Chelsea rewind: United Women seal return to Wembley Stadium
With no game this weekend, take a trip back to April and United Women's FA Cup semi-final victory against Chelsea at Leigh Sports Village.
By 2024, Manchester United had beaten every domestic opponent they had ever faced at least once, except for a single foe: Chelsea.
There had been some close games in the preceding five years of meetings between the clubs – the 2020/21 season opener that played out as a 1-1 draw, the pair of narrow 1-0 defeats in 2022/23 that were the difference between a domestic double and a trophy-less campaign.
But there had also been an enormous mismatch when the Blues ran riot at Leigh Sports Village and won 6-1 in Marc Skinner’s second home game. Another even more one-sided score-line would eventually conclude the 2023/24 campaign.
So when United thumped Brighton in last season’s FA Cup quarter-finals and the reward was facing Chelsea in the last four of the competition, a feeling of unease unsurprisingly took over, not least because of ongoing WSL struggles.
From a United perspective, Chelsea were beginning to feel unbeatable. But that all changed within a few seconds of the opening kick-off at LSV on 14 April.
For much of 2023/24, United had lacked the kind of aggression and spirit that had made the squad WSL title contenders only months earlier.
The FA Cup semi-final felt different.
“We needed to do something different” - Marc Skinner
Having lost by 3-1 score-lines against Manchester City (twice), Chelsea and Arsenal since November, Skinner was well aware more of the same wouldn’t cut it. Even before kick-off, a rare start for Rachel Williams was a clue that the approach would be changing. From the very beginning, United played harder without the ball and more direct with it.
If nothing else, that seemed to take Chelsea by surprise.
Williams summed it up when she later said after the final whistle: “I’m not bothered if we play pretty football. You play whatever you need to win games.”
By the time the game clock hit one minute, United were already ahead.
There was a bit of midfield pinball from both sides in the opening exchange as neither side could get the ball under control. But the ball made its way back to Mary Earps and her long put forward was flicked on by Williams in an aerial challenge. Leah Galton chased the second ball, her pressure forcing the mistake from Chelsea full-back Eve Perisset with the weak attempted pass back to her own goalkeeper. Galton raced onto the loose ball and delivered it on a plate at the back post to Lucia Garcia, who had anticipated things better than Niamh Charles.
The key was to keep it up with more of the same and not allow Chelsea to get a foothold or become settled in the tie.
The second goal wasn’t dissimilar in the sense that it was Ella Toone winning her 50/50 on the touchline which began the move. With her marker on the floor and space to look up, she delivered an inch-perfect cross into the box that Williams, having ghosted between Chelsea’s centre-backs, gobbled up.
“It was the most gritty, the one with the most heart” - Mary Earps
At that point, there was still three quarters of a game of football to be played, so it was far from a case of job done. United had made a dream start and were in a very commanding position, but a Chelsea response was inevitable and it came.
The collective defensive effort from those wearing red was incredible.
Mary Earps, who had seen her form dip at moments throughout the season, was back at her brilliant best. Although she was beaten by ex-United teammate Lauren James in first half stoppage time, Earps denied the Chelsea forward on several other occasions, including a genuinely world class save soon after half-time that would have brought the scores back level at 2-2.
Both teams had chances as the second half progressed, but the fourth official indicating eight minutes of additional time was met with audible groans from the LSV stands. As the pressure intensified during that those closing moments, United continued to keep the door firmly shut, surviving through one last Earps save and Chelsea goalkeeper Hannah Hampton going forward for the final throw of the dice at a corner that was virtually the last kick of the game.
When the whistle sounded, the outpouring of emotion in the stands as well as on the pitch was relief as much as jubilation. United had done what they never could before, proving to themselves that it was possible.
The league campaign didn’t get any better, eventually finishing on a particularly sour note at Old Trafford when Chelsea fully took revenge. But United were heavy favourites against Tottenham when it came to the FA Cup final at Wembley and made sure that counted en-route to lifting the trophy.