Arsenal Women emerged victorious in this year's F.A. Women's Continental League Cup Final after an enticing match against Chelsea Women. The match was nothing but pure drama, excitement and passion as the two teams fought for the title. For 120 minutes, the two powerhouses in English Women's football fought tooth and nail but ultimately, the ladies in the famous red and white found a way to clinch the gold.
Chelsea Women thought they had taken the lead thanks to a Ramirez stunner in the 22nd minute. However, this was ruled out due to offside in the build-up play. The game then turned into a sort of pendulum match with both sides measuring each other up time and time again. Lauren James and fellow teammate Ramirez proved to be a constant threat but the Arsenal defenders were able to come out with a clinical shutout.
Arsenal's striker, Stina Blackstenius, was a thorn in The Blues' defence and she finally came to haunt them in the 116th minute with a powerful shot to the bottom corner, right when most people thought that the game would head into penalties. Chelsea pressed on the gas in the final minutes, desperately trying to get that crucial goal but Arsenal persevered and ensured that they clinched their chance at a trophy.
The match had its ups and downs and one of the downs was the most terrifying as Arsenal midfielder Frida Maanum eerily collapsed on the pitch. She had to be attended to by multiple parademics and had to be stretchered off the Molineaux pitch. The official Arsenal Women's account on X shared a positive update on the Norwegian shortly after the incident.
The match was pretty intense and emotions were almost certain to boil over and indeed they did as after the final whistle, the two team's bosses had an altercation with Chelsea's Emma Hayes pushing Arsenal's Jonas Eidevall accusing him of "male aggression."
According to the Arsenal boss, the argument came about after he complained to the match officials about the Chelsea players asking for another ball to take a quick throw-in late on even though the two teams had agreed on the one-ball system. This led to him and Chelsea midfielder Erin Cuthbert exchanging words and both the coach and player being shown respective yellow cards as caution.
Arsenal's victory ensured that the North Londoners crafted their names into history as they have now won the League Cup for a record-extending 7 times with Blackstenius' strike being the Gunners 200th goal in the competition.
The victory also squashed Chelsea's hopes for a quadruple ensuring that Arsenal's historic record of achieving such a feat; winning the Women's League, Champions League, F.A. Cup and League Cup in a single season is kept intact.
Arsenal Women are legendary!!! Come on you GUNNERS!!!🤗