After a 4-0 thrashing of Tottenham at Wembley, Manchester United finally raised the Women’s FA Cup trophy.
In first-half stoppage time, Ella Toone—who started when United lost the final to Chelsea by a hair last year—broke the tie with a beautiful finish.
Lucia Garcia scored the first goal three minutes after the restart when Spurs goalkeeper Becky Spencer made a mistake. Rachel Williams, who was playing in her fourth FA Cup final, had knocked the ball home nine minutes after the restart.
Before Garcia scored twice to put the game out of reach, Tottenham’s captain Bethany England went close with a header that clipped the crossbar in their first FA Cup final.
For the first time since 2012, when Birmingham prevailed thanks to a vital equalizer from Williams in stoppage time, none of Arsenal, Chelsea, or Manchester City has lifted the trophy.
United created two early chances of their own, including Williams’s header from a corner that went just over the crossbar, in response to Tottenham’s missed opportunity when Matilda Vinberg hit the crossbar in the opening minute.
Midway through the first half, neither Williams nor Vinberg could find the back of the net with their headers; by the middle of the second half, neither team had created much of a gap between them. Marc Skinner’s team appeared a bit more aggressive, but they were unable to score after Millie Turner and Garcia missed close-range headers in rapid succession.
After Martha Thomas made a fantastic save to take Turner’s header off the line, Toone sent the ball over the bar with an outstretched boot, and United had their eighth shooting of the match, but Toone’s curling effort went wide of Spencer’s right-hand post.
Next up for United was Lisa Naalsund, who, with the game slipping away, utterly scuffed a shot from the outskirts of the box.
Toone skillfully weaved her way forward, and just when the first half’s scoreless fate seemed certain, she unleashed a magnificent long-range shot into the top corner.
Williams soared to meet United captain Kate Zelem’s free-kick and sent her thunderous header into the back of the net, doubling United’s advantage nine minutes after the restart.
Three minutes later, everything started to fall apart as Spencer utterly bungled a clearance and sent the ball straight to Garcia, who easily finished off the gift.
England nearly equalized with Tottenham’s finest chance of the match, but the ball grazed the crossbar as the Spurs continued to search for their first shot on target.
After Tottenham failed to clear a cross from replacement Melvine Malard, the inevitable comeback was ruined when Garcia swooped in to score the winner.
