Kerr, Kirby 'out of this world' as Chelsea claim Women's FA Cup on special day at Wembley

By Sports Desk December 05, 2021

Chelsea manager Emma Hayes described Sam Kerr and Fran Kirby as "out of this world" after the star duo helped mark a significant anniversary in women's football with a 3-0 win over Arsenal in the FA Cup final.

The Women's FA Cup showpiece fell exactly 100 years to the day since the Football Association (FA) banned women from playing football – it took almost 50 years for the ban to be lifted when Southampton defeated Stewarton Thistle 4-1 in the first tournament in 1971.

Sunday was all about celebration as more than 40,000 fans packed into Wembley to watch Chelsea trump London rivals Arsenal in the 2020-21 decider, which had been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Englishwoman Kirby opened the scoring before Australian star Kerr scored twice, including a stunning chip, as Chelsea added to their Women's Super League and Women's Continental League Cup success earlier this year, completing a domestic treble for the first time in their history.

"I thought we got it spot-on. We predicted what they were going to do and they did what we thought they were going to do," Hayes said post-match. "We've painted Wembley blue, it's certainly a Chelsea day today and our performance was absolutely superb.

"The front two were out of this world. I said to Fran it was the best game I've ever seen her play for Chelsea and Sam's confidence is growing. But everybody played their part, did the job we asked them to do and we thoroughly deserved to be winners.

"To think we are treble winners, it is an amazing achievement – you can't ask for any more from the players and I am extremely proud of them, the staff and the club. 

"We have built this team over a long period of time and today I think we showed why we are champions. [There will be] zero chance of celebration. The bus is leaving from here and they are going home - they know the deal, we need to win [against Juventus on] Wednesday!"

Kerr became the first Australian woman to score in a Wembley final in a player-of-the-match performance.

She also became the third Australian – man or woman – to celebrate FA Cup glory at Wembley after Liverpool's Craig Johnston and Harry Kewell.

"So many wondered how Sam would cope in the English game. As far as I am concerned she is the best striker in the world," said Hayes. "She is courageous, she is full of confidence. She’s a superb athlete and an amazing human. 

"And she can do that after getting off a plane from Australia on Thursday… She did not have a good night's sleep last night but she just brushes things off. Champions do not make excuses, or become victims, or look for anybody else to manage them."

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    The Gunners will finish at least second in Group C after Lina Hurtig's late strike secured a 1-0 win over Juventus on Thursday.

    What looked to be a frustrating encounter was turned around by Slegers' substitutions, and after missing a glorious chance, Hurtig was eventually the difference at the Emirates.

    Arsenal created 3.69 expected goals (xG) from their nine shots, getting three on target, compared to just 0.5 for Juventus, who tested Daphne van Domselaar the same amount of times.

    Slegers was impressed by her side's resilience as they pushed to come away with all three points.

    "It's surreal to be honest," Slegers said post-match. "I never felt we would get into this situation. We have done really well.

    "I was part of Jonas [Eidevall's] staff and there was so much that was built during his time. I don't want to separate that. There is so much we are still building on. It's surreal in so many ways but we are very happy.

    "I'm just happy for the team to win. Obviously, we have amazing depth in the squad, and we know anyone can do it for us - whether it's starting players or finishing players.

    "It's the visualisation of how much everyone contributes in the team. I think that's what it means for us."

    Slegers took over as interim manager following Jonas Eidevall's departure last month and has gone unbeaten in her first seven games, winning six and drawing one.

    They have won each of their last five in all competitions, and have not conceded a goal in their previous four matches.

    "It was just a very impressive block of the team," Slegers said. "We conceded only one goal during this whole block, so defensively very solid.

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    The Gunners will finish at least second in Group C after Lina Hurtig's late strike secured a 1-0 win over Juventus on Thursday.

    What looked to be a frustrating encounter was turned around by Slegers' substitutions, and after missing a glorious chance, Hurtig was eventually the difference at the Emirates.

    Arsenal created 3.69 expected goals (xG) from their nine shots, getting three on target, compared to just 0.5 for Juventus, who tested Daphne van Domselaar the same amount of times.

    Slegers was impressed by her side's resilience as they pushed to come away with all three points.

    "It's surreal to be honest," Slegers said post-match. "I never felt we would get into this situation. We have done really well.

    "I was part of Jonas [Eidevall's] staff and there was so much that was built during his time. I don't want to separate that. There is so much we are still building on. It's surreal in so many ways but we are very happy.

    "I'm just happy for the team to win. Obviously, we have amazing depth in the squad, and we know anyone can do it for us - whether it's starting players or finishing players.

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    They have won each of their last five in all competitions, and have not conceded a goal in their previous four matches.

    "It was just a very impressive block of the team," Slegers said. "We conceded only one goal during this whole block, so defensively very solid.

    "The players have been stepping up big time, they've been owning this; we tried to relay it back to them all the time, so giving them the ownership.

    "I'm just very happy with how the block has been, different challenges along the way, so all games have asked something different from us. We've responded to that really well, sticking to our identity but also playing the game that's ahead of us."

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    Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range. 

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