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Manchester City reached their fourth FA Cup Final in the last six seasons as Gareth Taylor’s side won 4-1 against West Ham on a sunny and pleasant afternoon in Dagenham. In what was a repeat of the 2019 final, City’s goals came from Ellen White, Chloe Kelly and a brace from Lauren Hemp whilst Lisa Evans got West Ham’s goal.

West Ham started well but it was City who had the first chance when White just couldn’t get enough of her head on a cross from Kelly in the 6th minute. White had another chance a minute later which she put over from 6 yards out.

West Ham’s best early opportunity came in the 13th minute when Dagny Brynjarsdottir saw her effort blocked by the legs of Manchester City’s goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck. At the other end three minutes later, Caroline Weir saw her low shot deflected wide.

City did take the lead in the 22nd minute when Keira Walsh’s thunderous shot from distance hit the bar and bounced down with White diving in to head in the rebound.

Five minutes later, City had the ball in the net again when White headed in but the ball was judged to have gone out of play before Lucy Bronze crossed. Lauren Hemp then sent a shot over from an angle. City were really pushing for a second now with West Ham captain, Gilly Flaherty, making a great tackle to stop White before she could get a shot at goal.

It was 2-0 in the 37th minute when Flaherty’s pass across her own penalty area found Kelly who finished with a low shot for her first goal since returning from an ACL injury that kept her out for eleven months.

West Ham got a goal back before half time when Adriana Leon’s nice through ball found Evans who went around Roebuck and finished low into the net in the 42nd minute. There were no further chances before the break with City going in leading 2-1.

White had the ball in the net for the third time in the 52 nd minute but this time it was ruled out for offside. The next chance came in the 63rd minute for West Ham when Tameka Yallop shot just wide after some nice build up.

Hemp made it 3-1 to City in the 66th minute when she beat a couple of West Ham players and finished with a shot that went in off the far post.

Four minutes later, Bronze shot over for City and in the 77th minute, West Ham’s Katerina Svitoka saw her effort pushed away by Roebuck. A minute later, City’s Khadija Shaw was unable to control a pass as both sides went looking for goals.

City went close to scoring a fourth in the 86 th minute when Mackenzie Arnold tipped Filippa Angeldahl’s powerful shot onto the crossbar. From the resulting corner, Alex Greenwood’s acrobatic overhead kick was saved by Arnold. Arnold made another good save in the 89th minute when she palmed away Georgia Stanway’s effort low down.

Hemp scored her second and City’s fourth in injury time with a low finish into the corner of the net from inside the area after Stanway had broken forward.

West Ham still had a chance to get a goal back but Leon shot over. Not long after that the final whistle was blown to confirm that it will be Manchester City who be playing at Wembley Stadium on Sunday 15th May in the final.

Teams
West Ham United: Arnold, Parker, Flaherty, Fisk, Longhurst, Svitkova, Brynjarsdottir, Hasegawa (Walker 78’), Yallop
(Snerle 70’), Evans, Leon
Unused substitutes: Moore, Wyne, Cissoko, Stringer, Houssein, Filis, Joel
Goal – Evans 42’

Manchester City: Roebuck, Bronze, Kennedy, Greenwood, Stokes, Walsh, Coombs (Angeldahl 80’), Weir (Stanway 72’),
Kelly (Raso 62’), Hemp, White (Shaw 72’)
Unused Substitutes: Keating, Taieb, Mace
Goals – White 22’, Kelly 37’, Hemp 66’, 90’+1
Booked – Kelly

Referee – Abigail Byrne