar.
90 min +2: Houghton sends the resulting free kick, from the edge of the D, straight down Berger’s throat.
90 min +1: Mannion is booked for tugging back Lloyd as she threatens to break clear towards the Birmingham box.
90 min: There will be three added minutes.
89 min: Carter is booked for a late, frustrated lunge on McManus. It was full blooded and not particularly acceptable. She’s lucky it’s only yellow.
88 min: Birmingham make their third change, as Paige Williams is replaced by Abbey-Leigh Stringer.
86 min: Wellings has been a glorious nuisance since coming on. She cuts in from the left, rides two tackles, and nearly forces a shot through a thicket of players from the edge of the box. Not quite, but that was a purposeful run.
85 min: Lloyd and Stokes very nearly combine to release Duggan down the left, but the close-range triangulation doesn’t quite come off.
83 min: Before the free kick, a Birmingham sub: Andrine Hegerberg is replaced by Chloe Peplow. Duggan floats the set piece towards the far post, forcing Berger to concede a corner. Nothing much comes of that.
82 min: Bronze drops a shoulder and looks to break past Harrop on the right. She’s bashed to the floor without ceremony. A free kick in a dangerous position near the Birmingham box.
GOAL! Birmingham City 1-4 Manchester City (Scott 80)
Oh this is a lovely finish. With Birmingham threatening to get back into the game, they’re polished off by Jill Scott, who takes down a floated left-to-right cross by Duggan and scoops a clever shot into the top left with Berger slightly out of position. That’s a very well-crafted goal.
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79 min: Stanway goes up for a high ball with Berger. The pair clash accidentally, and now it’s the Birmingham keeper rolling around in agony. She’s fine after some treatment.
78 min: City make their third change: Abbie McManus comes on for Megan Campbell.
77 min: Duggan is this close to releasing Lloyd down the middle with a first-time pass down the centre. But Harrop reads the play well, stepping in to intercept and put a stop to Manchester City’s gallop.
75 min: So, then, is the comeback on?! Carter bustles down the middle of the pitch, breaking upfield from a Manchester City corner. She very nearly breaks a couple of challenges to sprint clear, but her touch eventually lets her down. Birmingham keep coming, though, with the ball swung into the Manchester City box from the right. Bardsley, by her right-hand post, leaps and claims, though she’s clattered by an over-eager White for her trouble. Ooyah. Oof. The keeper’s taken a knock there, but she looks OK to continue.
GOAL! Birmingham City 1-3 Manchester City (Wellings 73)
Taking Ayisi off might have been a strange move, but sending Wellings on was pretty smart! Brazil bustles into the Manchester City area down the right, reaches the byline, and cuts the ball back for Wellings, who dispatches it into the bottom left, a glorious whip-cracker of a shot that leaves Bardsley with no chance! What a lovely finish!
72 min: That corner is a non-event, but Manchester City seem to have woken up again now. Lloyd dribbles down the left and earns another corner. Houghton bullies her way through a crowded area and gets a head on the ball, but can only send it wide right.
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70 min: Houghton sends a free kick halfway to Oxford Street. That was wild. But no matter, Manchester City come straight back at Birmingham, Duggan making ground down the left and forcing a corner. Before the set piece can be taken, Nikita Parris is replaced by Georgia Stanway.
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68 min: Manchester City seem perfectly happy to sit back and contain Birmingham right now. They sit back and sit back. But then suddenly Lloyd dances down the left and flicks the ball inside for Duggan, who shuttles the ball down the centre with a view to releasing Parris on goal. But Berger has read it well, coming out of her area to clatter the ball clear. Just in time.
66 min: The stands are still bubbling away with excitement, but it’s all gone a bit quiet on the pitch.
64 min: Freda Ayisi has been Birmingham’s best player by some distance. So it’s very strange that she’s been hooked. Charlie Wellings takes her place. Ayisi doesn’t look particularly happy about it, and to be frank she’s got a point. That’s a strange decision.
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62 min: Bardsley has something to do in the Manchester City goal at long last! White takes a whack from the best part of 30 yards. It’s a glorious low fizzer which nearly finds the bottom-right corner. Bardsley gets down well to parry, then gather the loose ball with the alert Ayisi rushing in. That’s further raised the volume of this record crowd, who if the BBC shots are anything to go by, are enjoying themselves very much to the last woman, girl, man and boy. It’s been a brilliant atmosphere from the get-go.
61 min: Today’s official attendance has been announced. It’s 35,271: a record for a Women’s FA Cup final.
60 min: A throw for Manchester City out on the right, deep in Birmingham territory. Time for Megan Campbell to showcase her mega throw. She launches it long, as you’d expect, but the accuracy is all out of whack, and it’s sent sailing into the grateful arms of Berger.
