Manchester City will hope to secure a fourth Continental League Cup after this schooling of Tottenham. The star act was Lauren Hemp, who scored the third goal and whose ability to glide across the turf was matched by a killer end product.
Gareth Taylor will enjoy plotting how to take down Chelsea, the holders, after City’s sticky start to the campaign. Chelsea have claimed the trophy for the past two years but the three-times winners are stylish and able to land dizzying punches when required, so the showpiece at Plough Lane should be a spectacle.
“It is brilliant to get to the final,” said City’s manager. “Both sides deserve to be there – it’s a great, top-level game. We’ll look forward to the final – if we play like we can, I don’t see us not being [in contention].”
City were ascendant throughout. A Georgia Stanway corner that was taken short – and wasted – was followed by Hemp’s mazy run that took her infield from the left and had Becky Spencer grateful to clutch the shot in her gloves. Next, Khadija Shaw’s effort beat Spencer but not the goalkeeper’s left post.
While City had control, errant passes showed their concentration required tightening. There was a concerning lapse when a defence led by Alex Greenwood – captain in the absence of the injured Steph Houghton – allowed Jessica Naz to skate through the middle. Ellie Roebuck in the City goal advanced and Naz unloaded but her radar, too, was awry and the home side escaped.
Jess Park did not make the same mistake. The attacker’s blistering pace had her zigzagging toward the area, and her finish that beat Spencer in the right corner was equally impressive. So, too, was City’s second strike a little later. Hemp’s pace split the Spurs rearguard before her layoff was hit by Caroline Weir: Spencer beat it away, the ball was turned back by Park and Shaw swept home.
Rehanne Skinner’s side were bamboozled. On the flanks, Hemp and Park tore holes in Ashleigh Neville and Kerys Harrop, Shaw was a battering ram at centre-forward, and Keira Walsh and Stanway’s silky scheming provided the brains. Shaw was also fleet-minded, dropping into pockets to allow Weir to be a ghost No 9, running beyond Spurs.
City appeared what they were: a proposition who hadn’t lost since mid-November, with Taylor steadying a ship that went down in four of their opening seven outings. Their visitors arrived a place higher – fourth – in the WSL but were rated as marginal underdogs, despite winning here in the league in September.
By the break there seemed scant chance of a repeat. The superb Hemp’s chip nearly made it 3-0, before the same player’s cross was met by Shaw, who skidded the ball off the bar.
Spurs were still to make an impact on the semi-final. A sighting of Lucy Bronze shaping a low parabola at Spencer was not the best omen for them. Neither was Ruby Mace’s thudding pass along the right which Park scampered on to before looping over a ball that defeated Spencer, the bar again thwarting City.
With the game compressed in Tottenham’s defensive third the tie had become a stroll for those in blue: great news for Taylor and the poorest for Skinner. A third for City seemed a formality.
While there was no dice when Stanway’s fiercely struck corner caused Demi Stokes to slam a header off Spencer’s left post, it could not be long. Weir’s slippery movement threatened twice when she took aim. Finally, the clincher arrived via a sweet sequence. Bronze fed Park who ran down the right and lifted in the ball. Up rose Hemp majestically to head past Spencer.
After this, the victors peppered Tottenham and retained the ball easily.
In defeat, Skinner was sanguine. “It was massive to get to the semi-final – the club has not achieved this before.” For Chelsea the message is clear: beware of City.
