Chelsea defeated Manchester City on Saturday to win the Women’s League Cup – their first trophy under new manager Sonia Bompastor.
This was the first of four meetings between the two clubs over the next two weeks, and it will undoubtedly set the tone for the upcoming clashes..
After much anticipation, the final kicked off with an early goal from Chelsea’s Maya Ramirez. Lauren James provided a perfect pass in behind for Ramirez to run onto, allowing the striker to bundle the ball home and give Chelsea a 1-0 lead.
Although Manchester City put up a fight, they came up against an inspired Hannah Hampton, who repelled everything thrown at her.
City, however, found the equalizer in the 64th minute when youngster Aoba Fujino struck. The forward picked up the ball just inside the area and fired a shot past Hampton to level the score.
But Chelsea still had more to offer, as an own goal from Yui Hasegawa restored their lead in the 77th minute.
Ramirez’s low cross took an awkward bounce, and as Hasegawa attempted to clear, she inadvertently flicked it into the far corner of her own net. Chelsea held on to secure a memorable victory.
Chelsea captain Millie Bright shared her excitement about the game.
“We are buzzing. Things like that stick in your mind for a long time, it’s certainly been doing my head in,” Bright said.
“We are really happy, it’s the start that we wanted into these next four fixtures.”
With a quadruple up for grabs for the Women’s Super League champions, Sonia Bompastor would hope her first trophy, something Emma Hayes didn’t do (win the League Cup) in her last three years, would set the tone for the four they are going for this year.
