Chelsea have booked their place in the FA Cup final after brushing aside reigning champions Manchester City.The Blues travelled to the Academy Stadium, where they picked apart an injury-stricken City in a dominant 3-0 win.Emma Hayes and her side will take on either Arsenal or Brighton in the final at Wembley in December.An early goal from Erin Cuthbert kicked off the scoring in Manchester. The Scotland international struck a sweet half-volley past Karima Benameur Taieb from a tight angle following a corner from Guro Reiten.Just five minutes later, Melanie Leupolz doubled Chelsea's lead with a strike from distance as City failed to clear the danger building towards their box.The home side went into the second half looking much stronger defensively and did well to keep Chelsea's advances at bay. But the game was buried in the 89th minute as substitute Bethany England headed in a Jessie Fleming cross to score the third goal of the match.
A happy Hayes
Hayes was delighted with her team's performance against the FA Cup champions and is eager face off in an epic final clash at Wembley.
"That was one of my favourite performances," the Blues manager said at the end of the match. "We've had a lot of players travelling all over the world and it's a squad game – we had to pick a team that would do the first part and then the rest to come from the bench.
"I thought our mentality was superb today. I thought everything – our pressing and counter-pressing, how we created chances, was so efficient. I'm really pleased."
Chelsea are now unbeaten in eight matches across all competitions. They have made a strong start to their reigning Women's Super League season and currently sit second in the table, having lost just one game so far.
Only potential FA Cup finalists Arsenal have performed better in the league this season.
Treble chances
Chelsea have the opportunity to secure the domestic treble, due to the fact the current competition being played is the postponed 2020/21 tournament.
With a 2020/21 WSL title and Continental Cup already under their belts, there's just one last hurdle to overcome in this mission.
"I don’t get out of bed just to turn up. I’m here to win, the whole team’s here to win," Hayes said confidently. "It's a big value in the club. When you win things, you get used to it and you want more."
Chelsea will find out who their final opponents will be this evening when either Arsenal or Brighton emerge victorious from their semi-final clash at Meadow Park.