Mary Fowler's dream of winning her first trophy with Manchester City Women was dashed as Chelsea Women secured a 2-1 victory in the Women's League Cup final, taking the first step towards an unprecedented quadruple. This victory also kicks off a series of four matches between Chelsea and Manchester City, two of England's powerhouse teams, within a span of 12 days.
Read Also...:
Netball Super League 2025: Leeds Rhinos and London Mavericks win in opening round of new season
03-16, 2025
Drive to Survive: Lando Norris says he is 'not a fan of the fake stuff' in Netflix documentary
03-16, 2025
Challenge Cup: Hull FC, Warrington and Catalans through to last eight
03-16, 2025
Premier League: Nottingham Forest boosted in Europe race as Brighton hold Man City
03-16, 2025Fowler couldn't hide her disappointment at Pride Park Stadium in Derby. The Australian international has been outstanding this season, but an unfortunate mistake during the match marred her entire afternoon's efforts. With the score tied at 1-1 in the 77th minute, Fowler's error led to Chelsea's Aggie Beever-Jones passing the ball to Mayra Ramírez, whose low cross was inadvertently deflected into her own net by Manchester City's Japanese international, Yui Hasegawa.
This own goal secured another victory for Chelsea, their 26th in 28 matches since French coach Sonia Bompastor took over from Emma Hayes earlier this season, extending their unbeaten run this season. Despite Matildas captain Sam Kerr being included in Bompastor's Champions League squad this week after a long recovery from knee surgery, she was still not fit enough to feature in the final squad, showing her commitment to the team.
Chelsea once again proved that they can thrive even without their star striker, Kerr. Ramírez's goal in the eighth minute and Hasegawa's own goal were enough to secure their first League Cup title in four years. Manchester City, led by interim coach Nick Cushing following the unexpected departure of head coach Gareth Taylor earlier this week, had equalized through a brilliant goal by Aoba Fujino in the 64th minute and were evenly matched with the defending champions for a long period.
Fowler's breakthroughs on the left wing were extremely threatening, and she created an excellent opportunity in the 69th minute. She dispossessed Lucy Bronze outside the penalty area, creating a one-on-one chance for Manchester City's top scorer, Khadija Shaw, against goalkeeper Hannah Hampton, but Shaw was out of form and ultimately thwarted by Hampton. Ramírez had opened the scoring for Chelsea early in the game, capitalizing on a clever pass from Lauren James that split the defense, with Ramírez slotting home the rebound. She had a chance to seal the victory earlier in the second half but was too fancy when one-on-one with Hampton and ultimately shot wide.
Ramírez's profligacy also illustrates how important Kerr's return is for Bompastor, who needs the Australian international to cope with the challenges ahead. This was the first game of their "quadruple" against Manchester City, with two legs of the Champions League quarter-finals and a Women's Super League match to follow in the next 12 days, highlighting the intensity of their schedule.
"We know now that we are in a key moment of the season, we know that every game matters," said Bompastor, whose team is leading the way in the Women's Super League and has also reached the quarter-finals of the Women's FA Cup. "That is our mentality, we just want to make sure that at the end we win as many trophies as possible, even if it is going to be very difficult," demonstrating her ambition for the remainder of the season.
