Jump to content

2018 FA WSL Cup final

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2018 FA WSL Cup final
Event2017–18 FA WSL Cup
Date14 March 2018 (2018-03-14)
VenueAdams Park, High Wycombe
RefereeAmy Fearn (Derbyshire)
Attendance2,136
2016
2019

The 2018 FA WSL Cup final was the seventh final of the FA WSL Cup, England's secondary cup competition for women's football teams and its primary league cup tournament. It took place on the 14 March 2018, at Adams Park, contested by Arsenal and Manchester City, the only two teams to have ever won the tournament.

Arsenal had competed in all but one of the previous finals, whereas Manchester City had only previously appeared in two but won both of them. The two teams previously played out the 2014 FA WSL Cup final,[1] which Manchester City won by a goal to nil.

Arsenal won the match 1–0, with a first-half goal from Vivianne Miedema.

Route to the final

[edit]
Round Opposition Score
GS London Bees (H) 7–0
GS Millwall Lionesses (A) 5–2
GS Reading (H) 1–2
GS Watford (A) 6–0
QF Sunderland (H) 3–1
SF Reading (A) 3–2
Key: (H) = Home venue; (A) = Away venue; (N) = Neutral venue.

Arsenal

[edit]

Arsenal's journey to the final began in the Group Stage, where they were drawn against Reading - who would go on to be a close rival in the league - as well as mostly lower-half FA WSL 2 teams London Bees, Millwall Lionesses and Watford. Games against the former and the latter would turn out to be easy and result in large winning margins,[2][3] while a high-scoring away match against Millwall would result in a 5–2 victory.[4] The goals scored in these matches would still not ultimately prove enough to secure Arsenal first place in their group, however, as the home tie against Reading finished with a disappointing 2–1 loss,[5] and Arsenal qualified for the knock-outs in second behind their WSL 1 rival.

Progressing through to the quarter-finals Arsenal were drawn against Group One North winners Sunderland at home, who they would proceed to defeat by a two-goal margin in what would be new manager Joe Montemurro's first game.[6]

They would then come up against Group Stage opponents Reading for a second time, this time being drawn away to the Berkshire team in the semi-finals. Once again they did not find their opponents easy, going down by a goal on two occasions before two late goals put them on top and through to the final.[7]

Round Opposition Score
GS Oxford United (A) 6–0
GS Everton (H) 2–1
GS Birmingham City (H) 2–0
GS Doncaster Rovers Belles (A) 3–2
QF Bristol City (A) 2–0
SF Chelsea (A) 1–0
Key: (H) = Home venue; (A) = Away venue; (N) = Neutral venue.

Manchester City

[edit]

In contrast to Arsenal, Manchester City were given a tougher Group Stage challenge with previous finalist Birmingham City, fellow WSL 1 team Everton and 2016 WSL 1 side Doncaster Rovers Belles joining City in a group which also featured WSL 2 mid-table side Oxford United. In their first game City defeated Oxford by six clear goals[8] before fighting to a late home victory by the odd goal in three against Everton.[9] A third victory was clocked up in their home match against Birmingham with two first half goals settling the tie to give City an early qualification for the next phase[10] and the Group Stage was wrapped up in a 3–2 away win over Doncaster which saw three goals in four second half minutes.[11]

Having qualified for the knock-out rounds with a perfect record, City were drawn against Group Two South runners-up Bristol City, whose men's team would meet City's own male contingent in the latter stages of their own league cup less than a month later, but defeated them by a slightly more comfortable two goals to nil.[12]

In their semi-final, City were then drawn away again to Chelsea, pitting together the only two teams in English women's football with undefeated records by the half-way point of the season. In their first meeting of 2017–18 City were triumphant by a single early goal from debutant Nadia Nadim, putting them through to a third final in four seasons.[13]

Match

[edit]

Details

[edit]
Arsenal1–0Manchester City
  • Miedema 32'
Report
Attendance: 2,136
Arsenal
Manchester City
GK 1 Netherlands Sari van Veenendaal
RB 18 Scotland Lisa Evans
CB 6 England Leah Williamson
CB 16 Republic of Ireland Louise Quinn
LB 3 Scotland Emma Mitchell Yellow card 29'
CM 20 Netherlands Dominique Janssen Yellow card 35'
CM 21 Netherlands Daniëlle van de Donk
AM 8 England Jordan Nobbs
RW 23 England Beth Mead downward-facing red arrow 81'
LW 10 Scotland Kim Little (c) downward-facing red arrow 89'
CF 11 Netherlands Vivianne Miedema downward-facing red arrow 73'
Substitutes:
GK 13 England Anna Moorhouse
DF 2 England Alex Scott
MF 22 England Lauren James
MF 26 England Ava Kuyken
FW 15 Republic of Ireland Katie McCabe upward-facing green arrow 89'
MF 17 United States Heather O'Reilly upward-facing green arrow 81'
FW 9 England Danielle Carter upward-facing green arrow 73'
Manager:
Australia Joe Montemurro
GK 26 England Ellie Roebuck
RB 23 England Abbie McManus
CB 6 England Steph Houghton (c)
CB 5 Scotland Jen Beattie
LB 3 England Demi Stokes
CM 8 England Jill Scott downward-facing red arrow 81'
CM 24 England Keira Walsh
CM 11 England Izzy Christiansen downward-facing red arrow 61'
RW 17 England Nikita Parris
CF 10 Denmark Nadia Nadim downward-facing red arrow 46'
LW 12 England Georgia Stanway
Substitutes:
GK 1 England Karen Bardsley
DF 2 Denmark Mie Jans
FW 7 England Melissa Lawley upward-facing green arrow 81'
DF 14 England Esme Morgan
FW 16 Scotland Jane Ross upward-facing green arrow 46'
FW 18 England Ella Toone
FW 22 Scotland Claire Emslie upward-facing green arrow 61'
Manager:
England Nick Cushing

Player of the match

Match officials

Match rules

  • 90 minutes.
  • 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary.
  • Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.
  • Seven named substitutes.
  • Maximum of three substitutions.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Women's football round-up: Manchester City celebrate winning the WSL Cup". The Independent. 27 October 2014. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  2. ^ "Arsenal in seventh heaven with win over London Bees". fawsl.com. 12 October 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  3. ^ "Taylor at the double as Arsenal hit Watford for six". fawsl.com. 16 November 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  4. ^ "Nobbs double helps Arsenal see off Millwall in the Cup". fawsl.com. 1 November 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  5. ^ "Williams scores twice as Reading battle past Arsenal". fawsl.com. 5 November 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  6. ^ "Arsenal move into semis at Sunderland's expense". fawsl.com. 17 December 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  7. ^ "Arsenal strike late to knock Reading out of the cup". fawsl.com. 14 January 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  8. ^ "Imperious City slickers celebrate the joy of six". fawsl.com. 2 November 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  9. ^ "Parris snatches late victory for Manchester City in cup". fawsl.com. 5 November 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  10. ^ "Emslie stars as Manchester City reach knockout stage". fawsl.com. 3 December 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  11. ^ "City march on with Continental Tyres Cup victory at Doncaster". fawsl.com. 6 December 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  12. ^ "Manchester City made to work hard for semi-final spot". fawsl.com. 17 December 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  13. ^ "Nadim grabs the winner as City march through to Cup final". fawsl.com. 14 January 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2018.