Chelsea clinch double as Sam Kerr sinks Manchester City to win FA Cup final

Sam Kerr handed a battling Chelsea side the FA Cup and a domestic double in a 3-2 defeat of Manchester City that went to extra time. In front of a record FA Cup final crowd of 49,094 fans, the Australian forward scored the opener and the winner – her seventh and eighth goals in four consecutive domestic cup finals – to ensure Chelsea retained the title they won on 5 December.

Lauren Hemp levelled for City before the break but Erin Cuthbert’s blistering strike from the edge of the box gave Chelsea the lead for a second time before a 89th-minute goal from the substitute Haley Raso took the final to extra time where Kerr pounced on a mistake from her compatriot Alanna Kennedy to race clear and score.

There is no love lost between Manchester City and Chelsea, who have exchanged blows at the top of the Women’s Super League since 2015, with only Arsenal’s title win in 2019 and runner-up spot this term pushing either team out of the top two.

The City manager, Gareth Taylor, had said it would be two teams “going at it, slugging it out” and he was not wrong. There was only one yellow card in the first half, which was collected by the City centre-back Kennedy, but the tackles came in thick and fast, with stoppages for the clattering of the Chelsea trio Cuthbert, Pernille Harder and Sophie Ingle, and the City forward Bunny Shaw.

Despite City having had the better chances in the opening minutes, it was Chelsea who took the lead and the indomitable England centre-back Millie Bright powered the move, collecting the clearance from a Chelsea free-kick on the right before thumping the ball goalward only for Kerr to steal in and nod the final yard over the line it looked destined to cross anyway.

There was a risk in the following period