Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United: Sam Kerr goal hands Emma Hayes’ Blues an FA Cup final hat-trick

Chelsea made it a hat-trick of consecutive Women’s FA Cup final wins with a 1-0 victory over Manchester United at Wembley.

After triumphs over Arsenal and Manchester City in the previous two years, Sam Kerr’s second-half goal – in front of a record crowd (77,390) for a British women’s domestic match – handed Emma Hayes’ charges the trophy for a third season in a row.

It was not a waltz in the London sunshine for The Blues, who had goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger to thank for keeping them on level terms in the first half.

Millie Turner thought she had put United in front when seeing her deflected shot head towards goal, but the German ‘keeper adjusted her feet superbly to claw the effort away.

At the other end, Mary Earps showed her value to United, the England goalkeeper scampering across her line to keep out a looping header from Lauren James.

Chelsea turned up the heat in the second half, and the introduction of Pernille Harder added a real attacking threat.

The pressure eventually told on 68 minutes, with Harder the architect of the winning goal.

Guro Reiten played in the Danish forward on the right-hand side, and she delivered a superb cross to hand Kerr a simple task to score at the far post.

United were unable to find a response and Chelsea should have ensured the final 10 minutes were comfortable, but Sophie Ingle blazed over from eight yards after fabulous build-up work from Kerr.

The focus for both sides will now shift to the Women’s Super League. Champions Chelsea currently trail leaders United by one point, but have a game in hand.