Chelsea win Women’s FA Cup as Baltimore’s double sinks Manchester United | OneFootball

Unflustered, unrivalled and unbeaten. Sonia Bompastor’s Chelsea side were at their clinical best as they completed a 30-game unbeaten domestic treble with a 3-0 win over Manchester United in the FA Cup final.

For the most part, United weren’t that bad, Chelsea were just better when it mattered most, again and again and again, two goals from Sandy Baltimore, arguably the Blues’ player of the season, sandwiching Catarina Macario’s headed effort.

There were high expectations for the first sold-out Wembley Women’s FA Cup final on the 10th ­anniversary of the first one at the national ­stadium. The fact that only 74,412 filed into the ground will be a small talking point, ticket prices not yet high enough for fans to prioritise it, and women’s team fanbases not quite large enough for the FA to be able to stop selling tickets far in advance of the teams in the final being ­confirmed, but these are changes that are creeping closer.

Ella Toone was a surprise omission from the United starting XI a day after she was named the club’s player of the season for a second consecutive year. Wembley has been a fertile hunting ground for the midfielder, who scored the opening goal in the final of the 2022 Euros, England’s first in the 2023 Finalissima and United’s first in their 4-0 rout of Tottenham in last year’s FA Cup final, all at Wembley.

Instead, Dominique Janssen joined Hinata Miyazawa and Grace Clinton in midfield, the move a tactical one confirmed Marc Skinner after, while Aoife Mannion slotted in at the back in the absence of injured Jayde Riviere.

It was a rampant start for United, who had the majority owner Avram Glazer and the chief executive, Omar Berrada, in attendance but not the minority owner Jim Ratcliffe, who was heavily criticised for missing last year’s final.

The Blues struggled to get out of their own half under the relentless early pressing of Skinner’s side but they weathered it well, the new-look back three made up of Nathalie Björn, Millie Bright and Naomi Girma ­holding up.

The first big chance of the half fell to Bompastor’s charges after they started to assert themselves in possession, Aggie Beever-Jones escaping on the right, her shot stopped by a recovering Millie Turner, whose leg nicked the edge off it and Phallon Tullis-Joyce made the save.

Three minutes later, United had their clearest opportunity, Elisabeth Terland, returning to the starting XI in place of Melvine Malard, swung the ball in from the right and Björn cleared but only as far as Janssen who powered her effort over the bar from the edge of the box.

With the match end to end – fittingly, with the tennis legend Serena Williams in the stands alongside her daughter, Olympia, and husband, Alexis Ohanian, Chelsea’s new minority owner – it was the Blues who would draw first blood. The circumstances were frustrating for the holders: Celin Bizet, who was on the opposing team in the final last year, somewhat inexplicably threw her leg across the body of Erin Cuthbert just inside the box and the penalty call was instant. Up stepped Baltimore and, despite Tullis-Joyce’s stare-off and delaying tactics, she powered the ball low into the bottom corner sending the keeper the wrong way.

It was a crushing blow coming just before the break and red shirts regrouped in a huddle while the Blues celebrated.

Despite their dominance, there have been times this season where Chelsea have failed to thrill performance wise. Even at Wembley, this was far from Chelsea at their fluid best. What it was though, was a reflection of their season and their success. No matter the opposition or intensity, no matter the disruption to their own rhythm, they are an unflusterable and dogged beast. If plan A doesn’t work, they have a B, C, D and so on. They are winners and know how to manage an array of game scenarios.

At half-time Toone was finally on, replacing Turner, who had picked up a knock in the first half, with Janssen dropping back. Again, United burst out of the blocks, the half-time ­message surely to channel their early intensity. Terland glanced a header wide that would have levelled the score, while Toone’s half-volley was straightforward for Hannah Hampton. After that, they struggled to further create clearcut chances and really test the Chelsea back-three.

Chelsea delivered the killer blow with six minutes remaining, Baltimore’s free-kick whipped in from the right and powerfully turned in by the head of substitute Macario, who had snuck in front of Maya Le Tissier.

The cherry on top came from Baltimore, who received the ball from Wieke Kaptein after some sloppy United defending and span and struck past Tullis-Joyce with a ­ferociousness fitting of a final.

Terrifyingly, in their post-Emma Hayes transition year Chelsea have won the treble. Now, they go into the summer a year into their new phase and fuelled by Ohanian’s £20m investment in the side, raising the bar every other club has to struggle towards once more.

Header image: [Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA]