Chelsea’s James leads way to win League Cup final against Manchester United | OneFootball

Death, taxes and Chelsea women winning trophies. Regardless of their form this season, regardless of an all-but relinquished Women’s Super League title, with Manchester City nine points clear at the top of the table, you can never bet against the Blues in a cup final – or Lauren James making an impact.

If there was a time for Manchester United to get the better of Sonia Bompastor’s side, having twice lost to them in the FA Cup final, it was now. Marc Skinner’s side sit one point ahead of Chelsea in the league, and they have looked in better form.

However, Chelsea possess a deeply embedded belief and understanding of what it takes that can never be underestimated. A gift of a goal to James and Aggie Beever-Jones’s extension of their lead was enough to deliver another piece of silverware and a feeling of deja vu.

James was electric for Chelsea and the architect of their opener as much as the scorer, the England forward pounced and nicked the ball away from Dominique Janssen who failed to control a throw in, before she drove into the box and fired past Phallon Tullis-Joyce and celebrated by cupping her ears towards the United fans behind the goal – it was her sixth against her former side since she left them for the Blues in 2021.

“We know how good Lauren James is as a player but I think we gave her a bit too much respect today,” said Skinner. “We were a little bit too far off her in case she beats you. She can be the game-changing difference.”

Bompastor called the slick forward “one of the best in the world” following this performance. “If the injuries go away from her, she’s one of the best in the world,” she said. “When you have her at that level, it helps a lot.”

Matches between United and Chelsea are getting increasingly tight, despite the latter’s dominance with 15 wins and two draws in 18 meetings. The most recent was their last outing, a 2-1 win for the Blues in a fifth-round FA Cup tie providing an amuse-bouche to the main course of the final following the three-week interruption of the international break.

The carnival vibe before kick-off at a sold-out Aston Gate was dampened – literally, not metaphorically – with the rain coming down hard.

Despite James’s opener Skinner’s side were far from out of the contest, Elisabeth Terland went close twice in quick succession, and Ellen Wangerheim inexplicably failed to convert Melvine Malard’s cross from a few yards out.

It was increasingly desperate from United as the clock ticked on and the introduction of Fridolina Rolfö and Lea Schüller around the hour mark failed to up the pressure on Bompastor’s side who were comfortable despite the narrow scoreline.

“There’s no fear playing Chelsea,” said Skinner. “You don’t play that way through the thirds if you fear playing against Chelsea, but there’s some block we need to unlock in both boxes … I promise you, before I retire it will be something I fix because it’s something I’m really passionate about – the psychology of performance, especially in pressure moments, is something I really want to be good at before I leave the game.”

There was devastation for the Chelsea substitute Nathalie Björn, who was forced to exit five minutes after coming on clutching her hamstring and in tears and a makeshift back four included Lucy Bronze at centre-back.

“We are showing in our performances really good stuff in terms of the defensive aspects,” said Bompastor. “We are strong mentally, we are strong on the way we want to defend as a team.”

It was the Blues’ attacking substitute that made the difference rather than United’s. Beever-Jones, who replaced Alyssa Thompson at the break, doubled their advantage in the 76th minute. Johanna Rytting Kaneryd’s cross was chested down by the England forward and though Hanna Lundkvist grappled with her she managed to stick out a foot and poke the ball in at the near post.

It was jubilation for the Blues at full time who, despite their tough start to the season, have earned their first spoils.

This will be one of the last times they are likely to lift this trophy. Next season, teams that qualify for Champions League football will not play in the League Cup. The change makes sense in some ways. Both Chelsea and United played only three games in a tournament they swept into and could pick up silverware in. It also lightens the load on players, with concern over the overloading and underloading of players only getting louder. The risk, though, is that the change could be the death knell of the competition, which will struggle for attention and relevance without the country’s top teams involved.

Header image: [Photograph: Steve Paston/PA]