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Key events
Good work from Baltimore sets up James on the edge of the box. Carpenter is off to her right but James goes herself, her shot blocked out for a corner by Greenwood. City clear. 1-0 Chelsea, 71 mins.
The Guardian’s Tom Garry is enjoying the action at Man City:
This has turned into a terrific second half, after a very quiet first 45 minutes. The home fans are thoroughly enthused, now.
Hampton saves! Bright heads a City cross out to Hasegawa, who chests and volleys, Hampton tipping it over the bar in acrobatic fashion. 1-0 Chelsea, 68 mins.
Side netting! Tullis-Joyce takes the acclaim after she gets a hand to Caldentey’s strike at the near post. It was going wide anyway but the United keeper just made sure. 1-0 United, 67 mins.
United take a booked Sandberg off for Lundkvist. Riviere is down receiving treatment. 1-0 United, 65 mins.
City make a change. Coombs is on for Clinton. They still trail. James almost extends Chelsea’s lead and stings Yamashita’s palms with a strike that is saved at the near post. 1-0 Chelsea, 64 mins.
Red card for Olivia Smith!
Arsenal’s record signing goes in hard on Zigiotti on the touchline and gets a second booking! Needless. Arsenal are up against it now. 1-0 United, 62 mins.
Hampton saves! Hasegawa slides the ball into Miedema’s path in the area but Hampton gets out quickly to make a sprawling save. Lauren James replaces Kerr for Chelsea. 1-0 Chelsea, 61 mins.
Arsenal make a change. Blackstenius replaces Maanum. The Swede’s first involvement is to win a corner. Tullis-Joyce doesn’t agree with the decision and is booked for dissent. 1-0 United, 58 mins.
Russo shoots wide! Foord finds Palova with an excellent ball into the box with the outside of her boot. Palova squares it for Russo, who diverts her first-time effort wide of the far post. Sandberg goes into the book for pulling back Smith. 1-0 United, 57 mins.
Smith almost catches Tullis-Joyce out with a cross that almost drops inside the far post. 1-0 United, 53 mins.
City go close again! Casparij swings a cross in for City from the right and Miedema plants her header wide of the far post. Hemp lifts another ball into the box, Shaw heads it down and Hampton tips it over. The offside flag is up though. Chelsea under pressure. 1-0 Chelsea, 52 mins.
City hit the post! Hemp dinks a cross to Shaw, Girma gets there first and Casparij smashes the loose ball against the post. She should’ve scored. 1-0 Chelsea, 50 mins.
Maanum shoots over! Arsenal look to get back into the game through Smith, who tees up Maanum on the edge of the box and her looping shot goes over. Maanum’s cross across the six-yard box then evades everyone. 1-0 United, 48 mins.
Chelsea make a fast start against City. They win a corner, which is played to Carpenter on the edge of the box but her shot is blocked by Miedema. The referee had spotted something anyway and had whistled. 1-0 Chelsea, 48 mins.
Restart
Both semi-finals are back under way – the away sides ahead.
“We should’ve had a stonewall penalty,” says Manchester United’s head coach Marc Skinner in his TV interview at half-time, not forgetting that McCabe challenge on Terland in a hurry.
The teams are back out at both grounds. We go again.
Transfers: Delphine Cascarino is the latest big name to join the WSL this window having swapped San Diego Wave for London City Lionesses.
Keep across all the deals in the top six leagues with our interactive page:
Tom Garry is at the Joie Stadium:
Manchester City haven’t got going, yet. If that effort from Miedema had gone in, it would have masked a poor half from the league leaders.
Half-time scores
The whistle has gone in both games:
Huge miss from Miedema! Hampton comes out to confront Shaw on the edge of the area, the ball springs loose to Miedema but her shot towards a virtually open goal hits the foot of the post! 1-0 Chelsea, 45+3 min.
GOAL! Arsenal 0-1 Manchester United (Terland 45+2)
It’s a goal all of Arsenal’s own making! Borbe sells one of her defenders short on the edge of her own box and United step in to win it. The ball falls to Terland, who sweeps it into the bottom corner.
Three minutes added at Manchester City.
Russo shoots over! Arsenal get a free-kick on the edge of the D but Russo slices across it and it flies over the crossbar. 0-0, 45 mins. Two minutes added.
City are having a wobble. Yamashita digs out a clearance just in time in her six-yard box but it’s another Chelsea corner. The City goalkeeper gets two fists to it and it sails out of danger. 1-0 Chelsea, 43 mins.
