On what was the hottest day of the year so far, the Chelsea Ladies team covered themselves in glory at Wembley Stadium, by beating Arsenal in the 2018 Women’s FA Cup Final.
Chelsea supporters will be hoping that it is the first of a Wembley FA Cup Final double with the men set to take on Manchester United on 19 May.
In front of a record attendance for the final, with 45,423 inside the stadium, the first-half wasn’t much to write home about. Arsenal started the better of the two sides but Chelsea, as the half wore on, started to get more into the game.
The game exploded into life in the second-half when, with just three minutes gone, Ramona Bachmann opened the scoring. Bachmann, who was to go on to score a brace in the final, fired the ball into the roof of the net to give Chelsea a deserved lead.
Buoyed by the opening goal, Chelsea doubled their lead on the hour mark when Bachmann netted again with her shot taking a slight deflection to beat the Arsenal goalkeeper.
To their credit, Arsenal got back into the game in the 73rd minute when Vivianne Miedema latched on to a ball from Beth Mead, to make it 2-1.
Chelsea’s response was excellent though and just three minutes later the two-goal lead was re-established when Fran Kirby produced an exquisite curling shot to ensure the cup belonged to Chelsea.
Following the win, the Chelsea Ladies manager, Emma Hayes, had a few words to say, remarking,
“The quality of the goals showed the difference between the two sides.
“The last thing I needed was something too nervy and that was the most relaxed I’ve felt in a final in my entire career.
Emma is, of course, heavily pregnant with twins.
What struck me about the final was the manner in which the girls went about game, there was no contesting of any decisions made by the referee, no serious time-wasting and the girls played the game in the spirit it was intended.
For those interested, the tweet, inserted below, carries some marvellous pictures of a wonderful day out.
FA Cup winners, once again! 🏆#CLFC pic.twitter.com/kYIZj2nWTI
— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) May 5, 2018
Our congratulations go to Chelsea Ladies on a wonderful achievement.