The 2020 FA Women's League Cup Final was the ninth final of the FA Women's League Cup, England's secondary cup competition for

women's football Women's football most often refers to: * Women's association football (hannah jones ). Women's football may also refer to: * Women's gridiron football * Women's Australian rules football * Ladies' Gaelic football * Women's rugby league * Women's ...

teams and its primary League Cup tournament. It took place on 29 February 2020 at the City Ground, and was contested by

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and Chelsea. Arsenal have competed in all but one (2016) of the previous finals, winning five. Chelsea made their first appearance in a League Cup final having been a losing semi-finalist at the hands of

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

in each of the last two seasons.

Route to the final

Arsenal

Arsenal topped their League Cup Group for the second consecutive season, doing so by winning four of their five games; against second-tier teams

London City Lionesses London City Lionesses is a fully professional women's association football club based in Dartford, England. The team competes in the Women's Championship, the second tier of English women's football. The club was founded in May 2019, as an ind ...

, Charlton Athletic and London Bees as well as

FA WSL The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features t ...

relegation battlers Bristol City. The only team to stop Arsenal from winning in the Group Stage was fellow WSL side Brighton & Hove Albion who earned themselves a goalless draw before the Seagulls also took the extra available point by winning the ensuing penalty shootout 4–2. Arsenal finished the Group Stage without conceding a goal. The quarter-finals saw Arsenal drawn at home to Reading as their strong defensive record continued, seeing off the midtable WSL side 1–0 thanks to a late Kim Little strike. The semi-final matched Arsenal against defending League Cup champions and fellow WSL title-challengers

. A 2–0 Arsenal lead at half-time was halved in the 60th minute as

Gemma Bonner Gemma Bonner (born 13 July 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Liverpool, as well as the England women's national football team. Bonner began her career with her hometown club Leeds United, before spend ...

scored the first goal Arsenal had conceded in the competition but the Gunners held on for the win, sending them to their third consecutive final.

Chelsea

Chelsea topped their League Cup Group for the third consecutive season, and, like Arsenal, progressed with 13 points after winning four of the five games and drawing a fifth before losing the penalty shootout. They beat two WSL teams and two second-tier teams by way of West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur, Crystal Palace and

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...

before Reading forced a 1–1 draw. The Royals won the extra point 4–2 on penalties. In the quarter-finals, Chelsea were drawn at home to

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

, one of two Championship teams to progress to the knockout stage. Chelsea ran out comfortable 3–1 winners. The Blues' place in their first League Cup final was ultimately assured by a sole Maren Mjelde goal as Chelsea once again narrowly beat newly-promoted

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

1–0 in the semi-final, a repeat of the scoreline when the teams had first met in the league in November 2019.

Match

Details

References

{{Chelsea F.C. Women matches

Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, c ...

FA Women's Super League Cup finals FA Women's League Cup Final FAWLC 2020 FA Women's League Cup Final, 2020