A place in the quarter finals of the Women’s FA Cup was at stake on Sunday afternoon as familiar cup foes Chelsea Ladies and Doncaster Belles faced off in the 5th round. A stunning second half performance from the Blues saw them comfortably get through as they ran out 6-0 winners. The Belles, unbeaten in WSL 2, were competitive throughout the first half but as soon as Chelsea stepped up gear in the second half, they had no reply. Doncaster now can focus solely on their WSL 2 campaign and make sure they get promoted as champions.
The home side had a couple of changes from the line-up who played in the league last weekend. Carly Telford came in goal to continue her run of playing in the cup games, while Anita Asante took the armband and was joined by Magda Eriksson at the centre of defence.
Crystal Dunn continued where she finished off last weekend as she did her best to terrorise the Doncaster defence down the left. Her early endeavours weren’t too successful, but it wasn’t long before she made a substantial impact. She once again got in behind the Belles defence and pulled the ball back to Ji So-Yun. Her first effort was saved by the Doncaster keeper, but Ji made no mistake with her rebounded effort. Bethan Davies, who was in goal for Doncaster, spent the rest of the half making fantastic saves to keep Doncaster in the game. The Belles nearly managed to go in at the break on level terms as a free kick was hit into the box and caused chaos, somehow Telford managed to keep the ball from going over the line.
That scare just before the end of the first half seemed to kick Chelsea into action in the second half and they came out with a renewed determination. It was only four minutes into the second half when Ji turned provider and played in Fran Kirby for an easy finish and a 2-0 lead. Another four minutes went by and Chelsea had extended the lead to three. Ji again was the creator; she played a lovely ball through to Drew Spence and she finished emphatically.
That quick two goal combo allowed Emma Hayes to make some substitutions, but it wouldn’t be any easier for Doncaster as on came Eni Aluko and Erin Cuthbert, who scored a hat trick in the last round. The new arrivals didn’t waste time in making an impact as Aluko played in an inviting cross for Cuthbert to head in. Aluko then had a hand in the fifth goal as her tricky feet in the area were too quick for a Doncaster defender who was forced to foul her, Bachmann stepped up to score the penalty.
The final goal of the game came with two minutes left on the clock as Cuthbert went and grabbed her fifth FA Cup goal in two games; she went on a mazey run past the deflated Doncaster defenders and scored a wonderful goal.
Player of the Match: Ji So-Yun (Chelsea) – We are running out of words to describe the South Korean. Played her part by scoring the only goal of the first half and then was at her creative best to lay two goals on a plate at the beginning of the second half to put the game to bed