Ingle clinical as misfiring Gunners are dumped out
Chelsea remain on course for a hat-trick of Fa Cup wins after dumping rivals arsenal out yesterday. But it should have been the Gunners’ stina Blackstenius celebrating a treble, such were the three great chances that came her way.
having contested three finals, two semi-finals and a quarter-final in this competition in the past decade, Chelsea and arsenal have developed quite the rivalry in the Women’s Fa Cup. This year, the draw pitted these sides against each other in the fifth round — and both teams played their part in an entertaining tie at Kingsmeadow.
how arsenal failed to score in this match was beyond most inside the ground. striker Blackstenius could have had a hat-trick in the first half alone. But goals are proving hard to come by for Jonas eidevall’s side, who are yet to find a way of replacing the attacking output lost with long-term injuries to both Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema.
Chelsea made them pay here, though it was by no means a vintage display from emma hayes’ side, who had 15 players away during the international break last week. But as top sides always do, they found a way to win.
‘It was challenging to play a game so close after an international break where players returned later than normal,’ said hayes, whose side have won the Cup for the last two years. ‘We have a mentality of champions and to do that when you’re really tired is why we have always competed for titles.’
lauren James was the architect of the opener. her driving run drew several arsenal defenders out of position before she picked out sophie Ingle. The Wales midfielder found herself with the freedom of Kingsmeadow and took a touch before stroking home a left-foot effort off the post and into the bottom corner.
arsenal pushed for an equaliser but, 11 minutes into the second half, sam Kerr killed off any serious hopes of a comeback from the visitors. The australian, on her 100th appearance for Chelsea, was played through on goal and chipped the onrushing Manuela Zinsberger to score her 82nd goal since joining the Blues in January 2020.
‘some players get off a plane on Thursday night and come in on Friday and moan,’ said hayes. ‘Not her. some say they need this, they need that. Not her. she comes in and does everything necessary and possible. she is the best in the business.’
arsenal manager eidevall, meanwhile, bemoaned the missed chances. ‘It’s not normal to have so many more opportunities than Chelsea here at Kingsmeadow,’ he said. ‘We created enough to win the game but they are brutally efficient… and we are not.’
While the arsenal finishing was wasteful, Chelsea goalkeeper annKatrin Berger pulled off several excellent stops, including an acrobatic, one- handed save in the opening minute from Frida Maanum. It was a sign of things to come.
The clubs meet next week in the league Cup final at selhurst Park and are neck and neck in the title race. so this win was a timely psychological blow in the Blues’ favour, as the season nears its business end. CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): BERGER 8; Perisset 7 (Carter 71min, 6), Bright 7, Eriksson 6, Charles 6; Ingle 7, Cuthbert 6; James 6 (Rytting Kaneryd 84), Cankovic 7 (Fleming 84), Reiten 6; Kerr 6.5. Scorers: Ingle 21, Kerr 56. Booked: Charles. Manager: Emma Hayes 6.5.
ARSENAL (4-3-3): Zinsberger 5.5; Wienroither 6 (Maritz 81), Williamson 6, Souza 6, Catley 6 (Pelova 68, 6); Walti 6.5 (Wubben-Moy 81), Little 5.5, Maanum 7; McCabe 6, Blackstenius 5 (Kuhl 81), Foord 7. Booked: Maritz.
Manager: Jonas Eidevall 5.
Referee: Abigail Byrne 6. Attendance: 2,888.