Manchester City Women vs West Ham United Women. The Women's FA Cup Final.
Wembley Stadium.
City maintained their season-long unbeaten domestic run with victory in the Women's FA Cup final at Wembley
Sunday 5 May 2019 08:13, UK
Goals from Keira Walsh, Georgia Stanway and Lauren Hemp made it two FA Cup victories in three years for Manchester City Women as they defeated West Ham Women 3-0 in the final at Wembley.
Walsh's goal came in the 52nd minute when her curving shot from outside the area caught out Hammers goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse. There was little power in the shot but the bounce wrong-footed Moorhouse.
Stanway doubled the lead in the 81st minute with a fine individual effort and substitute Georgia Hemp raced away to wrap up the win in the 88th minute as she chipped home past the onrushing Moorhouse.
Winning the final made it 24 games unbeaten for City, a run that extends to 32 in domestic matches despite losing out in the Women's Super League title race to Arsenal. It also completed a domestic cup double after City lifted the Continental Cup earlier this season.
It was not until the second half that City found their feet and West Ham would have gone into the break with the lead had it not been for a superb save from Karen Bardsley as she kept out a low header from Jane Ross after Erin Simon's excellent cross.
With West Ham defending deep and with real organisation, City had struggled to get a sight at goal in the first half and it was not until the 45th minute that Nikita Parris had their first shot after an error from Gilly Flaherty.
The second half, though, saw West Ham clearly flagging after those defensive efforts. City knocked on the door repeatedly until Walsh's shot bamboozled Moorhouse for the first goal.
Stanway, the best attacking player on the field, got her reward as she cut in to score the second past the unfortunate Moorhouse, who was again caught unawares, this time at the near post.
With West Ham tiring badly late on, City made the final scoreline a little unfair on Matt Beard's team as Hemp used her pace to escape the offside trap and chip in over Moorhouse for the third.
Hemp, whose liveliness suggested she will soon be a regular starter for Nick Cushing's team, still had time to rattle a shot off the inside of a post in injury-time, before City could begin their Wembley celebrations.
