Lauren James fires Chelsea into Women’s FA Cup semi-final: Five things we learned | OneFootball

Lauren James’ decisive goal secured Chelsea’s spot in the Women’s FA Cup semi-final with a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace.

In a largely uneventful first-half, Aggie Beever-Jones went closest to opening the scoring but her header was saved superbly by Palace goalkeeper Shae Yanez.

The Blues had the ball in the back of the net in both halves through Beever-Jones and Catarina Macario, only to be frustrated by the offside flag twice.

James broke the deadlock in the 63rd minute with a left-footed half-volley from the edge of the box, making three goals in three games for the England international.

Sonia Bompastor’s side closed out the game and secured a spot in their second semi-final of the season, ahead of next weekend’s League Cup final.

Here are five talking points from the game:

The quadruple is on

Chelsea took another step closer to their quadruple dreams with this win. While the Blues still have a long way to go before achieving this historic feat, Bompastor’s side have shown that they possess the quality and depth in their squad to go deep in every competition they are in.

The Women’s Super League champions are yet to lose a single game under Bompastor, remaining the only unbeaten team in Europe’s top six leagues this season. Unbeaten in 27 games, the Blues are currently top of the league with a five-point lead, in the Subway League Cup final, the Women’s Champions League quarter-final, and now the Women’s FA Cup semi-final.

James reaching new heights

Lauren James is reaching new heights since returning from injury. Bompastor has commented on the ‘magic’ James possesses, but was also quick to highlight just how hard the 23-year-old has been working defensively to help her teammates.

On her day, James is one of the best players in the world, but a common criticism of her game has been her work rate out of possession. Since returning from injury, she has scored in three consecutive games while also making important contributions defensively. If she can continue to maintain her attacking output as well as her defensive work rate, James will unlock a new level that opponents should be terrified of.

Cuthbert crucial to Chelsea’s success

Erin Cuthbert has been the engine powering this Chelsea team for years. Her presence and influence at the heart of the Blues midfield are irreplaceable even by the great Keira Walsh, who is currently injured. Cuthbert herself has just returned from injury, making her return in Chelsea’s last game against Leicester City.

Her impact off the bench was instant, scoring from 25 yards away in classic Cuthbert fashion. The Chelsea vice-captain put in another strong shift in this game before being taken off in the 74th minute. With Chelsea playing Manchester City four times in the next 12 days, the Scottish international’s fitness will be crucial to the Blues’ success.

An important clean sheet

Chelsea kept their first clean sheet in five games. The Blues had conceded five goals in their last four games, largely due to individual errors from Hannah Hampton and the defenders in front of her.

With crucial games against Manchester City coming up, the clean sheet will give the Blues some confidence before facing the likes of Bunny Shaw and Mary Fowler.

Resilient performance from Palace

Leif Smerud took charge of Crystal Palace just eight days ago. In his second game in charge of the Eagles, Smerud’s side put in a strong defensive performance, keeping the WSL champions at bay for 63 minutes.

Despite the loss, his side showed that they can compete against top-level opposition and will be looking to take the positives from this performance into their relegation battle in the league.