Chelsea keep quadruple dream alive but must be more clinical to beat Barcelona

Chelsea kept their quadruple dream alive as patience paid for England’s Aggie Beever-Jones in a 2-1 FA Women’s Cup semi-final win against Liverpool.

The hosts came unstuck against Manchester United in the last four of the competition last season and almost faltered here again, only taking the lead in stoppage time against a determined and organised Liverpool outfit, spearheaded by Olivia Smith.

Sonia Bompastor’s side had 23 shots and 51 touches inside the box, but only four of those troubled the Liverpool goalkeeper, before Beever-Jones’ winner ensured Chelsea would play in the final at Wembley on May 18.

Liverpool were equal to all of Chelsea’s 16 corners and the hosts were wasteful with their chances. The London side are unlikely to have the same luxury and ease of creating opportunities against Barcelona in next weekend’s Champions League semi-final, so they will need to be more clinical in Spain to stay on the European trophy trail.

Yet Bompastor denied she was frustrated when discussing the missed chances post-match, saying: “We talked a lot before the game, about having high standards going into these games, ruthless mentality, winning mentality, and this is what I wanted to see from my players. And I think part of the game, we showed that, so it was good.”

For Bompastor, it is results, not the performance, that matter at this stage of the campaign, particularly given that some players only returned from the international break on Thursday.

“When you get to this moment of the season, you don’t really get time with your team to work on your game model, your game plan,” she said.

“You need to be clear with your players on what you expect from them on the pitch, but the most important thing is to make sure you win the game. And I think in this part of the season, that’s the most important and decisive moment in the season, and you need to win the games, no matter the performance.”

Ultimately this semi-final came down to a single moment. With four minutes left of stoppage time, Beever-Jones was in the right place to head home from a Sandy Baltimore cross and avoid extra time.

It was far from her first opportunity. She had missed two second-half chances that could have sealed the result earlier, but it was enough to get Chelsea over the line.

“It means everything, for me being a Chelsea fan to be able to get Chelsea to the final and scoring so late in the game, it’s amazing. I’m just delighted I was able to put it away,” said Beever-Jones.

After weathering the Chelsea storm and a barrage of corners in the opening 20 minutes, all Liverpool needed was one quick counter-attack, and the quality of Smith to take the lead at a sunny Kingsmeadow.

Chelsea equalised on the stroke of half-time. They had been struggling to link passes together, but a ricochet in the box fell for Erin Cuthbert, who hooked the ball goalwards and off the post and past Rachael Laws.

Smith was Liverpool’s most dangerous threat, but her defensive performance was also inspired. She had been a doubt for the game with a hip injury and looked in pain after colliding with Cuthbert towards the end of the first half but still helped prevent Chelsea from taking the lead before being withdrawn in the 88th minute.

Chelsea dominated the second half from the start. Beever-Jones had two chances in the space of minutes to give the hosts the lead, with the first straight at Laws, and the second narrowly over the crossbar.

Liverpool almost clinched the winner in the final minute of normal time when a Taylor Hinds cross rebounded off the bar. Instead, it was the hosts who delivered the decisive blow to end Liverpool’s impressive Cup run, which saw them knock out Arsenal at Meadow Park in the quarter-finals.

Chelsea already have the League Cup in their trophy cabinet, are six points clear at the top of the Women’s Super League, have now reached the FA Cup final and will be hoping a ruthless edge can see them past Barcelona in Europe too.

Chelsea (4-3-3): Hampton; Bronze, Bjorn, Bright, Baltimore; Kaptein (Reiten 96), Walsh, Cuthbert; Rytting Kaneryd, Ramirez (Nusken 66), Beever-Jones (Macario 96). Subs: Charles, Fishel, Hamano, Jean-Francois, Lawrence, Spencer. 
Booked: Baltimore 77. 
Goals: Cuthbert 45+2, Beever-Jones 90+4.

Liverpool (4-3-3): Laws; Fisk, Bonner, Evans, Hinds; Hobinger, Kerr, Nagano; Smith (Matthews 88), Kiernan (Haug 61), Kapocs (Enderby 96). Subs: Clark, Daniels, Enderby, Fahey, Kirby, Micah, Parry. 
Booked: Laws 74, Fisk 37.
Goal: Smith 21.
Referee: Kirsty Dowle.