GOAL! Manchester City 0-1 Chelsea (Kaptein 41)
Balitmore’s corner is initially headed away but Bronze feeds it back to her. She floats a right-footed cross right under the crossbar and Kaptein rises highest to head Chelsea in front!
Chelsea win a corner as Carpenter’s cross is headed behind by Miedema. Knaak heads Baltimore’s corner out for another at the near post …
Wangerheim is played through on goal for United and it looks like a one-on-one with Borbe but she slows down enough for Codina to get back and nip in for Arsenal. A big waste. 39 mins, 0-0.
Kerr heads wide! The Chelsea striker gets her first shot all wrong and it bobbles across to Baltimore on the left. Her cross is met by Kerr at the near post but she can’t divert it on target. 0-0, 36 mins.
Arsenal send a free-kick of their own into the box, McCabe floating it to the far post where it’s headed down and hacked clear by Le Tissier before Tullis-Joyce could gather. 0-0, 34 mins.
Greenwood’s free-kick is thumped into the wall. Hasegawa volleys the rebound well wide. Chelsea escape. 32 mins, 0-0.
City come forward again with a Greenwood delivery to the back post that Baltimore diverts away from danger. Chelsea haven’t seen much of the ball in the last 10-15 minutes. Shaw wins a foul on the edge of the box in a great spot. Perfect range for the left-footed Greenwood. 0-0, 31 mins.
Penalty shout for United! Awujo finds Terland in the area, she cuts inside Wubben-Moy and goes down under McCabe’s challenge. It looked clumsy but the contact was minimal.
The referee waves play on. There’s no VAR. A member of the United coaching staff goes into the book for his protests. 28 mins, 0-0.
Chance for Arsenal! Smith wins the ball high up the pitch, Maanum poked it on to Russo and she drags her half-volley just wide. United’s Awujo is then penalised in midfield, despite being dragged to hte floor herself. 0-0, 25 mins.
Bronze is booked for Chelsea after she catches Hemp in the face with a high-ish boot. Bit careless. Greenwood bends the free-kick into Hampton’s arms.
The camera pans to Usain Bolt sitting in a suite. He’s there to support his compatriot Shaw but is also apparently a big fan of Hemp, known for her speed. 0-0, 23 mins.
Shaw should score! The City striker races clear of the Chelsea backline, skips past Hampton about 30 yards from goal but elects to nutmeg Girma instead of shooting into an open goal and Baltimore comes in to save the day with a sliding challenge. Clinton then drags a shot wide from the edge of the area. 0-0, 20 mins.
A bit of haphazard defending from Chelsea as Shaw tries to work space for a shot. Bright stood in the way, punted it against the City striker and it’s cleared at the second attempt. 0-0, 17 mins.
United have a free-kick that is swung into the box. It’s headed on target but the camera lens is so spotty from rain drops that I can’t tell who got on the end of it. Borne gathered anyway. 0-0, 15 mins.
City’s Shaw threatens for the first time, losing Bright with a stepover inside the box before Girma comes in to put it behind for a City corner. Kerr then clears for Chelsea. 12 mins, 0-0.
Manchester United cannot get out at Arsenal, who have kept up the pressure after Maanum’s early chance. United get a bit of respite as Wubben-Moy mis-hits a ball to Smith on the right. We’ve just had a wipe of the wide-lens TV camera. It’s wet. 10 mins, 0-0.
Baltimore tries her luck again as the resulting corner comes her way but her shot is blocked behind by a City defender. That was travelling. 8 mins, 0-0.
City press Chelsea high up the pitch but Baltimore comes away with it down the left. The France international hits a pretty speculative effort from range and it’s deflected behind by Casparij. 6 mins, 0-0.
City launch their first significant attack as Hemp looks for Clinton down the right. Baltimore gets back for Chelsea and wins a throw-in. 4 mins gone, 0-0.
Big chance for Arsenal! Straight from kick-off, the Gunners go for the jugular. Russo crosses from the right for Maanum and her header is well saved by Tullis-Joyce in the United goal. 2 mins gone, 0-0.
Kick-off
Both semi-finals are under way.
The teams are on their way out into pretty testing weather conditions either end of the country. It’s been chucking it down most of the day just north of London, while Tom Garry says there is a real swirl to the wind in Manchester – “so much so that the water from the sprinklers has drifted off into the air rather than falling to the ground.”
The action comes next.
