The 2019 FA Women's League Cup final was the eighth final of the FA Women's League Cup, England's secondary cup competition for women's football teams and its primary league cup tournament. It took place on 23 February 2019, at Bramall Lane, contested by Arsenal and Manchester City, the only two teams to have ever won the tournament.

Arsenal had competed in all but one of the previous finals, winning five. Manchester City had appeared in three of the last four, securing the trophy twice. The final was a rerun of the 2018 final, which was won by Arsenal by a goal to nil, while both teams also met in the final in 2014 when Manchester City won by the only goal.

Route to the final RoundOppositionScoreGSWest Ham United (H)3–1GSLewes (A)9–0GSCharlton Athletic (H)5–0GSMillwall Lionesses (A)3–1QFBirmingham City (H)2–1SFManchester United (H)2–1Key: (H) = Home venue; (A) = Away venue; (N) = Neutral venue.

Arsenal Drawn again - as with the previous season - against mostly second-tier opposition, plus WSL mid-table side West Ham United, Arsenal improved on their second-place finish in the 2017–18 group stage with a dominating series of results to top their group having secured all twelve points, the high note being an away 9–0 win over Lewes in which both Kim Little and Vivianne Miedema scored hattricks.

The quarter-finals saw Arsenal paired with Birmingham City, a team only a few paces behind in the WSL title race with three previous WSL Cup final appearances to their names, including two against Arsenal. A tight match saw Birmingham take the lead, but an injury time goal from Miedema would ultimately settle the tie in Arsenal's favour.

The semi-final matched Arsenal against the resurrected Manchester United, who had been performing beyond their second division status all season. An all-Manchester final was prevented, however, as Arsenal took control of the match to seal their place with two more goals from Miedema.

RoundOppositionScoreGSBirmingham City (A)(p) 0–0 GSLeicester City Women (H)4–0GSBristol City (A)3–0GSSheffield United (H)6–0GSAston Villa (A)4–0QFBrighton & Hove Albion (H)7–1SFChelsea (A)2–0Key: (H) = Home venue; (A) = Away venue; (N) = Neutral venue.

Manchester City In the group stages, Manchester City again found themselves matched with title challengers Birmingham City, along with Bristol City and three Championship sides, playing one more game than Arsenal by virtue of the increased number of teams competing in the tournament compared with the previous season. Their campaign began slowly as they were only able to prevail against Birmingham City on penalties, meaning they would only take two points out of a possible three. With the toughest match already out of the way, they would go on to win all of their remaining games, scoring 17 goals and conceding none in the process.

Their quarter-final against Brighton & Hove Albion would prove to be their highest-scoring in the cup competition, with an initially slow match bursting into life in the closing stages as four goals were scored after the 85th minute. The match drew extra journalistic attention as it came barely 24 hours after Manchester City's men's team had themselves scored nine goals in their own League Cup tie.

Manchester City's place in the final would ultimately be assured by the work of Nikita Parris, who scored both goals as they defeated the reigning WSL champions Chelsea, giving them their fourth finals appearance in the previous five competitions.

Match

Details

GK 1 Sari van VeenendaalDF 6 Leah WilliamsonDF 16 Louise QuinnDF 4 Janni Arnth MF 7 Daniëlle van de DonkMF 10 Kim Little (c)MF 20 Dominique Bloodworth MF 2 Katrine Veje FW 23 Beth MeadFW 15 Katie McCabeFW 17 Lisa EvansSubstitutes:GK 18 Pauline Peyraud-MagninMF 24 Ava KuykenFW 29 Amelia Hazard MF 33 Ana Caterina AlbuquerqueFW 11 Vivianne Miedema Manager: Joe Montemurro GK 1 Karen BardsleyDF 4 Gemma BonnerDF 6 Steph Houghton (c)DF 5 Jen BeattieDF 3 Demi StokesMF 25 Tessa Wullaert MF 19 Caroline Weir MF 8 Jill ScottMF 24 Keira WalshFW 17 Nikita Parris FW 12 Georgia Stanway Substitutes:GK 26 Ellie RoebuckFW 9 Pauline BremerFW 11 Janine Beckie FW 15 Lauren Hemp DF 20 Megan CampbellFW 22 Claire Emslie DF 23 Abbie McManusManager: Nick Cushing

Player of the match: Caroline Weir (Manchester City)

Assistant referees:

Fourth official:Match rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Seven named substitutes. Maximum of three substitutions.

References