Bunny Shaw scored twice to send Man City to Wembley
Bunny Shaw’s magnificent brace helped Manchester City into the Adobe Women’s FA Cup Final and kept them on course for a domestic double as Chelsea were beaten 3-2 in a dramatic semi-final.
The newly crowned WSL champions trailed 2-0 heading into the 86th minute at Stamford Bridge thanks to Erin Cuthbert’s deflected strike and Sam Kerr’s cushioned header either side of half time.
But with time running out, City produced a remarkable escape act as Mary Fowler halved the deficit before Shaw’s last-gasp equaliser sent the tie, which also saw the hosts have two goals ruled out, to extra-time.
Buoyed by their late fightback, Shaw’s excellent 103rd-minute header proved to be the winner as City now face Brighton & Hove in the showpiece.
On what was an historic occasion for Stamford Bridge, with the ground hosting its first-ever Adobe Women’s FA Cup match, it was the home side who started the brightest.
Alyssa Thompson forced Khiara Keating into action after just two minutes with England manager Sarina Wiegman watching on, before the City stopper had to react quickly to thwart Lauren James’ audacious 40-yard effort.
City’s first meaningful foray forward saw Lauren Hemp’s low drilled cross just evade a sliding Yui Hasegawa at the back post, but it was Chelsea who landed the first telling blow of the tie.
Cuthbert enjoyed a huge slice of luck when her strike from the edge of the box took a wicked deflection off Jade Rose’s left boot and landed in the opposite corner to the one she was aiming for.
But fortune aside, it was a reward for Chelsea’s tenacious start and for the Scottish midfielder, who started the move that led to the goal.
Sonia Bompastor’s outfit thought they’d doubled their lead in the 12th minute when Sam Kerr tapped home Ellie Carpenter’s floated cross, but the assistant referee adjudged the ball to have gone out of play just before the Australian right-back could tee up her compatriot.
Kerr and Hemp both traded shots that were well saved as the game became more end-to-end as the half progressed.
City grew into the half and had a great chance to level proceedings on the half-hour mark when Kerolin's cut-back found Shaw unmarked, but the forward was unable to keep her effort from rocketing over the bar.
Moments later, Chelsea almost punished City as Sjoeke Nusken engineered a shot that flashed narrowly wide.
Thompson treated the Stamford Bridge crowd to a brilliant mazy run as she looked to increase Chelsea’s advantage but after beating two defenders, the winger was thwarted inside the box before she could get her shot away.
Both Kerr and Shaw then wasted good chances with their heads before Hannah Hampton produced a sumptuous save to deny Laura Blindkilde’s drive – England’s number one reacting well to dive to her left after seeing the deflected effort late.
Kerr continued to look dangerous as half-time approached but was unable to get her volley on target from a tight angle in first-half injury time.
The second period sprung into life 10 minutes in when Kerr had her header and follow-up cleared off the line by a scrambling City defence inside a crowed penalty area.
But Kerr wasn’t to be denied a place on the scoresheet and gleefully benefited from a Keating handling error on 59 minutes to guide the ball into an empty net with her head.
It marked the Australian’s 19th goal in just 17 FA Cup appearances and also continued her run of scoring in every round during this year’s competition.
A second disallowed Kerr goal – this time for offside - on 69 minutes could have put the game to bed, but City kept themselves in the fight and were rewarded when Fowler popped up with a wicked curling strike to half the deficit with three minutes to go.
And after spurning a host of chances, Shaw found her aim when it mattered most as she swept home from Iman Beney’s header in the second minute of injury time to send the game into extra time.
And having rescued her side, it was Shaw who sent them to Wembley when she scored what turned out to be the winner 13 minutes into the first half of extra time.
The 29-year-old rose excellently to head home Hasegawa’s cross after the Japan international had intercepted Hampton’s pass from a goal kick.
Chelsea continued to fight and thought they had sent the tie to penalties late on but Keating produced a world-class save to deny Sjoeke Nusken by palming her header onto the crossbar.
