Chelsea 2 (Bright 66, Cuthbert 90+1)
Manchester City 0
FA WOMEN’S COMMUNITY SHIELD 2020
Wembley Stadium
Saturday 29 August 2020
Chelsea lifted the FA Women’s Community Shield for the first time as goals goals by Millie Bright and Erin Cuthbert gave Emma Hayes’ team victory at a coronavirus-enforced empty Wembley.
In what was the first women’s Shield match for 12 years - and indeed the last one to be played - the Covid-19 pandemic which had struck Britain so hard meant that TV transmissions were the only way supporters of the two clubs could watch the action live.
Manchester City fans were eager to see the debut appearance of winger Chloe Kelly, signed from Everton in the close season and destined to famously score the winning goal in England’s historic 2-1 Euro 2022 final win against Germany - also at Wembley.
A big talking point for Chelsea followers as the game had approached was the return of popular England striker Fran Kirby, who had been out of action since the previous November.
Kirby shone from the early stages, setting up several chances for prolific striker Sam Kerr, only for the Australian to have an unusually wasteful day in front of goal.
Blues were contesting the Shield having won the 2019-20 FA Women’s Super League on a points-per-game basis after the campaign had been prematurely abandoned due to the pandemic.
Ending the season early meant that the FA Women’s Cup competition had not been completed, hence City’s appearance in the Shield encounter having been 2018-19’s FA Cup winners.
And though it was Chelsea who bossed the game from the early stages it was City who came closest to scoring in the first half, Kelly shooting against the post after a Georgia Stanway strike had been deflected into her path.
Kerr’s unhappy afternoon continued as she wasted another opening early in the second half. So she was relieved to see Bright put Blues in front after 66 minutes, and what a goal it was - a beautifully struck 25-yard shot that curled into the top corner of the City net.
By this time City were down to 10 players, their England midfielder Jill Scott having been sent off when collecting a second yellow card four minutes before Bright’s goal.
The loss of Scott, followed so quickly by conceding the opener, left City with little hope of bouncing back to overcome their rivals.
But it took Chelsea until a minute into stoppage time to find the victory clincher, substitute Cuthbert firing into the roof of the net after a Maren Mjelde cross had been only half cleared.
Cuthbert’s immediate instinct on scoring was thwarted due to the emptiness of Wembley. “It’s a shame there are no fans to run to and celebrate,” she said to the BBC in a post-match interview.
Bright added to the broadcaster: “Scoring at Wembley is unbelievable. What a start (to the season) because we are going for a lot of trophies this year.”
Chelsea not only went for but also won a lot of trophies - almost a clean sweep of them - in the 2020-21 campaign that followed this Wembley Stadium curtain raiser.
After lifting the Community Shield they won the FA WSL, the FA Cup and the League Cup, missing out only in the Champions League as they finished runners-up to Spanish giants Barcelona.
City meanwhile were undone again by Chelsea in 2020-21, and how! Gareth Taylor’s team finished second to Blues in the WSL table, were knocked out of the FA Cup by them in the semi-final and in the League Cup at the quarter-final stage.
And to round off a so-near yet so-far season for City, their Champions League campaign was ended through a quarter-final loss to, who else but: Barcelona…
Chelsea (4-3-3): Berger; Mjelde, Bright, Eriksson, Andersson (C. Fleming 90+4); Leupolz, Ingle, So-yun; Kirby (Cuthbert 71), Kerr (England 72), Reiten (Charles 88).
Unused substitutes: Thorisdottir, Blundell, Carter, J. Fleming, Spence, Telford.
Manchester City (4-3-3): Roebuck; Morgan, Houghton, Bonner, Stokes; Scott, Walsh, Weir (Mewis 68); Kelly, Stanway (White 83), Hemp (Beckie 26).
Unused substitutes: Bardsley, Campbell, Coombs, Park, Benameur.
Referee: R. Welch
