Chelsea secure treble with FA Cup final triumph over Man United | OneFootball

Chelsea secured their stunning domestic treble with a 3-0 win over Manchester United in the FA Cup final. A Sandy Baltimore brace inspired the occasion in front of a sell-out Wembley crowd.

The Blues opened the scoring in the first half through a Baltimore penalty, before Catarina Macario’s firecracker header doubled the advantage. Baltimore sealed the emphatic victory with a fantastic finish to earn the treble in their invincible season.

Sonia Bompastor’s inaugural season in charge sees Chelsea add the FA Cup to their trophy cabinet once again, and secure the domestic treble for the first time since 2021. The tenth Women’s FA Cup to be held at Wembley Stadium saw the Blues boss become the first non-British head coach to win the competition since 2016.

On the hunt for the silverware trio, Bompastor came out with a back five of Lucy Bronze, Nathalie Björn, Millie Bright, Naomi Girma, and Niamh Charles. Title-defending Marc Skinner started Ella Toone on the bench.

Starting XIs

Chelsea

Hampton; Bronze, Björn, Bright, Girma, Charles; Beever-Jones, Walsh, Cuthbert, Baltimore; Ramírez

Manchester United

Tullis-Joyce; Mannion, Le Tissier, Turner, George, Miyazawa, Janssen; Ildhusøy, Clinton, Galton; Terland

Chelsea ahead by the break

Man United came out the gates under the arch of Wembley Stadium strong, but it didn’t last long. The Red Devils created several chances, including a Clinton hit from a corner which was eventually cleared off the line. Tullis-Joyce denied Aggie Beever-Jones 15 minutes in, the forward slotting her effort through Millie Turner’s legs.

Skinner’s outfit thought they had the opener before the 20-minute mark, but Janssen’s long-range thunderbolt was just over the crossbar. Moments later, United’s right-sided vulnerability in the absence of Jayde Riviere showed. Mayra Ramírez got the ball all the way down the wing, before Bronze appeared ready to finish the job. Tullis-Joyce made life difficult for the defender before Leah Galton’s deflection denied the Blues the opener.

Having grown into the game and started to unravel the Red Devils, the six-in-a-row WSL victors took aim again through Baltimore. Her shot from the edge of the box was wide, but reminded the red shirts of the challenge at hand.

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Tullis-Joyce saved again when an ambitious Beever-Jones’ curling effort just lacked the power to find its way over the line. Despite a largely promising opening half, the Red Devils went into the break a goal behind.

Chelsea were awarded penalty at the death of the first half, after Erin Cuthbert was thoughtlessly brought down inside the area by Celin Bizet. The kick was converted coolly from the spot by Baltimore, and the game finally had its breakthrough.

Chelsea make their mark in the FA Cup final

The title defenders almost drew things level in the opening minutes of the half. A well-delivered corner was headed on by Elisabeth Terland, but Hannah Hampton was quick to collect.

Further promising build-up play from United almost came to fruition when Bizet cut back to half-time substitute Toone, who took a touch before having her shot stopped by Hampton. They struggled to create further meaningful chances as Chelsea stayed unphased by their deficit. Then, a break in play ensued as Galton went down injured.

The Blues almost doubled their advantage soon after, but Gabby George saw off a dangerous cross by Charles to keep the Red Devils in the game. At the other end, brave goalkeeping by Hampton denied Terland from close-range, VAR confirming that the shot-stopper did indeed get the ball.

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Punctuated by substitutions and breaks in play, the second-half of this final clash was a gritty one. The more minutes ticked by, the more comfortable Chelsea became. United had done well to keep the Blues relatively quiet on an attacking front, but failed to capitalise on early opportunities which could have presented us with a different game altogether.

Bompastor’s side soon made certain that the Red Devils had their hopes quashed in the 85th minute. Baltimore delivered a stellar free-kick into the box, and substitute Catarina Macario sent a blazing headed effort beyond the reach of Tullis-Joyce.

Chelsea’s performance soon looked like an even more emphatic. A composed Baltimore completed her Player of the Match performance by making it 3-0. A lapse from a faltering United’s backline left her with time to slot it home.

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The ten minutes of added time were fruitless for United, who despite earlier optimism had begun to fade defensively. Terland almost provided Skinner’s side with a consolation goal in the dying moments of injury time, but her powerful strike went above the woodwork. Chelsea and Bompastor add another deserved accolade to their reign as Champions of England.

‘We are missing the Champions League’

Reflecting on the performance, Red Devils manager Skinner said: “We started well. We matched them physically. I wanted us to be braver with the ball. Credit to Chelsea and congratulations to them on the season they’ve had. The game has swung on set pieces. We’ve got work to do.”

Despite receiving backlash last year for his failure to attend the fixture, Man United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe was not at Wembley.

“I don’t know why Jim wasn’t here,” Skinner admitted. “So I can’t give you that answer. We were really well represented. Omar [Berrada] was there, the Glazer family and Jason [Wilcox] was as well. Those are the people I deal with every day.”

Contrastingly, Chelsea co-owners Behdad Eghbali and Todd Boehly were at the stadium alongside director Barbara Charone, Chelsea Women CEO Aki Mandha, and new investor Alexis Ohanian.

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Asked about the strong Blues ownership presence, Bompastor said: “That’s really enjoyable for us, to see all the people coming from the ownership were here today. It just shows that as a woman playing in the women’s game, you are at the right club.”

Further discussing the ongoing conversations surrounding investment in the WSL, the Chelsea boss urged: “I don’t want all the other teams to go down. We want more competition. This is what we want to be a better team. We want to be at the top of the league and bring everyone with us. We need the other teams to still invest and come with us.”

Bompastor is relishing in this season’s success, but she and her players are still hungry for more.

“I’m not going to say who but some players were saying during the celebrations that it is really nice to have the treble but we are missing the Champions League. That is who we are.”

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