58 min: Berger, with the ball at her feet, sends a clearance straight towards Parris. The ball threatens to balloon straight back into an unguarded goal, but there’s enough of an arc for the keeper to reposition herself and make the catch. Nearly very embarrassing.
57 min: Carter bustles from deep in her own half and rolls a pass down the middle for Ayisi, who tries to drift to the right to create space for a shot, but can’t quite manufacture anything.
56 min: The first switch of the match is made by Manchester City. Toni Duggan comes on for Melissa Lawley.
54 min: There’s a lull, and then suddenly Stokes slips a pass down the inside-left channel from deep to release Parris into the area. Parris opens up and looks to curl a sidefoot round Berger and into the bottom right. The keeper gets a touch, a fine save, and the ball’s run out of play on the right for a corner. Berger claims the set piece.
51 min: Suddenly Manchester City spring into life, Parris dribbling in the baroque style down the right. She twists into the box before shooting. The ball’s deflected out for a corner, which is hit long from the right. Houghton strides in from the left and crashes a header towards the top left. It’s only just off target. Nobody in a Birmingham shirt made a serious challenge there. Another Manchester City goal, and this really is all over. I mean... well... you know.
49 min: Birmingham have enjoyed the bulk of the possession since the restart. Small acorns, and all that. Manchester City are currently doing what they have to do, and no more.
47 min: Ayisi makes good down the left and lays off to Williams, who curls into the centre for White. The striker handles as she attempts to turn on the penalty spot, and the move comes to an abrupt end. That was better from Birmingham, though, with the livewire Ayisi in the thick of it.
Birmingham City get the second half underway! No changes, so the eleven Blues starters have been given the chance to right some wrongs. Carter looks to bomb down the right but she runs into trouble and the first phase of the potential Birmingham comeback comes to naught.
Half-time reading: For anyone enjoying the women’s game for the first time, and therefore desirous of knowing more, this classic Joy of Six by the wonderful Georgina Turner will act as a handy primer.
HALF TIME: Birmingham City 0-3 Manchester City
And that’s that for the first 45. Manchester City have been a class apart, with Lucy Bronze nothing short of sensational. By contrast, Freda Ayisi is the only Birmingham player who has looked anywhere near to her best. It’s a huge half-time team-talk for Birmingham boss Marc Skinner. His opposite number Nick Cushing just needs to keep his players focused, and the cup is theirs.
44 min: Birmingham are struggling to keep hold of the ball. Manchester City keep coming back at them. White tries to get something moving with a determined dribble down the middle, but she’s robbed by Walsh, who knocks her to the ground with a legitimate charge. It’s been a painful half of football for Blues, one way or another.
42 min: Lloyd sashays down the left, reaches the bylne and pulls one back for Christiansen on the penalty spot. A good first touch, and it’s a free shot from 12 yards. But Christiansen takes her eye off the ball and that chance is gone. No matter, a pass is laid off to the right for the in-rushing Bronze, who skelps a rising shot wide of the right stick from the edge of the area. Birmingham desperately need half-time.
40 min: Manchester City are trying their party pieces now. Stokes glides effortlessly down the left and tries to float a chip into the top right from the left-hand corner of the area. That redefined ambition. But everything’s gone Manchester City’s way so far, so why not?
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39 min: Perhaps understandably, Birmingham’s heads are addled. Berger shanks a dreadful clearing kick straight to Christiansen, who has Lloyd to her right. It’s two on one for a split second, but Christiansen doesn’t play the immediate pass, and the chance to embarrass Birmingham’s keeper is gone.
37 min: A slight lull as Bronze gets some running repairs. A problem with a contact lens, by the looks of it. The break allows Birmingham to get together and have another tactical pow-wow. How desperately they need something to happen for them before half-time.
35 min: Mayling tries to spark something in attack for Birmingham with a romp down the right. But her cross is clanked away with great purpose by Campbell. Bardsley hasn’t had anything particularly serious to deal with yet.
33 min: Before kick-off, Birmingham get into a little huddle in order to rally each other and clear their heads. This final is already spiralling out of control for them. Manchester City, mind, have been marvellous so far.
GOAL! Birmingham City 0-3 Manchester City (Lloyd 32)
The ball’s shuttled back up the left wing by Christiansen to Campbell, who quarterbacks a mammoth diagonal pass from deep to the far stick. The big-game genius Lloyd rises above Berger and heads into the top right. That’s a fine header, but not great defending. Berger was late coming off her line, and White was the only Birmingham player challenging. Had Lloyd not met that cross, chances are Houghton, standing inches behind the USA star, would have converted herself.
