Sam Kerr scores twice as Chelsea beat Arsenal 3-0 to win Women’s FA Cup final

The combination of Kerr and Fran Kirby, who Chelsea manager Emma Hayes once compared to the deadly Arsenal duo of Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp, were simply unplayable. Kirby scored in the third minute, before setting up Kerr for her first, before the Australian forward scored her stunning second and Chelsea’s third.

The pair could have put the game out of reach in the first half were it not for a string of saves from Zinsberger, and the aid of the woodwork, but eventually Chelsea’s dominance told. Arsenal simply did not recover from Kirby’s opener, and their defence was porous without the influential Leah Williamson, who watched on from the stands, ruled out until the New Year with a hamstring injury.

The injury to Williamson had seen friction between the two managers, with Jonas Eidevall suggesting the demanding schedule had played a part in the injury, while in a press conference shortly after, Hayes had said “coaches injure players”.

It was a symbol of the growing rivalry between these clubs, as much as Hayes had tried to downplay it before hand; “Playing against Arsenal as a Chelsea manager has always been a great game for us but it has never been a rival game, Manchester City has always been that,” she said.

Arsenal captain Kim Little had laughed that off as “mind games” in the build-up. Hayes statement could have aged badly, but instead just underlined Chelsea’s experience in these showpiece matches - they have been here, and done it in her almost a decade in charge, and in front of over 40,000 fans at Wembley, looked controlled from the start.

Almost halfway through the season and the WSL title already looks to be London bound, Arsenal topping the division with 22 points, one point ahead of Chelsea. Largely, that was down to Arsenal’s 3-2 victory over Chelsea on the opening weekend, but if that game sprang something of a surprise at Arsenal’s quality, Chelsea had learnt their lesson.

Perhaps Chelsea’s opener was a touch lucky - Kerr’s pass ricocheted off of Arsenal’s Frida Maanum sweetly into the path of Kirby, who kept her calm to dink into the corner of the net.

Panic ensued in the Arsenal defence. It took 15 minutes for the Gunners to create a sustained passage of play in the opposition half, and when they did, it only suited Chelsea’s counter attacking strengths to nick the ball and break with pace.

In the league clash the combination of Vivianne Miedema and Beth Mead had left Chelsea flummoxed, but despite the selection of Hayes with natural attackers Erin Cuthbert and Guro Reiten as wing backs, Arsenal’s forwards barely touched the ball. Over the course of the match Arsenal failed to have a single shot on target.

It was a test of Eidevall’s managerial nous in his biggest game to date as Arsenal manager after taking over in the summer, but his half-time team talk with the scores at 1-0 had little effect.

Kerr collected Kirby’s pass to produce a low finish before her 77th minute dink that had Hayes turning to the crowd behind the dugout, punching the air.

Arsenal’s new era under Eidevall is still growing, and they may yet make Hayes rue her statement about the lack of rivalry between the two sides, but for now dominance is very much Chelsea’s, this 2020-21 FA Cup final played in December due to the pandemic, completing a prolonged domestic treble with last season’s WSL title and the Continental Cup.

“We kind of went in as underdogs so we had a point to prove and we are buzzing,” said Australian international Kerr.

“I’m paid to score goals but our defence was amazing and it was a team effort — I can’t wait to party!”

Hayes said: “To think we are treble winners, it is an amazing achievement.

“You can’t ask any more from the players and I am extremely proud of them, the staff and the club.

“We have built this team over a long period of time and I think today we showed why we are champions.”

Arsenal (4-3-3): M Zinsberger 8 – N Maritz 6, L Wubben-Moy 5 (S Boye 87), J Beattie 5 (C Foord 70 6), S Catley 6 – L Walti 5 (M Iwabuchi 61 7), K Little 6, F Maanum 6 (N Parris 80) – B Mead 6, V Miedema 6, K McCabe 6
Subs not used: L Williams, A Patten, J Nobbs, V Schnaderbeck, T Goldie
Yellow cards: Mead, Parris, McCabe

Chelsea (3-4-3): A-K Berger 8 – M Bright 8, J Carter 8, M Eriksson 8 – E Cuthbert 8, S Ingle 7, M Leupolz 7 (Ji so-yun 86), G Reiten 8 (D Spence 87) – J Fleming 7, S Kerr 9 (B England 86), F Kirby 9 (P Harder 74)
Subs not used: Z Musovic, A Nouwen, N Charles, J Andersson, J Fox
Yellow cards: Cuthbert

Referee: H Conley
Attendance: 40,942

- The Times