Chelsea Women 3-2 Liverpool Women
Chelsea Women squeezed past Liverpool in the FA Cup last weekend, and will now face Arsenal at the end of February… probably at Stamford Bridge.
It's was the toughest pairing to come out of Monday's 5th Round draw, with Man U facing Durham and Man City being picked to play Bristol City.
The big question is where the Chelsea v Arsenal match will be played. With a capacity of just 4,000, Kingsmeadow now seems too small for such a plum fixture, so behind-the-scenes talks are taking place about shifting the game to Stamford Bridge.
Mid-January's league match between Arsenal and Chelsea at the Emirates pulled in a crowd of 46,811... way more than even Stamford Bridge's current capacity.
Had Chelsea been drawn against, say, Lewes or Coventry, in the 5th Round, the match on either 25 or 26 February would definitely have stayed at Kingsmeadow.
But it's looking increasingly likely that the bigger stage in Fulham Road will be chosen for the showdown with the Gunners, who have won the competition 14 times.
Chelsea Women beat Arsenal in the semis last season on their way to lifting the trophy by defeating Man City at Wembley, where Sam Kerr and Erin Cuthbert were on target.
Last Sunday's 3-2 win over Liverpool was anything but straightforward, although at 2-0 up thanks to a Kerr brace, it seemed routine enough. But two well-timed substitutions by former Blues boss Matt Beard changed everything.
Gemma Bonner and Taylor Hinds came on, and the Reds rapidly snatched a goal back, to Beard's delight. It was a case of Beams Meanz Hinds and the switch was made, aptly, at 57 minutes.
Ceri Holland got the finishing touch, and at 2-1 Liverpool had fresh belief. Then Kerr completed her hat-trick, but still Liverpool wouldn't give up, and Bonner made it 3-2 for a nervy finish.
Had the game gone on another five minutes, Beard was confident his team could have pushed it into extra time.
A turning point came when Chelsea sub Sophie Ingle handled in the box, and ref Stacey Fullicks appeared to point to the spot. But Ingle fell to the floor clutching her face as the ball rebounded, and when that kerfuffle had died down, the ref awarded Chelsea a free kick instead.
Beard was furious; so much so that he confronted the official. He was told that there had been a handball, but that Ingle's arm was not in an unnatural position. In a later press conference he demonstrated that Ingle was signalling as if turning right on a bicycle!
Chelsea manager Emma Hayes was perplexed her team had allowed the visitors to dominate the last half hour of play.
Chelsea's German midfielder Mellie Leupolz made her first appearance in nearly a year after having a baby boy. Hayes is glad to have her as a trusted option for the second half of the season. Next up for the Blues, a trip to Spurs in the WSL on Sunday.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
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