Chelsea is through to the Women’s FA Cup final after win over Arsenal

After a relatively timid first 45 minutes, Chelsea found its stride and advanced to the Women’s FA Cup final for the second consecutive season. While all the talk has been about the Blues’ attack as of late, their defense stepped up big time behind captain Millie Bright to completely stymie an Arsenal front line full of quality. Two world-class goals by Guro Reiten and Ji So-yun proved to be the difference makers as Arsenal goalkeeper Manuela Zinsberger had absolutely no chance to keep either shot out of the net.

The Gunners possessed a powerful, dynamic attack, but the Blues did not allow a single shot on target on Sunday afternoon. It was just the fifth time all season that Arsenal did not record a single goal in 90 minutes of play. Now, the Gunners’ only remaining hope of finding any sort of success this season is for Chelsea to falter in its final four contests in the WSL. Against another powerhouse in the women’s game, Emma Hayes and her defense flexed their muscles to set up a date with Manchester City at Wembley Stadium in mid-May.

The Chelsea Women advanced to another FA Cup final with a win over Arsenal

Following the big win, manager Emma Hayes spoke about the performance, stating:

"“The first 20 minutes, we were horrific. But once we executed the game plan, we stifled them and they struggled. The goal came at the right time and we dominated them … We got a clean sheet and we limited them to one chance in the first half. Defensively we were solid. That’s our foundation … This win means nothing for the league. We’re in the final, at Wembley. That’s where we want to be.”"

Millie Bright, Jess Carter and Aniek Nouwen anchored the back-three that frustrated Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Co. as they just could not find the holes to break down Chelsea in the end. The Gunners had their chances, but each time Arsenal thought it could find its way through, the Blues collapsed on the ball to send it away from danger. Goals have been the story for Chelsea lately, but this was quietly the sixth-straight clean sheet for Hayes’ side. Further, it is the 19th clean sheet this season in all competitions out of 33 matches played in total.

Arsenal missed the opportunities that were presented to it while the Blues proved to be miles ahead of their opponents on on Sunday afternoon, especially with their clinical finishing. The world knew it was going to take some sort of magic to be able to break down either back line, and luckily, Chelsea was up for the task. The Gunners once again demonstrated that in big games against the Blues, they just cannot get the job done. It is now back-to-back seasons that the team that holds the most FA Cups out of any women’s team has fallen short at the hands of Hayes. Jonas Eidevall has proven his quality as a coach in Sweden with FC Rosengard, but he still has a lot of work to do to solidify himself in the company of Hayes in England.

The Gunners have only won two out of the last 10 contests against the Blues, dating all the way back to 2017. Some may think that Arsenal and Chelsea are constantly battling and in some ways, both squads continue to do that. However, when it comes to the head-to-head battles, Hayes has the Gunners’ number. Arsenal has not won the FA Cup since the 2015/16 season and the north Londoners have finished third-best to Chelsea three out of the last four seasons in the league. There is no doubt that the Gunners hold plenty of talent up top, it is just a matter of executing in the big moments under the brightest lights that has constantly been their kryptonite.

The lackluster performance by the Gunners’ attack has much to do with Carter and Nouwen, who put together two world class outings on one of the biggest stages. Mead and Miedema had their chances, but the Chelsea duo was always in the right spot to clear the ball away from goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger. Both defenders were basically glued to the Arsenal stars as they used their physicality to overwhelm and squash the Gunners, who just could not create a chance to challenge Berger between the sticks.

The Blues now take their rock-solid defense into the rest of the season where they have the chance to add two new trophies to the shelf. Even though the Chelsea squad will not want to admit it, revenge has to be on its mind when it heads to Wembley Stadium for the final against Manchester City. A 3-1 defeat in the Conti Cup final was a brutal blow for the Blues to take at the time, but Chelsea has continued to stay the course through quality coaching and loads of mental toughness demonstrated by the players.

Another final is now on the schedule, but there is plenty of work to be done before the clash in the English capital. Four games, four wins and the Women’s Super League once again belongs to the Blues. With this defense, Chelsea will have no problem reaching the finish line, but this is the WSL where anything can happen on any given matchday.