Salute

Man United 0-1 Chelsea

A superb second-half strike from Maren Mjelde put Chelsea in the league cup final

Maren Mjelde’s second-half strike saw Chelsea avoid extra time and book their place in the FA Women’s Continental League Cup final at the expense of Manchester United.

In a tight game of few chances it was the London side who took theirs.

KEY MOMENTS

United came close on the half-hour mark when Katie Zelem’s in-swinging free-kick skimmed Abbie McManus’ head but only found Carly Telford’s grateful hands.

Chelsea’s first real chance came when Millie Bright’s reaction header forced Mary Earps into an exceptional save, she palmed the ball high in the air and the United defence cleared.

The home side came out of the traps in the second half. The first corner of the game saw Zelem float it onto the head of Amy Turner who headed just wide.

Then Lizzie Arnot’s goalbound header was cleared by Magdalena Eriksson as the game opened up.

Some crunching tackles ensued, Zelem in particular flattened as Eriksson tried to win a header.

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But the decisive moment came with 15 minutes left. Erin Cuthbert fired a pass to Mjelde on the edge of the area.

Mjelde controlled the ball on the full beautifully, slipped it onto her right foot and fired a shot high into the opposite corner.

United almost hit back immediately, Jackie Groenen played Lauren James in but she shot over when she should have hit the target.

The Red Devils pushed hard for an equaliser but Bright and Eriksson stood firm in the Blues central defence. It was that pairing that had a large part in Chelsea making the final, that and a touch of class from Mjelde.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

There could only be one. It was always going to take something special to win this semi-final – and that’s exactly what Maren Mjelde produced to seal victory for Chelsea.

WHAT THEY SAID

United midfielder Hayley Ladd said: “I think we can really be proud of our performance. I think we have dominated the game in spells, we have had really good possession and looked threatening.

“Performance-wise we’re happy with elements of it. There is certainly something positive to build on. We were plugging away trying to find where the gaps were so it took a little bit of time to expose them.

“We had quite a lot of control in the first half but it is about converting that into clear-cut and good chances. It was quite entertaining [in the second half] for the spectators.

“When they went one-nil up we just had to throw everything at it and we had good chances but with the standards that we hold ourselves to, we want better and more clear-cut chances as well.

“If we want to compete with those top teams, we need to compete in the final third as well and be more composed in that area.”

Chelsea goalscorer Maren Mjelde: “It feels really good to score the goal. I played a little bit of a new position today; I’ve probably never been a right-winger in my life before.

“I felt it was a bit different from the position I normally play. I just had to dig deep and I think that’s what everyone did.”

On the final at the Nottingham Forest’s City Ground, she said: “I don’t know much about it. But it’s cool for me. If I ask my dad, he’ll probably know a lot about it.”

“It feels amazing, reaching my first cup final, the Continental Cup final. It’s been a big goal for us to reach it so now we’re here so we’re happy about that.”

“It was probably not the best performance but I don’t really care about that. It’s about winning games. We haven’t won semi-finals in the Continental Cup since I’ve been here and I’ve been here for three years so just reaching that final is a big step in the right direction.”

Manchester United (4-2-3-1): Martha Earps; Kirsty Smith, Millie Turner, Abbie McManus, Amy Turner; Hayley Ladd, Katie Zelem ©; Lizzie Arnot, Jackie Groenen, Jess Sigsworth; Lauren James.

Substitutes: Jane Ross for Arnot 76, Martha Harris for McManus 82

Substitutes not used: Aurora Mikalsen, Lotta Okvist, Rebecca May

Goals: Mjelde 72

Bookings: Ingle 28, Eriksson 57

Chelsea (4-4-2): Carly Telford; Jonna Andersson, Magdalena Eriksson ©, Millie Bright, Hannah Blundell; Sophie Ingle, Drew Spence, Maren Mjelde, Guro Reiten; Erin Cuthbert, Bethany England.

Substitutes: Emily Murphy for Spence 90+1

Substitutes not used: Ann-Katrin Berger, Deanna Cooper, Jamie-Lee Cooper.

Bookings: McManus 34, James 45+1

Referee: Elizabeth Sims

Attendance: 1,044

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