Manchester City took down Everton 3-1 in the Women's FA Cup Final on Sunday. It took Manchester City 28 shots and 120 minutes to get past Everton's relentless efforts to claim the 50th FA Cup at Wembley. They won back to back FA cups for the first time in their history.
Manchester City players celebrate the win as the captain, Steph Houghton lifts the trophy for the third time! (via Instagram)
The COVID-19 pandemic delayed the tournament for over six months. The Championship was on the brim of cancellation as the agreement with sponsor company- SSE had come to an end during the 2019-2020 edition causing economic repercussions. The FA found it hard to get a new sponsor; then Vitality (The health and life Insurance company) came to their rescue by announcing a three-year deal to sponsor the Women's FA Cup. This deal is the biggest sponsorship deal in the history of the Women's FA cup.
It wasn't an easy win for the Manchester City players. From the beginning of the game, Everton players had a defensive strategy- they had less possession of the ball and were very slow in winning the ball back from the City players.
By 37th minute into the game, it started pouring heavily but nothing deterred Sam Mewis (the world champion from the USA who joined Man City a few months ago) from scoring a firm header to convert Alex Greenwood's corner delivery into a goal!
Sam Mewis celebrates her goal. (picture courtesy: Daily Mirror)
By the 45th minute, the French striker to Everton, Valerie Gauvin seizes an opportunity to score a goal; the City defender and captain, Steph Houghton tackles her and slides through into Gauvin's ankle causing serious ankle injury. At the end of the first half, the Everton players had only 30% possession of the ball and no shots on target; with only 15 minutes to treat Gauvin's ankle and get her back to the field.
Everton's Valerie Gauvin (right) scores a no-look header for her team. (picture courtesy: The Guardian)
As the second half began, Everton looked skittish and desperate for a goal. They gained their rhythm and started making quick passes and the goalkeeper, Sandy Maciver made crucial dives to save threatening shots from Lavelle Rose and Chloe Kelly. Gauvin scores a no-look header goal in the 60th minute of the game from Christiansen's corner delivery. This equalizer increased the pace of the game. Manchester City makes key substitutions- Georgia Stanway replaced Ellen White; Jess Park replaced Rose Lavelle. Even after multiple attempts from both the teams, the match advanced into extra time! For the next 10 minutes of extra-time, the players cannot let mistakes creep into their tired minds and tired legs.
Extra time kicks off. To get a fresh pair of legs into the field, Everton replaces Gauvin with Simone Magill and Sevecke with Poppy Pattinson. Even after the half time in extra time, continuous attempts by Man City players did not fetch them a goal. It seemed as if the penalty shootout was inevitable!
As the second half resumed, a great pass from Jess Park opened the Everton defence that was converted into a goal by Georgia Stanway!
Georgia Stanway shoots past Sandy Maciver, Everton's goalkeeper to score the second goal for Manchester City. (Picture courtesy: The Guardian)
Just a few minutes in hand, Everton kept fighting their fatigue and tried to chase the ball to the other half even though the City players left no room for error. In the last few minutes of the game, Everton players had become sloppy that provided an opportunity to Stanway to breach their defence and assist Janine Beckie in scoring the last goal of the game. The final whistle blows and Manchester city have won it!
Janine Beckie scores the final goal for Manchester City. (via Getty Images)
Match Statistics:
The wealth of experience in Manchester City's team was evident in the showdown. The massive signing of World Champion USA players- Sam Mewis, Lavelle Rose; Champion League Winner players- Lucy Bronze, Alex Greenwood helped in getting a superior and dominant squad that proved tough on Everton.
Everton's Sandy Maciver won the Player of the Match award for the series of excellent saves. Everton's Manager, Willie Kirk, was disappointed but very proud of his players. He even promised that they would learn from the defeat; continue to improve and strengthen the team's potential!
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