James takes early initiative against Manchester City to fire Chelsea into final | Women’s football

Chelsea reached the Women’s League Cup final for the fifth time in succession with a 1-0 ­victory over ­Manchester City. Lauren James’ early goal in a competitive ­encounter was enough to see them set up another meeting with Arsenal despite coming under significant pressure from their title rivals.

It was a victory that ended Manchester City’s scintillating run of 12 wins in all competitions and hopes of lifting the domestic treble. One of those victories had included a 1-0 win over Emma Hayes’ side in the league in mid-February, a result that had confirmed Gareth Taylor’s side as firm title contenders.

Taylor named an unchanged lineup from Saturday’s win over ­Everton, a predictable occurrence with a set of players who have remained eye-catchingly ­consistent this ­campaign. Hayes made three changes, with Sjoeke Nüsken ­dropping into defence to replace the cup-tied Nathalie Björn while James returned from ­suspension and Melanie Leupolz came into the midfield.

James, the focal point of so many of Chelsea’s attacks, struck in the eighth minute. Breaking through the City defence, the 22-year-old ran on to Mayra Ramírez’s pass to place it clinically past the helpless Khiara Keating.

It was the lead the visitors ­desperately sought and they seemed content to let the hosts have possession as the first half played out. The frustration of the City players was clear to see as they struggled to ­break down Chelsea’s compact setup, ­managing just one shot on target in the first 45 minutes.

Hayes’s gameplan had played out perfectly as they went in ahead at the break. The one blow, however, was the early substitution of Ramírez, with the striker forced off with a muscle issue. It is a position they can ill afford to suffer another loss in after Sam Kerr and Mia Fishel’s recent anterior cruciate ligament injuries.

It was inevitable that City would up the tempo and they dominated the second half as Khadija Shaw ­outmuscled various members of Chelsea’s backline on successive occasions. She was denied mainly by a series of superb stops from Hannah Hampton, the last line of Chelsea’s creaking defence. Hampton denied the WSL’s leading goalscorer twice before producing an impressive save to thwart Lauren Hemp’s effort from point-blank range.

As the clock ran down and the home crowd got increasingly irritated, Taylor looked to his bench. As much as they threw at the ­Chelsea goal, however, they could not find an end product despite a late ­penalty shout.

It was far from ­Chelsea’s prettiest performance on Hayes’s watch but it ­mattered little. As the whistle blew, they celebrated a confidence-boosting ­victory that saw them reach yet another ­domestic final, the hopes of a quadruple still very much alive.