Chelsea’s hopes of retaining two of their three titles remain alive after Veerle Buurman’s wonderful drive and strike earned the Blues a 2-1 win in an end-to-end battle with Tottenham, securing a place in the FA Cup semi-finals.
Sonia Bompastor’s side needed a result after a frustrating week, having crashed out of the Champions League despite a battling 1-0 win against Arsenal in the second leg of their quarter-final tie. They were good against the Gunners, and unlucky to have had a Buurman goal incorrectly ruled out in the first leg, but they were lacking in the final third.
With the Women’s Super League title all but sewn up by Manchester City, an FA Cup win that would mean a domestic cup double – after their League Cup final win against Manchester United – is the only silverware left to play for. That will not be enough for a team that have dominated in almost every competition for a decade and has huge ambitions, but the opportunity to finish the season on a high at Wembley with a second trophy will be hugely motivating.
For Tottenham there was a need to make a statement after back-to-back 5-2 defeats to Manchester City and Arsenal in the league. A trip to Kingsmeadow to face a bruised and injury-hit Chelsea perhaps offered the opportunity to claw something from a tough run of games, with Manchester United up next. The defeat was not the result they wanted, but they showed their character and grit, undone by a wonder strike few could prevent.
The visiting team were quick out of the blocks in south-west London, but their energy was matched by Chelsea, Alyssa Thompson and Lauren James forced early saves from Lize Kop, who made a big mistake for Alessia Russo’s third in the north London derby the preceding week.
Martin Ho’s side was aggressive and forward-thinking despite the threat of Chelsea, a testament to the manager’s impact on the way the play since his arrival in the summer and Bethany England was halted by Niamh Charles while Signe Gaupset tested Hannah Hampton. A goal was coming, but at which end was hard to predict.
The breakthrough arrived in the 40th minute, when Kerr ghosted into the box to head Keira Walsh’s cross back past Kop for a goal in her eighth straight FA Cup game.
There was no wilting from the team that was left a little exposed when they fought to take something from the games against City and Arsenal, instead the same fire that saw Ho’s side seek equalisers and risk the margin of their defeats growing, was on show in the sun. They were rewarded for that spirit seven minutes after the restart. Kadeisha Buchanan was punished for needlessly bundling over Matilda Vinberg out wide when Eveliina Summanen’s free-kick floated over everyone, including Hampton, who misread the flight of the ball, and in.
It was end to end, Chelsea perhaps edging the chances, Kerr just unable to reach the substitute Wieke Kaptein’s sublime ball through the six-yard box.
It felt as if the winner would need to be something special and it was, Buurman’s blistering rising strike with four minutes of normal time remaining prompting wild celebrations from her teammates and the home fans.
The visiting side battled to the final whistle, but Chelsea were not going to let the result slip away from them late on. Relief and joy arrived when the referee called time.
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