Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Football London
Football London
Sport
Hannah Pinnock

Sam Kerr winners and heavyweight battles - Chelsea's road to Women's FA Cup Final vs Man Utd

This Sunday Chelsea will contend their third consecutive Women's FA Cup Final and will hope to make it three wins on the bounce when they take on Manchester United at Wembley Stadium in another historic day for women's football in England.

Emma Hayes' side are the fourth most successful club in the competition, behind Arsenal, Doncaster Belles and Southampton Women's. All four of Chelsea's titles in the FA Cup have come during the current manager's tenure, having won their first in 2015.

The Blues have reached the latter stages of every competition this season and Sunday's clash in the capital will be their second cup final of the campaign. Back in March, Chelsea battled it out against Arsenal at Selhurst Park in the final showpiece of the Conti Cup but fell to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of the Gunners.

READ MORE: Chelsea transfer news as German giants Bayern Munich swoop for double move

Hayes will hope for greater luck this time around against United, who will compete in their first-ever Women's FA Cup final this weekend. It's been a long road for Chelsea to get here, having overcome WSL opposition at every stage of the competition.

Fourth round - Chelsea 3-2 Liverpool

WSL clubs entered the competition in the fourth round but there were no favourable ties for Chelsea as they were drawn against top-flight opponents. Liverpool had previously beaten the Blues in the opening game of the WSL season in what was a shock result, but Hayes ensured there was no slip-up this time around.

Sam Kerr opened the scoring in the first half before she doubled the hosts' lead shortly into the second. Yet, Liverpool refused to go down without a fight as Ceri Holland pulled one back for the Merseyside club shortly after.

Kerr appeared to have put the tie to bed when she completed her hat-trick with 10 minutes left to play. Gemma Bonner reduced the deficit to make it 3-2 on 85 minutes, resulting in a nervy finish at Kingsmeadow.

Regardless, Chelsea were able to cling on to their slender lead and book their place in the fifth round and line up a tie against London rivals Arsenal.

Fifth round - Chelsea 2-0 Arsenal

Chelsea faced arguably the toughest possible opponents in the fifth round as Arsenal travelled to Kingsmeadow at the end of February, a week before they were due to meet again in the Conti Cup final. Chelsea were dominant throughout the 90 minutes and although the Gunners had their fair share of opportunities, it was the Blues who had the clinical tough.

Sophie Ingle put Chelsea ahead after 20 minutes and Kerr extended the lead in the second half. There was no response from Arsenal in the latter stages and Hayes' side were able to knock out one of the competition's heavyweights early on.

Quarter-final - Reading 1-3 Chelsea

Just like the previous rounds, Chelsea were drawn against WSL opposition once again in the quarter-finals. This time it was slightly more favourable given Reading's precarious situation in the table but it was by no means a straightforward game.

Jess Carter, Maren Mjelde and Guro Reiten had put Chelsea 3-0 up after 50 minutes but a 70th-minute goal from Reading's Sanne Troelsgaard suggested they could be in for a tough final 20 minutes. Fortunately for Chelsea, they were able to fend off any late pressure and maintain the two-goal advantage.

Semi-final - Chelsea 1-0 Aston Villa

As if Chelsea's run couldn't get any more difficult, they faced an away trip to Aston Villa in the semi-finals. Carla Ward's side made history by reaching the last four for the first time in the club's history and it was set to be some occasion at the Poundland Bescot Stadium.

Villa's form this season has given them 'best of the rest' status outside of the regular top four and star striker Rachel Daly currently leads as the WSL's top scorer. Chelsea were in for a difficult evening.

It was certainly that as Villa gave it absolutely everything, after all, it was the biggest game in their history. Kerr, as she so often does, put Chelsea in front with 30 minutes left to play, moments after the hosts could've taken the lead themselves through Alisha Lehmann.

Villa, quite literally, threw the kitchen sink at Chelsea but a resilient defensive display secured the narrow victory in the end and they booked their place in the final against United.

READ NEXT:

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.