CITY WIN THE CONTI CUP

Women's Team

Bronze hits City Century

Gareth Taylor’s side beat Chelsea 3-1 at Wimbledon’s Plough Lane to clinch the trophy for a fourth time.

In front of a sell-out crowd, City came from behind to triumph, after Sam Kerr had opened the scoring, thanks to a sensational second half display in which Caroline Weir bagged a brace and Ellen White netted her 30th City goal.

There was further cause for celebration as Lucy Bronze racked up a century of City appearances  – and she could not have picked a better night to reach the milestone: another incredible achievement for the Club.

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What happened

Buoyed by a vocal London crowd, Chelsea laid immediate siege to the City goal. Ellie Roebuck had to be alert to a number of dangerous crosses, as Pernille Harder made a nuisance of herself in the early exchanges. There was a penalty shout for handball against Alanna Kennedy dismissed by referee Lisa Benn.

Having weathered the storm, City grew into the game and were desperately unlucky not to have opened the scoring on 26 minutes, as Lauren Hemp adjusted well to Georgia Stanway’s rasping cross but saw her effort bounce agonisingly back off the post.

There was more drama to follow. When the ball rolled back to Demi Stokes, the left-back smashed goalward but saw her effort blocked by the arms of Sophie Ingle – only for the referee to wave away strong claims for a penalty. Replays suggested a spot-kick should have been awarded.

The denial was a bitter pill to swallow and the taste soured further when Chelsea opened the scoring shortly after. Ji So-Yun had already poked narrowly wide before a Guto Reiten cross caused havoc in the City penalty area. With Roebuck and Stokes both jumping for the ball, the shot-stopper parried right to Kerr, who spun and drove the ball into the far corner.

The London side almost bagged a second before the break. Keira Walsh and Stokes had done well to thwart Harder but from the resulting corner, Niamh Charles fired just over with a half-volley.

As was the case last weekend in the Women’s FA Cup triumph over Manchester United, City came flying out of the blocks after the restart and levelled inside five minutes.

The excellent Georgia Stanway was the architect, driving down the right flank before cutting back for Weir, who drilled home despite the best efforts of Ann-Katrin Berger.

In response, Chelsea rallied – Harder heading wide before Charles drew the best from Roebuck with a fierce drive.

Two minutes later, the game was turned on its head when Hemp embarked on a trademark run and forced Berger into a low stop, which she could only parry into the path of White, who was on hand to convert the rebound.

Kennedy then headed just over but City would not have to wait long for a third, as Weir popped up again, volleying home beautifully after Bronze’s header across was only half-cleared by Ingle.

City were in dreamland and White should have made it four when she collected Keira Walsh’s reverse pass but fired straight at Berger, who also did well to deny Hayley Raso and Lauren Hemp.

Despite a late flurry of Chelsea pressure, City deservedly hung on to lift our eighth piece of silverware in our eight-year history as a professional outfit.

Congratulations to Gareth Taylor and the squad.

How we lined up...

Taylor made two changes from our 4-1 FA Cup win over Manchester United last weekend, with the injured Vicky Losada and Jess Park replaced by Weir and Raso.

Back in the matchday squad, Laura Coombs was named on the bench having missed our last two matches after recovering from a knee injury.

Ellie Roebuck started between the sticks, shielded by a back four of Bronze, Kennedy, Alex Greenwood and Stokes.

Walsh, Stanway and Weir make up the midfield three while, at the sharp end Raso and Hemp will offered width on the flank for captain White.

CITY XI | Roebuck, Bronze, Kennedy, Greenwood, Stokes, Walsh, Stanway, Weir, Raso (Blakstad 82’), Hemp, White (C) (Shaw 88’)

SUBS | Keating, Coombs, Beckie, Angeldahl, Park

CHELSEA XI | Berger, Nouwen, Bright (C), Ingle, Carter, Ji (Spence 79’), Reiten (James 68’), Kerr, Charles (England 79’), Harder, Andersson (Abdullina 90’)

SUBS | Musovic, Eriksson, Mjelde, James

Attendance: 8,004

Player of the Match: Caroline Weir

Reinstated to the starting XI after her superb, goalscoring cameo displays in the Manchester Derbies, Weir once again produced the decisive moments of magic, taking her two goals expertly.

Stat zone

City lift the trophy for the fourth time in our eight-year history as a professional outfit, having reached five Conti Cup Finals.

Lucy Bronze made her 100th appearance for the Club.

Caroline Weir‘s second goal marked her tenth of the season in 23 appearances and fourth in her last three games.

Ellen White‘s effort marked her 30th goal in City colours.

What’s next...

City return to FA Women’s Super League action with a crunch trip to third-placed Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday 13 March, kicking off at 12:30.

Gareth Taylor‘s side then have four successive home games, starting with the FA WSL visit of Reading to the Academy Stadium on Wednesday 16 March.

Tickets for all home games are on sale online.

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