Page 5 - Women's Soccer Scene Issue No.15 2021-22

Although the last stages of the game were relatively flat with the match over as a
contest, Chelsea could very soon get their hands on the trophy after a display they could
rarely have bettered. In contrast, it had been a day to forget to Arsenal, a sobering
occasion on which they had not done themselves any justice and been well beaten.
Chelsea: Ann-Katrin Berger, Millie Bright, Jess Carter, Sophie Ingle (sub Aniek
Nouwen 90mins), Magdalena Eriksson, Jessie Fleming, Erin Cuthbert, Melanie Leupolz
(sub Ji So-Yun 86mins), Sam Kerr (sub Beth England 86mins), Fran Kirby (sub Pernille
Harder 74mins), Guro Reiten (sub Drew Spence 87mins). Subs not used: Zecira
Musovic, Niamh Charles, Jonna Andersson, Jorja Fox.
Arsenal: Manuela Zinsberger, Noelle Maritz, Stephanie Catley, Lotte Wubben-Moy
(sub Simone Boye Sorensen 87mins), Jennifer Beattie (sub Caitlin Foord 70mins), Lia
Walti (sub Mana Iwabuchi 61mins), Frida Maanum (sub Nikita Parris 80mins), Kim
Little, Vivianne Miedema, Katie McCabe, Beth Mead. Subs not used: Anna Patten,
Jordan Nobbs, Lydia Williams, Viktoria Schnaderbeck, Teyah Goldie.
It’s a proud day - Emma
Chelsea manager Emma Hayes lavished praise on her side after their convincing 3-0
victory over Arsenal in the Vitality Women’s FA Cup Final.
“If it had been three or four nil at half time, nobody would have been surprised.
We should have had more goals and then it would have been even more convincing,” she
told the Chelsea FC website.
“It was dominant, it was dogged when it needed to be and tactically we got it spot
on. We dealt with the threat really well and kept a clean sheet.
“It’s a proud day as the manager of Chelsea. I represent a club of people, backroom
staff, players, owner and board, who are united in the teams we want to build. We painted
Wembley blue!
“We were like a machine.”
Sam Kerr meanwhile revealed that her stunning second goal had come on the
advice of team mate Carly Telford. “At half time we hadn’t scored as many as we should.
CT said she [Zinsberger] is off her line a lot. I hadn’t been finishing too well in the first
half so I thought I would try and scoop her. It doesn’t come off too often but it did.
“Whenever as a striker you are not putting them in the back of the net when they
are simple chances you get a little frustrated. But it’s about who can keep their head and
we knew if we could get one more, we would probably bury them and we did. We got the
second and went on to get the third and it was game over.
“‘We deserved it. We played really well and have been playing well in the past few
weeks. We kind of went in as underdogs so had a point to prove so we are buzzing. Our
defence was amazing, our midfield was electric. It was a real team effort.
“The crowd were amazing, especially behind the goal with all the Chelsea flags.
Walking out and seeing all the blue was a real buzz.”
A disappointed Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall admitted afterwards to
arsenal.com: “It was a poor performance from us, from the quality. It’s not the effort
that’s failing, the players were trying very, very hard on the pitch, but we don’t have good
enough quality in our passing game today or in our defensive play and that’s very
disappointing in a game like this that we can’t perform better.
“The only thing we can do is learn from that and come back stronger.”
Issue no. 15 - 9 December 2021 womenssoccerscene@mail.com