(Football news) Chelsea Women won a belated domestic treble after a 3-0 victory over Arsenal in the FA Cup final at the Wembley Stadium. The Blues had not won the coveted trophy since 2018 but a goal from Fran Kirby and a brace from Sam Kerr were enough to get Emma Hayes' side to the finish line in front of more than 40,000 spectators. Back in September, Chelsea had lost 3-2 against Arsenal Women in the Women’s Super League but a repeat of that result was not on the cards as Fran Kirby opened the scoring just three minutes into the match.
The 28 year old should have doubled her goal tally of the evening five minutes later when Kirby shot straight at Arsenal goalkeeper Zinsberger which set the tone of what’s to come. Arsenal’s defense continued to look vulnerable as Kirby had a few more chances she failed to convert while Sam Kerr hit the crossbar after shrugging off Lotte Wubben-Moy. Chelsea’s attacking display meant Arsenal’s Vivienne Miedema remained an isolated figure at the other end and the Gunners failed to manage a single shot on target in the first half.
Despite the slight change in momentum in the second half, Kerr’s tireless effort was finally rewarded just before the hour mark when she found the back of the net in the 57th minute with a low, hard shot after outmuscling Wubben-Moy again. Fran Kirby hit the bar again and it was Sam Kerr who scored the third goal of the night after dinking the ball over Zinsberger in the 77th minute to ensure the FA Cup final was won by the Chelsea Women’s team.
Speaking to the BBC, Chelsea head coach Emma Hayes said, “Zero chance of celebration! The bus is leaving, they're going home, they know the deal: we need to win on Wednesday!”. Speaking about the performance, Hayes said “I thought we got it spot-on. We've painted Wembley blue, it's a Chelsea day. Our performance was superb. The front two were out of this world. I said to Fran [Kirby], I think it's the best I've seen her play for Chelsea and Sam's confidence is growing. But everyone played their part and we thoroughly deserved it. To think we're treble-winners is an amazing achievement. I'm extremely proud of the players, the staff, and the club. We've built this team over a period of time and today I think we showed why we were champions."
