It’s somewhat remarkable that outside of an unfortunate match in which Mary Earps made Manchester United get the better of Chelsea Women in a FA Cup semifinal, the Blues have rarely had trouble facing
the Red Devils in most occasions. That was also the result of putting our best foot forward in those encounters, and imposing ourselves and our playing style no matter where we up against them.
United have gotten better over the years and being as dominant as we were against them a few years ago became a more difficult task. They even got quite close to opening the score if it wasn’t for a key Hannah Hampton intervention, allowing Wieke Kaptein to do it for us a few minutes later.
The visitors at Leigh Sports Village tried to keep up the pressure. The hosts wouldn’t let them. And Hampton wasn’t able to do much against a powerful Anna Sandberg shot from range as players in our defensive third dedicated themselves to ball-watching at the edge of the box.
Chelsea tried their best not to leave half-time on a tie. Their efforts and especially Wieke Kaptein’s weren’t enough.
The forecast heavy rain began to fall at the beginning of the second half. And so did the chances of this match having a winner, with both sides struggling to hit a stride and the target.
- Back-four back in place.
- Wieke Kaptein reaps the benefit of playing further forward.
- Still ahead in the league chart, although no longer with a perfect record.
- Next up: FC Twente away in the UEFA Women’s Champions League.
- KTBFFH.
