Dominant City book quarter-final spot

The damage was done early in the first half with Lauren Hemp netting two almost identical goals, both of which were provided by Iman Beney.

Aoba Fujino scored a third in the 21st minute before substitute Laura Coombs rounded off the victory with another in second half injury time.

It was a professional and dominant display from Andrée Jeglertz’s side heading into the international break, with City yet to concede in the competition this season.

What happened

City came firing out of the blocks and showed their dominance when Hemp found the back of the net after just seven minutes, a goal which was made by both Fujino and Beney.

The Japanese international threaded a smart ball through to Beney, who then had the intelligence to pick her head up and find an unmarked Hemp just yards from goal.

That goal was a sign of things to come in the first half, and just four minutes later, Hemp found herself in the six-yard box once again to tap home another Beney low cross.

We looked to control the game and manage the tempo, especially in midfield. Laura Blindkilde Brown then injected speed into an attack, fizzing a ball into the feet of  Fujino, who turned quickly and fired home across Sian Rogers.

It was just what our midfielder deserved after dictating a lot of the early play and being instrumental in both of Hemp’s goals.

On what was Mary Fowler’s first start since April 2025, she was close to marking her return with a goal when she advanced onto a Sam Coffey pass, but her effort from outside the area bounced inches wide of Roger’s far post.

Sheffield United did pose a threat after going down three goals, with Joy Ralph’s low effort catching out Khiara Keating and bouncing off the post and behind for a goal kick, but after the break, it was still all City.

Sydney Lohamnn was introduced and almost opened her account in Blue when her half volley was blocked from close range, before Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw also saw her rebounded effort blocked from a few yards out.

The WSL2 side almost clawed one back with just over 10 minutes remaining, if not for a reactive Keating save to deny Amy Andrews from point-blank range.

However, the game was rounded off perfectly for City with Coombs having a simple task of poking home a loose ball with seconds remaining.

Safely through

In what could have been seen as a potential banana skin, we navigated through the game unscathed and booked our spot in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

Four goals and a clean sheet will be seen as a solid afternoon for Jeglertz and his players, especially with an international break now upon us.

Three goals before the break certainly made the task of managing the second half more comfortable, but to have still yet to concede in the competition is nothing to be sniffed at.

BUILDING MOMENTUM

Following on from our 6-0 win in the previous round, a 4-0 home victory and players continuing to push one another for starts, it was a great way to head into this upcoming break.

After a slight stumble against Arsenal a few weeks ago, City have showed their mental toughness and quality on the pitch to record 6-0 and 4-0 wins in our last two weeks to re-emphasise our position in English football this season.

How we lined up

City XI: Keating, Prior, Greenwood (C) (Knaak 63), Ouahabi, Beney, Blindkilde-Brown (Lohmann 63), Coffey, Hemp (Murphy 81), Fujino (Coombs 63), Clinton, Fowler (Shaw 63)

Subs: Cumings, Rose, Miedema, Hasegawa

Sheffield Utd XI: Rogers, O’Rourke, Sherwood, Cowan, O’Leary (Scofield 63), Kinzett (C) (Phillips 90), Butler, Rouse, Devlin (Guyatt 45), Ralph (Hill 78), Andrews (King 91)

Subs: Parker-Smith, Thompson

Up next

It’s now an international break for a lot of the City players, but we do return to action on the road against Aston Villa on Sunday, 15 March, with an 11:55 (UK) kick-off at Villa Park.

Next Fixture

All fixtures

Sun 15 Mar

Barclays WSL

Aston Villa

11:55

GMT

Man City

Player of the Match

Lauren Hemp

Two goals in the first half for our England international set the tone for the game early on, and it was a perfect way to get things going.

Hemp was a constant threat, not just with her goals but her speed, as always, behind the Sheffield United defence, causing problems all afternoon.

Another dominant performance at the Joie Stadium for Hemp will have been the perfect way for her to head off on international duty.