| Event | 2017–18 FA WSL Cup | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Date | 14 March 2018 (2018-03-14) | ||||||
| Venue | Adams Park,High Wycombe | ||||||
| Referee | Amy Fearn (Derbyshire) | ||||||
| Attendance | 2,136 | ||||||
←2016 2019 → | |||||||
The2018 FA WSL Cup final was the seventh final of theFA WSL Cup, England's secondarycup competition forwomen's football teams and its primaryleague cup tournament. It took place on the 14 March 2018, atAdams Park, contested byArsenal andManchester City, the only two teams to have ever won the tournament.
Arsenal had competed in all but one of the previous finals, whereas Manchester City had only previously appeared in two but won both of them. The two teams previously played out the2014 FA WSL Cup final,[1] which Manchester City won by a goal to nil.
Arsenal won the match 1–0, with a first-half goal fromVivianne Miedema.
| Round | Opposition | Score |
|---|---|---|
| GS | London Bees (H) | 7–0 |
| GS | Millwall Lionesses (A) | 5–2 |
| GS | Reading (H) | 1–2 |
| GS | Watford (A) | 6–0 |
| QF | Sunderland (H) | 3–1 |
| SF | Reading (A) | 3–2 |
| Key: (H) = Home venue; (A) = Away venue; (N) =Neutral venue. | ||
Arsenal's journey to the final began in the Group Stage, where they were drawn againstReading - who would go on to be a close rivalin the league - as well as mostly lower-halfFA WSL 2 teamsLondon Bees,Millwall Lionesses andWatford. Games against the former and the latter would turn out to be easy and result in large winning margins,[2][3] while a high-scoring away match against Millwall would result in a 5–2 victory.[4] The goals scored in these matches would still not ultimately prove enough to secure Arsenal first place in their group, however, as the home tie against Reading finished with a disappointing 2–1 loss,[5] and Arsenal qualified for the knock-outs in second behind their WSL 1 rival.
Progressing through to the quarter-finals Arsenal were drawn against Group One North winnersSunderland at home, who they would proceed to defeat by a two-goal margin in what would be new managerJoe Montemurro's first game.[6]
They would then come up against Group Stage opponents Reading for a second time, this time being drawn away to theBerkshire team in the semi-finals. Once again they did not find their opponents easy, going down by a goal on two occasions before two late goals put them on top and through to the final.[7]
| Round | Opposition | Score |
|---|---|---|
| GS | Oxford United (A) | 6–0 |
| GS | Everton (H) | 2–1 |
| GS | Birmingham City (H) | 2–0 |
| GS | Doncaster Rovers Belles (A) | 3–2 |
| QF | Bristol City (A) | 2–0 |
| SF | Chelsea (A) | 1–0 |
| Key: (H) = Home venue; (A) = Away venue; (N) =Neutral venue. | ||
In contrast to Arsenal, Manchester City were given a tougher Group Stage challenge with previous finalistBirmingham City, fellow WSL 1 teamEverton and 2016 WSL 1 sideDoncaster Rovers Belles joining City in a group which also featured WSL 2 mid-table sideOxford United. In their first game City defeated Oxford by six clear goals[8] before fighting to a late home victory by the odd goal in three against Everton.[9] A third victory was clocked up in their home match against Birmingham with two first half goals settling the tie to give City an early qualification for the next phase[10] and the Group Stage was wrapped up in a 3–2 away win over Doncaster which saw three goals in four second half minutes.[11]
Having qualified for the knock-out rounds with a perfect record, City were drawn against Group Two South runners-upBristol City, whosemen's team would meet City's ownmale contingent in the latter stages of their own league cup less than a month later, but defeated them by a slightly more comfortable two goals to nil.[12]
In their semi-final, City were then drawn away again toChelsea, pitting together the only two teams in English women's football with undefeated records by the half-way point of the season. In their first meeting of 2017–18 City were triumphant by a single early goal from debutantNadia Nadim, putting them through to a third final in four seasons.[13]
          Arsenal |      Manchester City |
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Player of the match
Match officials
| Match rules
|
