Jo Potter ended Chelsea's treble hopes with a superb free-kick as Birmingham City claimed a 1-0 victory in a tightly-contested FA WSL Continental Tyres Cup quarter-final.
With the sides at opposite ends of The FA WSL 1 table, Birmingham frustrated their illustrious rivals with a five-strong defence as opportunities were limited in the opening 45 minutes.
FAWSL Continental Tyres Cup
Quarter finals
Sunday 13 September 2015
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And after the break Potter curled home for the Blues before their defence withstood mounting pressure to cling on for the win.
The England midfielder was delighted with her strike, and the efforts of her team against top of the table Chelsea.
“You've got to believe in yourself. [Karen Carney] asked whether I wanted it – and I definitely did – but then it's about stepping up and producing and fortunately for me it went in,” she said.
“We set up knowing they have four world-class attacking players who have produced all season and we were totally spot on.
“We defended very well as a team; we have girls back there who defend and who can play as well. All of them were outstanding.
“Having beaten one of the best teams, we don't mind who we play in the next round – but we'd love to be at home again."
Natasha Dowie was in the goals for Liverpool
Elsewhere in the quarter-finals, Natasha Dowie continued her superb run of form by notching all four of Liverpool’s goals to fire the Merseysiders past Bristol Academy.
Dowie’s spot-kick opened the scoring and while Jade Boho-Sayo equalised, there was no stopping Dowie who scored three more times to down the hosts.
And Alex Greenwood curled a stunning late winner as Notts County broke Reading hearts at Meadow Lane to book their place in the semi-finals.
The game looked destined for extra-time after Helen Ward and Melissa Fletcher had cancelled out goals by Aileen Whelan and Greenwood. That was until the latter notched her second of the game with two minutes to go.
Finally, in FA WSL 2, Yeovil and Everton played out a goalless draw that does little to help the promotion hopes of either side.
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