A dominant Manchester United eased their league woes as they surged into the semi-finals of the Women’s FA Cup with a comfortable victory over Brighton.
First-half goals from Millie Turner, Nikita Parris and Lucía García and a sensational finish from Lisa Naalsund in the second took last year’s finalists into the last four again.
The manager, Marc Skinner, praised a “total performance” from his team that provided relief from their inconsistent league form.
“I thought we were fantastic,” he said. “That was probably one of our best performances ... We got into rhythm quicker; our players combined quicker. It was the uglier side of the game that I thought we mastered really well. I’m really proud.”
As the sun was setting, the teams emerged in front of an anticipatory crowd at Broadfield Stadium. This was a rematch of last season’s semi-final, a competitive affair that Manchester United had edged thanks to an 89th-minute winner from Rachel Williams.
There was confidence among the home support who were welcoming their side back after a successful trip to Bristol in the Women’s Super League. Mikey Harris named an unchanged side from the one that had scored seven the previous weekend.
In contrast, Skinner made three alterations to his lineup after a frustrating league draw at West Ham. The result meant they drifted further from the top three, their hopes of European football fading.
Jayde Riviere made a long-awaited return from injury while Naalsund and García also came back in. It meant that Parris, a player enjoying a strong run of form, was pushed forward to lead the line.
The substitute Catarina Macario (pictured) scored three minutes after her second-half introduction to send Chelsea through to the FA Cup semi-finals with a 1-0 victory over Everton.
The US international was still recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament issue when she signed for the Blues last summer but made an emphatic first impression when she scored on her debut in last week's Women's Super League victory over Leicester.
Emma Hayes made six changes from Thursday's Conti Cup semi-final victory over Manchester City, but Chelsea failed to find an opener in a cagey first half, coming closest with a crossbar-clipping header by Nathalie Björn before the centre-back was forced off and replaced by Niamh Charles in the 14th minute.
The Toffees had their chances, Kathrine Kühl forcing Zecira Musovic into a good save with a sharp effort, but could not make anything of a series of set-pieces. Chelsea wasted their best chance to take the lead before the break when Jelena Cankovic curled wide from a promising position following some good work by Johanna Kaneryd to release the Serbia international.
Macario, one of four second-half substitutions for Chelsea, finally broke the deadlock in the 66th minute when she swept home Aggie Beever-Jones' cut-back. Katja Snoeijs was inches away from squaring things up, but Chelsea clung on to keep alive their chances of becoming just the second English side in history to secure a quadruple, with Arsenal having done so in 2007.
Chelsea, who will find out their FA Cup semi-final opponents in Tuesday morning's draw, face Ajax in their Champions League quarter-final this month before taking on Arsenal for the Conti Cup on 31 March. PA Media
While the hosts looked energetic in the opening stages, it was not long before United began to dominate. García was enjoying herself down the right, afforded plenty of space to run in.
With Brighton’s defence looking unsettled, the visitors got the early breakthrough they craved when García broke to win a corner. The initial delivery was cleared but Katie Zelem rescued the ball before sending in one of her trademark crosses. Turner, running in at the back post, soared above everyone to thump the header home.
United’s control continued as they put Sophie Baggaley’s goal under pressure. Melvine Malard played a crucial role when they doubled their lead 10 minutes later when she threaded a well-weighted pass through to Parris. With just the keeper to beat, she tucked the ball away.
Brighton desperately sought a way back into the match but their end product was lacking. United, meanwhile, continued to threaten. Naalsund sent an effort over before Hannah Blundell forced Baggaley into a fine save.
They added a third just before the break when García turned the ball home after Malard had hit the woodwork.
Jutta Rantala scored twice as Leicester City beat Liverpool to secure a place in the Women's FA Cup semi-finals for the first time.
The Foxes were without manager Willie Kirk, who is currently being investigating over allegations of a relationship with one of his players. The assistant manager, Jennifer Foster, and first-team coach Stephen Kirby took charge on Saturday and oversaw a historic victory.
Finland midfielder Rantala smashed the ball into the bottom corner on the rebound after Janice Cayman had struck the post with a curling shot. Despite pressure from Liverpool before and after the goal, Leicester went in a goal up at the interval.
Liverpool, without a home win since mid-November, kept pushing but were punished for their profligacy as Rantala led a break downfield before crashing a shot in off the crossbar from the edge of the box.
'I said to the players before the game, if we execute what we need to and do it in the way we know we can we know we'll get the result we deserve – and we did,' Foster told the BBC.
'There were one or two moments where we lapsed in concentration and they almost capitalised but that was the wake-up call we needed and we shifted up a gear. I can't fault the players for everything they've done today – I thought they were fantastic.' Guardian sport
United were not minded to take their foot off the gas, with only the performance of Baggaley keeping the score down. The goalkeeper denied the frustrated Malard brilliantly on two occasions before producing a stunning save to keep out Parris late on. She could do little about the visitors’ fourth, however, when Naalsund produced a sublime swerving effort.
It was a chastening evening for Brighton, a plummet back to earth after the highs of last week. For United, however, it was a confidence-boosting victory in a competition that means a lot to Skinner and his team. “It does [mean a lot]. We were so frustrated when we lost in the final. We want to get back. We know whoever we get will be difficult but I think that negative feeling of last year’s final will spur us on to give everything we can to get our fans back to Wembley.” It might also be a result that will breathe much-needed life into the rest of their league campaign.
