Manchester City are into this season’s Vitality Women’s FA Cup final after The Cityzens defeated West Ham United 4-1 at The Chigwell Construction Stadium this afternoon.
Ellen White and Chloe Kelly netted in the first half for Gareth Taylor’s side while Lauren Hemp’s second half brace made sure of the victory.
West Ham United started the game brightly and they went close in the 13th minute when Dagny Brynjarsdottir’s effort from an acute angle was blocked by visiting keeper Ellie Roebuck.
The deadlock was soon broken but it was Manchester City who struck first. Keira Walsh’s stinging strike cannoned off the crossbar and White was there to convert the rebound with a diving header.
White then thought that she had made it 2-0 when she again headed past Mackenzie Arnold but Lucy Bronze had crossed the ball after it had gone out.
West Ham United were weathering a bit of a Manchester City storm but they gave themselves a huge uphill battle when captain Gilly Flaherty passed the ball across her own box straight to Kelly. The forward had the simple task of placing the ball beyond Arnold into the bottom corner of the net to make it 2-0 to The Cityzens.
The Hammers gave themselves renewed hope towards the end of the first half. Adriana Leon played in Lisa Evans who kept her composure to take the ball around Roebuck before placing it into the back of the net.
White had the ball in the net again early in the second half but she was adjudged to have headed home from an offside position.
At the other end, Tameka Yallop failed to beat Roebuck when played in by Evans before Manchester City doubled their lead through Hemp, the forward beating Lucy Parker and Grace Fisk before drilling her effort across goal and into the far corner.
The visitors chased a fourth goal but Arnold did superbly well to push Filippa Angeldahl’s effort onto the bar before the West Ham United keeper tipped Georgia Stanway’s long range strike around the post. The Cityzens were to end the game 4-1 winners with Hemp calmly slotting home in second half injury time after being played in on goal by Stanway.
Manchester City will be joined in the 2021/2022 Vitality Women’s FA Cup final by either Arsenal or Chelsea with the pair set to contest their semi-final tie at the LV Bet Stadium in Boreham Wood tomorrow.
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