Arsenal are still competing on four fronts (plus the Fifa Champions Cup), with a crunch game against Chelsea to come in the WSL this weekend. In her programme notes tonight, manager Renée Slegers has been underlining the importance of having a deep squad during such a tight schedule:
We’ve got a huge block ahead of us and strength in depth is vital: a League Cup semi-final, Chelsea, Manchester City, our two games at the inaugural FIFA Champions Cup and our first Champions League knockout – all in less than a month. It’s going to require a monumental effort from everyone to continue our standards across all five competitions, but we’re prepared for the challenge.
Tom Garry
Tom Garry is the Guardian’s reporter at the Joie Stadium tonight.
There’s a cold breeze on this dark January night here in Manchester but these two sides should serve up a red-hot semi-final under the lights. They have undeniably been the two best teams in England so far this season and both managers have gone strong with their XIs, with Sonia Bompastor interestingly resisting the temptation to rest players tonight ahead of a huge league game against Arsenal this weekend. That tells you how much importance the Frenchwoman places on this cup.
Tonight is the first time Manchester City and Chelsea have met since September and the opening night of the new WSL season. Chelsea won 2-1 but have seen their title defence stutter in the face of a resurgent City. Coming across Chelsea again, who beat them in last year’s League Cup final, has been at the forefront of City’s minds speaking to the media this week:
Head coach Andrée Jeglertz on what’s changed:
First of all the confidence that we know what we’re supposed to do, we’re clear with our relationships and the game model, we’ve been winning a lot of games, we have a great squad and know what we can expect. That was the first game, but we’re in a different place. There’s definitely been a big change since then.
Defender Alex Greenwood on what’s changed:
I do believe this team’s come a long way since then. Winning football matches creates confidence and builds momentum, and I think tactically and technically we’ve learned more about Andrée’s style of play and what he expects from us.
We’ve worked together more as a team on the grass, and you’ve seen that flourish a lot more in those recent games. So, I think from our perspective, it’s just how I always like to look at it, is we’ve improved massively since that game.
This time next week, Arsenal will be in action in the Women’s Champions Cup – a new tournament set up by Fifa in the form of the old men’s Club World Cup. The European champions face the African champions, FAR Rabat, in their semi-final at Brentford, while the Concacaf and Conmebol champions are also taking part. The final will be at the Emirates on 1 February.
Despite the nascent nature of this tournament, Fifa is, of course, going to expand it. The first edition of the Women’s Club World Cup is slated for January 2028. Qatar are in talks with Fifa to host the (for now) 16-team tournament. The WSL does not like this. Or rather, it doesn’t like that it’s been scheduled to take place throughout January, when it would affect five rounds of domestic fixtures.
Starting lineups
Arsenal v Manchester United
Arsenal: Borbe, Hinds, Wubben-Moy, Codina, McCabe, Pelova, Caldentey, Maanum, Smith, Foord, Russo.
Subs: Van Domselaar, Liddiard, Catley, Mead, Little, Blackstenius, Holmberg, Harwood.
Manchester United: Tullis-Joyce, Sandberg, Le Tissier, Park, Terland, Awujo, Rivière, Janssen, Zigiotti, Wangerheim, Hinata.
Subs: Middleton-Patel, Rendell, Lundkvist, Turner, Griffiths, Naalsund, Drury, Malard, Schüller.
Manchester City v Chelsea
Manchester City: Yamashita, Rose, Knaak, Greenwood, Casparij, Blindkilde Brown, Hasegawa, Hemp, Clinton, Miedema, Shaw.
Subs: Keating, Coombs, Ouahabi, Beney, Prior, Thomas, Murphy, Lewis, Adedini.
Chelsea: Hampton, Carpenter, Girma, Bright, Bronze, Baltimore, Cuthbert, Nüsken, Kaptein, Thompson, Kerr.
Subs: Spencer, Peng, Buurman, James, Reiten, Kaneryd, Potter, Beever-Jones.
Preamble
Hello and welcome. As the WSL title race hots up, winning the first trophy of the season could give a challenger the mental edge. Four of England’s top teams do battle for a spot in the Women’s League Cup final this evening. In a repeat of last season’s final, the competition holders Chelsea visit WSL leaders Manchester City, while European champions Arsenal host 2024 FA Cup winners Manchester United.
There will be plenty of star quality on show in both semi-finals, which kick off simultaneously at 7pm (GMT). These are one-legged ties, so there will be extra time and penalties tonight if required.
If you’re heading to a game or watching in the warmth, feel free to get in touch with your thoughts and predictions.
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