FA CUP: Chelsea’s Road to Wembley
Chelsea Ladies are seeking to win their first FA Cup title, three years after they suffered the heart ache of a penalty shootout defeat against Birmingham City.
This year the final will be held at Wembley for the first time in the tournament’s history so the Blues will be able to get their name in the history books either way.
Standing in their way of becoming the first winning side at the historic stadium is Notts County, who will also be looking to get their name engraved on that magical trophy for the first time.
Here we take a look back at Chelsea’s road to Wembley.
Knockout stages
6-0 Watford Ladies
Teams from the WSL 1 enter the competition in the fifth round and Emma Hayes’ side kicked off their FA Cup journey in emphatic style, putting six past WSL 2 side Watford.
It took Chelsea just 10 minutes to break the deadlock after South Korean international Ji So-Yun slotted home for the hosts before a handful of debutants grabbed their first goals for their new club.
The award for most memorable first appearance undoubtedly went to Marija Banusic who scored 14 minutes into her first start for the London club to double her teams lead before going on to bag two more for a debut hatrick.
Gemma Davison also bagged her first goal for Chelsea following a switch from reigning champions Liverpool Ladies in the closed season, a calmly struck penalty to add to the rout.
Chelsea then went on to make it six 10 minutes from time when defender Mille Bright, another newcomer, headed in from a deep corner.
Quarter-Final
2-1 Arsenal Ladies
Chelsea’s opponents in the quarter final, Arsenal, had themselves eased their way in to the tie following a 7-0 thrashing of Millwall Lionesses and would prove a much tougher test for the Blues then their previous outing.
However Emma Hayes’ side got off to the perfect start, taking the lead after just 17 minutes when former Gunner Katie Chapman met a Ji So-Yun corner with a powerful header.
Gemma Davison then went on to continue her goal scoring form from the previous round as she produced a sublime piece of skill to leave her marker helpless and fired into the top corner to double Chelsea’s lead.
But Arsenal have not won this competition a record amount of times doing it the easy way and just before the stroke of half-time they clawed a goal back through Emma Mitchell to set up a nervy second 45 for Chelsea.
Ji So-Yun hit the bar after the break as Chelsea pressed for third to put the game to bed but neither side managed to find the net in the second half and the defending champions were sent home.
Semi-Final
1-0 Manchester City Women
Before they could book their place in a historic final at Wembley Emma Hayes and her side had to beat fellow WSL 1 side Manchester City in what was an extremely close and tense semi-final.
Within five minutes Chelsea forward Eniola Aluko very nearly opened the scoring but her effort rolled agonisingly wide of the post, before both Gemma Davison and Ji So-Yun tested Alex Brooks in the Manchester City net.
Millie Bright then went on to have the best chance of the half for the Blues just before half time but her effort was cleared off the line.
With the winners getting a chance make history in the final, the tempo was upped after the break as both teams looked for a vital winner.
With just over five minutes left of normal time Ji So-Yun picked the ball up among the City’s defenders and calmly fired into the bottom corner from the edge of the 18 yard box. With that strike Chelsea were heading to Wembley.