Everton end Chelsea’s hopes of domestic clean sweep coming from behind to win thrilling quarter-final

Telegraph Sport
·3 min read
Izzy Christiansen (R) Sandy Maciver and Everton Women team mates celebrate their win after the Women's FA Cup Quarter Final match between Everton and Chelsea at Goodison Park on September 27 2020 in Liverpool, England. - GETTY IMAGES
Izzy Christiansen (R) Sandy Maciver and Everton Women team mates celebrate their win after the Women's FA Cup Quarter Final match between Everton and Chelsea at Goodison Park on September 27 2020 in Liverpool, England. - GETTY IMAGES

  • Everton 2 Chelsea 1

Everton ended Chelsea’s hopes of a clean sweep of domestic trophies in 2020 when they came from behind to win this thrilling quarter-final.

Emma Hayes’ team had won the League Cup and Community Shield and been awarded the Women’s Super League title on points-per-game, but missed chances and the heroics of Everton goalkeeper Sandy MacIver ensured their galaxy of stars will not have the chance to lift the FA Cup at Wembley.

Everton have won both their games in the new WSL season, but their reaction at the final whistle signalled what this win meant as they booked a semi-final spot against Birmingham this Wednesday. However, head coach Willie Kirk insisted that it was not the time to celebrate as they chase their first major piece of silverware since the 2010 FA Cup.

“It was a great result, but we won’t be celebrating until we’ve won something,” the Scot said. “For the first 30 minutes, we were shocking. Chelsea are a difficult team to play if you let them and the game could have been over by half-time.

“They run you ragged if you let them. But I told the girls we would be 100 times’ better in the second half, and we were.”

These are the closing rounds of the 2019/20 competition after it was delayed because of lockdown in March and this match was befitting of its Goodison Park setting. Chelsea, fresh from a 9-0 win at Bristol City in their previous WSL game, began as if they would simply blow their opponents away, and one goal was the least they deserved.

Women's FA Cup semi-finals
Women's FA Cup semi-finals

MacIver had already been at full stretch to stop Sam Kerr setting up Fran Kirby for a tap-in, before she was beaten by Erin Cuthbert’s finish into the bottom corner.

The Everton goalkeeper then kept out Ji So-Yun’s powerful drive, and Kirby’s close-range header was cleared off the line.

The hosts managed to weather that early storm, and equalised five minutes before the interval when captain Lucy Graham headed home following good work down the wing by Ingrid Moe Wold.

Chelsea again came flying out of the traps in the second half, but MacIver continued to excel herself. She came out on top in a one-on-one with Kirby and then did superbly to keep out Pernille Harder’s fierce drive. The visitors were made to pay for all those missed chances.

Tenacious play from Hayley Raso down the left ended with the Australian putting over an excellent cross, met by a fine header from striker Valerie Gauvin.

Everton had to dig in after that, but blue shirts and the safe hands of MacIver ensured Chelsea missed out on a semi-final place for the first time since 2013. “We’re going to learn from it, there are small details we have to improve on,” Chelsea defender Maren Mjelde said.

Match details

Everton (4-5-1): MacIver; Wold, Finnigan, Sevecke, Turner; Sorensen (Boye-Hlorkah 80), Stringer (Egurrola 46), Christiansen, Graham, Raso; Magill (Gauvin 46). Subs Korpela (Gk), Pike, Clemaron, Pattinson. Booked: Christiansen.

Chelsea (4-4-2): Berger; Mjelde, Bright, Carter (Charles 83), Andersson; Kirby, Ingle (Reiten 74), Ji (Leupolz 64), Cuthbert; Harder, Kerr (England 74). Subs Telford (Gk), Spence, Thorisdottir, Blundell, Fleming.

Referee: Ben Wyatt.