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31 min: Lloyd drops deep, then slips a pass down the inside-left channel to release Lawley. She enters the area and shoots low towards the bottom right. Berger turns the effort past the post for a corner. From which...
29 min: Mayling slides a fine ball down the right wing for Ayisi, who turns on the jets and nips past Stokes. It looks as though she may have run the ball out of play but, right next to the corner flag, digs out a fine cross which Bardsley does extremely well to claim under pressure from Brazil.
27 min: Birmingham again try to respond with gusto. The effervescent Ayisi dribbles straight down the middle of the park, and for a second it looks as though the pitch is going to open up for her. But she hesitates fatally, as Christiansen - not resting on her laurels, closes her down from behind and nips away with the ball.
GOAL! Birmingham City 0-2 Manchester City (Christiansen 25)
What a stunning goal this is! Bronze Garrinchas her way down the right, beating two opponents with ball-on-string close control. She bursts into the area and loops a cross towards the far post. Christiansen rushes in, and blooters a rising sidefoot into the top left! That’s such a sweet strike, after a brilliant run and assist from Bronze! Gold standard.
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24 min: Free kick for Birmingham, 40 yards from goal. Williams looks to find White on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box with a diagonal spray; there’s too much juice on the ball and it floats out of play to the right of goal. She looks frustrated, but it was a clever idea.
22 min: Harrop attempts to get something going for Birmingham by creaming a shot goalwards from the best part of 30 yards down the inside-right channel. It’s ambitious, and Bardsley gathers without too much fuss. But Birmingham have bounced straight back off the ropes.
20 min: That was a delightfully worked free kick. Had Bronze not met it, Houghton was waiting behind to attack the ball. Birmingham respond well with some probing down either wing, as Manchester City momentarily sit back to admire their work. But nothing’s occurring near the box. All very sterile in one sense; a decent enough response to conceding in another.
GOAL! Birmingham City 0-1 Manchester City (Bronze 18)
Free kick for Manchester City out on the right touchline as Williams takes out Parris. Campbell whips a glorious set piece towards the front stick; Bronze rises from a thicket of players and plants a marvellous header into the top right!
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16 min: Ayisi is a constant menace. She buzzes around Campbell and nearly forces an error as Manchester City attempt to stroke it around the back. A better moment for Campbell soon follows, as Parris earns a corner for Manchester City down the right. It’s fired towards the near post, where Campbell opens her body and attempts to sidefoot into the top right. That’s not too far away, whipping the side netting and fooling a few supporters for a nanosecond.
13 min: Manchester City go basic, launching long down the right, allowing Parris to chase. She gets to the ball ahead of Sargeant and earns a throw deep in Birmingham territory. A chance for Megan Campbell to Delap one of her special long throws into the area? Not this time. Manchester City go short, and the momentum is eventually lost.
11 min: Stokes and Lawley combine well down the left. Lawley twists this way and that, doubling back upfield before curling a gorgeous cross towards the far post. Scott and Lloyd are lurking, but Harrop eyebrows out for a corner at the last. Berger comes off her line to claim the set piece in assertive style. That’s fine football all round.
9 min: The first sighting of Lloyd. She peals off her marker as Bronze crosses deep from the right wing. A header’s sent goalwards, but she’s cycling backwards and stretching, and can’t get enough power on it. Berger plucks from the air. It’s been a lively start, both teams pushing forward in the progressive style.
7 min: Wembley might not be packed to capacity, but the atmosphere is magnificent. The fans rumble away in the background on a rolling boil. The volume rises even further as Campbell sends a weak clearing header straight at Ayisi, who looks for the top right from 25 yards. The shot contains enough venom, but it’s straight at Bardsley who claims with ease.
5 min: After a nervous start, Birmingham are beginning to assert themselves. Williams hoicks long into the Manchester City area from the left. Bardsley is forced to come off her line and punch clear, a task she performs impressively given the sun shimmering in her eyes.
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4 min: Ayisi and Brazil take turns to bother Bronze down the Birmingham left. Their pace and persistence forces the Manchester City full back to concede the game’s first corner. Bronze atones by heading the set piece powerfully clear, and it turns out she was being unfairly hassled anyway. Free kick.
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2 min: Manchester City are on the front foot early doors, first to everything in the midfield. Bronze makes good down the right and slips a ball along the channel for Parris, who breaks into the Birmingham area only to shoot wildly from a tight angle. But that’s a bright start by the favourites.
