Chelsea sink Arsenal to set up Women’s FA Cup final with Manchester City

Second-half goals from Guro Reiten and Ji So-yun ensured Chelsea eased into the FA Cup final with a patient defeat of toothless Arsenal. In front of a sold-out Borehamwood crowd the Gunners struggled to deliver a single shot on target, with Chelsea’s defensive solidity allowing them to absorb the early pressure and that they would build on in the second half.

There has been very little to separate the two London teams this season. Perhaps, Chelsea, as holders of the FA Cup and the league leaders, had the edge over their title rivals going into this match. The Blues dominated from the off in a 3-0 defeat of the Gunners in the 2021 final in December. However, despite Arsenal’s league position, one point behind Chelsea, Jonas Eidevall’s team have taken four points from their two league meetings – the first three coming from a thrilling 3-2 victory at the Emirates stadium on the opening day of the season and the spoils were shared following a 0-0 draw at Kingsmeadow in February.

In north London it was like time had stood still for more than two months, with the game kicking off with the same intensity and it was Arsenal, who spent much of the second half of that stalemate in February camped in Chelsea’s half, that began the brighter side. Within three minutes Beth Mead, fresh off the back of an international break in which she scored four against North Macedonia, collected a ball over the top and wrongfooted Jess Carter. But the England defender recovered to get a touch on to her pass and deflected it to the feet of defensive partner, Millie Bright, who cleared successfully.

Just over 10 minutes later and Stina Blackstenius had similar success on the right, getting past the Dutch defender Aniek Nouwen and to the byline