By Fran Lever 15/4/24
Above: Photo from Manchester United women
The start of last month Chelsea had quadruple dreams that were crushed by Arsenal in the Conti Cup final. Then there was a treble dream but their successful run in the FA cup competition came to an end yesterday as Manchester United got their revenge for both the final last season and their trashing at Stamford Bridge by denying them a ticket to Wembley to face Tottenham Hotspur.
After the Lillywhite side of North London secured their own win in extra time, eyes turned to Leigh Sports Village to see who would join them.
Current leaders Chelsea showed signs of cracking under their tight schedule. That would be enough for any team but it also comes not less than a week after the international break, where nearly every single player in the starting XI played for country opposed to Manchester United who had a pretty much rested squad compared to their opponents.
Lucia García had a shock opening goal in a feisty match up between the two sides then Rachel Williams doubled the lead 22 minutes later. Again, the match was a prime example of how the international schedule is affecting club performances. Kadeisha Buchanan played in the SheBelieves final for Canada only four days ago and Jess Carter made the switch from centre back to left back for England to only go back today. Both of these players started the game and formed the centre back pairing.
It is not to make excuses for the visiting side but it is an important factor to remember when it comes to club performances. It is not the first time that we have seen this over the season. Teams like Leicester, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur kicked off their season campaigns with a bang opposed to the higher ranked sides in the table. A clear reason was because the teams had significantly less players at the World Cup so had more time to rest and recover.
Lauren James was able to pull one back in extra time for Chelsea in the first half. She had a frustrating game due to her retaliating to the Red’s fouls on her and a questionable incident with Millie Turner- which led to her seeing a yellow card.
Chelsea’s attack got better in the second half as Mayra Ramírez was able to cut through in the defence not long after the whistle blew in the restart but her efforts fell short. Whatever Emma Hayes’ half time pep talk was, it worked as they came out a different team and were attacking more. Ultimately it did not work for the reigning champions.
The visitors had two calls for a penalty. A handball from Katie Zelem and then Niamh Charles fouled in the box by Lucia García . The decision went against them.
The Blue’s play was scrappy at times so the Red’s were able to take advantage by taking a calmer approach to their play. They were sloppy and giving away more fouls than usual so the hosts were able to use that.
Manchester United struggled themselves at times to get into the game and were only able to clasp onto Chelsea’s mistakes opposed to making their own chances. Mary Earps found her groove again and was able to pull on some much needed saves for her side and ultimately were able to secure a back to back ticket to Wembley.
Tottenham Hotspur await the Reds but in a major twist in the tale, Spurs’ will have to do it without their shining star, Grace Clinton, because she is on loan from United. If that will be an advantage, time will tell.
MANCHESTER UNITED (4-2-3-1)
Earps; Mannion, Le Tissier, Turner, Blundell ; Naalsund, Zelem ; García, Toone, Galton ; Williams
Substitutes: Ladd, Parris, Malard
CHELSEA (4-4-2)
Hampton ; Périsset, Carter, Buchanan, Charles ; Kaneryd, Leupolz, Cuthbert, Reiten ; James, Ramirez
Substitutes: Nüsken, Macário, Beever-Jones, Kirby, Lawrence
García 1’ , Williams 23 ‘ , James 45+4’
Referee: Kirsty Dowle
Attendance: 6,076
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