Before kick-off, pennants are exchanged. Or they would be, except Birmingham captain Kerys Harrop doesn’t have one to swap. Steph Houghton of Manchester City has the good grace to look embarrassed as she hands hers over. Manchester City, in their Cambridge blue, get the ball rolling. Birmingham are kitted out in their royal blue. We’re off!
The teams are out! A crowd of around 40,000 raises the Wembley roof as the two Cities take to the pitch. It’s sunny, though an earlier sprinkling of summer rain has greased the surface. Dignitaries various meet the teams. We’ll be off soon!
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Is it to be a shoot-out between two star strikers this evening? Birmingham forward Ellen White slotted home the decisive penalty kick in Blues’ semi-final against Chelsea. She doesn’t much care for the term “underdogs”, as Nick Ames reports.
Manchester City have a half-decent goalscorer of their own, of course. Carli Lloyd is one of only two footballers in the entire history of time to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final. Unlike Geoff Hurst, all of her efforts for the USA in the 2015 decider with Japan actually crossed the line; what’s more, she completed the task with little more than a quarter of an hour on the clock. No people on the pitch, but it was all over after 16 minutes. She’s been talking to Andy Hunter about coming back to Wembley, where she sealed Olympic gold in 2012 by scoring twice in the final. “The London Olympics were so special for me on many different levels and going back there I hope I’m two from two with trophies.” A big-game player? Not half.
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The teams
Birmingham City: Berger, Mayling, Mannion, Harrop, Sargeant, Williams, Hegerberg, Carter, Ayisi, Brazil, White.
Subs: Baggaley, Wellings, Westwood, Peplow, Stringer.
Manchester City: Bardsley, Stokes, Houghton, Campbell, Bronze, Walsh, Christiansen, Scott, Parris, Lawley, Lloyd.
Subs: Hourihan, McManus, Beattie, Stanway, Duggan.
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Good afternoon!
Arsenal have been the dominant club of the Women’s FA Cup. The Gunners have won the trophy on 14 occasions since its inception in 1971; only Southampton with eight wins, and Doncaster Belles with six, come anywhere close. They’ve won eight of the last 11 finals, including the one last year in which Danielle Carter saw off Chelsea.
They won’t be adding to that total this year, though. In the quarter finals, the holders came up against Birmingham City. Blues defender Marisa Ewers whistled one into the top corner, Ann-Katrin Berger made a string of stunning saves, and the holders were out. Birmingham went on to beat 2015 winners Chelsea in the semis on penalty kicks - Berger again the hero of the hour - and now they have a chance to win the FA Cup for the second time in their history.
Birmingham’s first triumph, in 2012 against Chelsea at the Keepmoat in Doncaster, was one for the ages. Helen Lander will forever wonder how she didn’t win the match for Chelsea. She forced a full-length save out of Rebecca Spencer with a rasper heading for the bottom right; clattered the right-hand post with another pearler; then nutmegged Laura Bassett on the turn before ripping a shot into the top right. What a goal! What a performance! But it wasn’t enough.
Jade Moore nearly equalised late on for Birmingham with an adroit backflick, but her effort was cleared off the line by Claire Rafferty. Chelsea crept towards victory, and were seconds away when Rachel Williams guided a deft volley through a crowded area and into the bottom right. Extra time, in which Chelsea’s Kate Longhurst bombed down the inside-right to thrash a glorious diagonal shot into the bottom left, and City’s Karen Carney whipped a free kick past a dithering Carly Telford. Birmingham won the resulting penalty shoot-out, and with it their first-ever trophy.
If we get a final as good as that today, we’ll be doing pretty well. Birmingham’s 2017 vintage will be full of confidence after knocking out Arsenal and Chelsea, and will name a team boasting England striker Ellen White and defender Jess Carter, the players’ young player of the year. They can also call on two survivors of the 2012 cup-winning side in captain Kerys Harrop and Emily Westwood.
Only problem is, Manchester City won’t be short of belief either. They’re the reigning English champions, beat Birmingham in last season’s League Cup final, and their side will star England captain Steph Houghton, the brilliant full-back Lucy Bronze, and two-time World Player of the Year Carli Lloyd, who has already won big at Wembley, having beaten Japan to Olympic gold with the USA in 2012. They’re looking to become the first team to hold all three of English football’s major trophies at the same time. No biggie, then, Birmingham.
Still, anything can happen in a final. Manchester City may be favourites, but they’ve yet to win the FA Cup, a state of affairs which will bring a little pressure to bear, while the last two league meetings between these sides have ended in draws. Throw in the fact that neither club has ever played at the national stadium before, and good luck confidently picking a winner. It’s the showpiece occasion of the English season! It’s the FA Cup final! It’s on!
Kick off: 5.15pm.
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