Stephen Pond

Chelsea reached Wembley and a chance to defend the FA Cup there with a 2-0 win against Arsenal in front of 3.458 supporters at Meadow Park. Guro Reiten and Ji So-Yun scored the goals during the second half and were it not for some good saves from Manuela Zinsberger, the scoreline could have been a lot worse for Arsenal.

It was actually Arsenal who started the better of the two but they were unable to create any clear chances with Chelsea defending well. Chelsea did slowly start to get into the game but again didn’t create anything that threatened the Arsenal goal. Vivianne Miedema had the first real opportunity of the game for Arsenal in the 20th minute but her powerful shot from the edge of the area went over.

Chelsea did have a few chances of their own after that with Bethany England and Niamh Charles both seeing efforts saved by Zinsberger. As half time approached, both defences had to make vital blocks and tackles to stop chances, though Arsenal weren’t helping themselves with some sloppy passes. The half time whistle went with the game goalless.

Beth Mead picked an early yellow card in the second half before having a good chance to put Arsenal ahead when she controlled and turned but saw her shot go narrowly wide in the 49th minute.

It was Chelsea though who took the lead a minute later when Arsenal allowed Reiten too much space to advance with the ball before she sent a cracking shot from outside the area into the net.

Chelsea went looking for a second goal and Zinsberger had to get down to tip Sam Kerr’s low shot behind in the 58th minute.

They did make it 2-0 in the 61st minute when Ji found a bit of space on the edge of the area and sent a shot into the top corner then going to celebrate in front of the visiting Chelsea fans.

Zinsberger was keeping Arsenal in it by this stage as she pushed Reiten’s shot from the edge of the area behind and then saved Sophie Ingle’s shot before Ji put the rebound wide. England sent a shot from the edge of the area over towards the end of a half that Emma Hayes’ Chelsea had been in control for the majority of.

Arsenal did create a few chances very late in the half though but Nikita Parris headed wide and Mead saw her shot saved but the offside flag was up anyway.

Chelsea’s second half performance saw them reach the final on 15th May where they will play Manchester City in what is a repeat of the Conti Cup final from earlier in the season.

Teams:
Arsenal: Zinsberger, McCabe, Williamson, Wubben-Moy, Catley, Walti (Maanum 64’), Little (C), Miedema, Mead, Blackstenius (Parris 71’), Foord (Heath 71’)
Unused substitutes: Williams, Beattie, Maritz, Wienroither, Nobbs, Iwabuchi
Booked – Mead

Chelsea: Berger, Nouwen, Bright (C), Carter, Charles, Ingle, Ji (Fleming 79’), Cuthbert, Reiten, England, Kerr (Harder 72’)
Unused substitutes: Musovic, Eriksson, Mjelde, Spence, Andersson, Aboullina
Goals – Reiten 50’, Ji 61’
Booked – Cuthbert

Referee – Rebecca Welch

Attendance – 3,458