Manchester United beat Tottenham to win FA Cup for the first time | OneFootball

Manchester United made history by lifting their first-ever women’s FA Cup trophy with a resounding 4-0 win against Tottenham.

Rachel Williams bought all her experience to help lead the United front line, while Ella Toone showed all her quality to put her childhood club ahead at Wembley, deep into first-half stoppage time.

The FA Cup triumph was rounded off by Lucia Garcia’s two goals in the second half as it secured Man U’s first piece of major silverware six years after being founded.

It was Marc Skinner’s second time managing United in an FA Cup final, but they rued missed chances and lost out to the serial winners Chelsea 1-0 in last year’s edition.But this season, they were the apparent ‘experienced’ side with their opponents, Tottenham, featuring in their maiden final.

Although littered throughout the two squads were players who have been successful in this competition in the past and on this day United’s shone brighter.

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Ahead of the final, Williams said lifting the FA Cup for a second time, after winning it with Birmingham 12 years ago, “would be finally a relief.” And when she scored United’s second there was probably no other feeling she had, after multiple chances went abegging in the first-half. The 36-year-old moved from Tottenham to Manchester United in 2022 and was a handful for her former side throughout her 58-minute cameo.

Williams constantly benefited from Katie Zelem’s corners but for her first attempt, four minutes in, she headed over, nine minutes later she nodded wide. Even when she wasn’t going for goal, she knocked the ball down to an outstretched Toone, who could only flick the ball over. It wasn’t just the United forward causing problems in the air, as Martha Thomas had to deny Millie Turner on the line.

But with the continued flow of set-piece chances being forged by United, mainly towards Williams, it felt like only a matter of time before they would punish Spurs’ soft defending. Williams, a former plasterer, held off Ashleigh Neville in the 54th minute to cushion Zelam’s free-kick into the far corner.

Skinner said: “The FA Cup has now got the history like the men’s, in terms of a plasterer scoring the winner. She [Williams] is a fantastic character.

“She should have scored in the first half if we are being critical but she played her part and she is a fantastic human.

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“She’s a fantastic human. I hope she goes down as an iconic player for Manchester United. Do you remember all that rubbish we got when we signed her? Well, she’s turned that round, hasn’t she?”

The header doubled United’s lead after Toone put them ahead inside first-half stoppage time.The England midfielder may be lifting her first club trophy in her career, but has performed for England and has had huge moments at Wembley Stadium for England.

She put the Lionesses 1-0 up against Germany in the Euros final, and today she produced a similarly incredible goal to that chip. Toone picked the ball up just inside Tottenham’s half, as the break approached, and after sending Eveliina Summanen to the ground, curled a shot into the top corner from just outside the box.

Her manager said: “Iconic moment. Iconic player. Iconic club.

”Toone added: “I wish I could play here every week! It is a great stadium, the home of football and it is a place every young player dreams of playing at.

“I’ve managed to do it a few times now and get some good goals, but I love it and playing in front of the fans. Having all my family and friends here too meant so much.

On the other hand, when Spurs looked to some of their players to help them drag them through the difficult periods in the game they were not to be found.

For Garcia’s first goal, she was gifted it by Rebecca Spencer, who played with Williams in Birmingham’s FA Cup win, and the Spaniard had an easy finish into an open net.It tainted a decent performance from the Jamaican, who denied Leah Galton early on in the first-half and also thwarted Geyse’s close-ranged effort, but her final will be remembered for United’s third.

In between Garcia’s two strikes, Spurs, and Beth England, had an opportunity to create a slight bit of hope but the two-times FA Cup winner cannoned the crossbar, and that was the closest they got to testing Mary Earps in goal.

The historic afternoon then became even more jubilant when Garcia lofted a shot into the roof of the net, but United were in this exact position last year and used it to move this promising Man United team into a potentially great one.

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Skinner said: “We have to use this as a springboard to make sure this isn’t a one-off. We need to compete better in the league on a consistent basis to be up there again. I believe that we will do that.

“This has to be the impetus and springboard for us to know that we can deliver success for this fantastic club.

For Spurs as much as it was momentous, it ended in an extremely disappointing way, although Robert Vilhamn has loved the experience and believes Spurs can have a similar journey to United’s success.

The Swedish coach said: “The main thing I said was this is not the end, it is the beginning.” “We still have a gap between us and the top teams but that’s normal. We are closing the gap but we haven’t closed the gap yet.

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“If you take away the feelings right now, you need to look at these players doing some incredible things this year.”We are at Wembley playing in front of our fans and they are actually enjoying it and staying, and supporting us after.

“We got a good experience today and we are learning how to play at Wembley more times. We need to look at it that way because the players are amazing.”It was a gruelling defeat for this Tottenham side that can use this to spur them on to their own history but this was a coming-of-age performance from Manchester United led by their experienced heads.