The women’s league cup quarter-final did not disappoint as the last action in 2025 for women’s football, with 21 goals scored across the weekend, and the top four again proved their status, all winning their respective games. Some might say it's gotten boring, but what it really shows is the lack of development and the gap. The only team that truly pushed was the Spurs. It shows why clubs need to invest financially to achieve results.
Chelsea v Liverpool 9-1
The biggest scoreline came in Liverpool v Chelsea, a game that was described as dull and underwhelming just last month, but the London side proved they are still in the hunt for the quadruple with a 9-1 thrashing.
This is their second-highest goal line ever; the previous one was 8-0 against Bristol City.
This was after two goals were ruled off for the visitors. One being a Sam Kerr hat-trick ruled off for obstruction of the goalkeeper in the corner, which was undeservedly overturned. Lexie Potter had her first-ever start, and Guro Reiten came back to start the game and got a hat-trick of assists. Sam Kerr got two goals, and so did Wieke Kaptein. Millie Bright got the last goal, and Nusken scored another.
But the central star of the show was Johanna Rytting Kaneyrd, who scored the perfect hat-trick, left foot, right foot and a header. She has already scored herself from last season. She has 11 G/A, so that's a fact, and she only had ten last season. There were only two seconds of stoppage time to put Liverpool out of their misery, who were missing ten starting players and had only four outfield players.
The only downfall for Chelsea, aside from the lack of a transparent sheet, was that Aggie Beever-Jones had to be subbed off with an ankle injury and was later seen at the end of the match with a protective boot and crutches. Lauren James came on and created many chances, but couldn’t capitalise.
One could suggest that Gareth Taylor’s job is on the line if there's no WSL win and a disaster of a performance, but it's a depleted squad that needs money and players injected into it.
Liverpool bagged themselves a consolation goal with a header from skipper Jenna Clark, but the Blues immediately went back on the attack. Chelsea fans chanted, " We want ten while the Liverpool fans chanted about just wanting a consolation prize of two goals.
'It's Beever-Jones ankle, so we'll assess her,' said the Chelsea head coach. 'It's too soon for me to
have more news. Hopefully, it won't be too bad, but it doesn't look great at the moment.'
'To finish the year in this way was ideal and perfect,' beamed the manager. I'm pleased because the most important thing coming into this game was to have some fresh legs. We rotated the squad, and the girls who played today showed they are outstanding players and had a great game.
'Maybe if I want to be a little bit picky, I wish we could've kept a clean sheet today. They scored from a corner kick, so maybe that gave my team more motivation to keep scoring. It was a complete performance and a great result. It's part of our DNA to be resilient, to work hard and always give our all on the pitch. That's what we need to do in terms of mentality as professionals.'
Gareth Taylor, Liverpool manager, said: “All the words you used there are the words I would use as well. We knew it would be a tough game, tough opponent. I think we gifted them a lot of goals. When you put all that into the mix, and we don't perform to the required level with the battles and the duels, we were naïve in some of our play and, like I say, gifted them goals. You can't do that against a team like Chelsea.”
Manchester United v Spurs 2-1
This game was the tightest contest, the Spurs doing amazingly well under Martin Ho this season. But a late goal by Fridolina Rolfo consigned the win in the quarter finals as they face Arsenal.
Drew Spence for Spurs struck a picturebook volley to open the scoring in the 16th minute, but goals from Jess Park equalised and the chance they game. Even though they were on the front foot straight away, they were unable to capitalise on an early header by Bethany England, but it was just wide from Matilda Vinsberg's cross inside the box.
A counter-attack pierced United open in 13 minutes. England, Martha Thomas and Vinberg were all involved before Vinberg released Thomas, who, in turn, spotted Olivia Holdt sprinting to join the attack. Thomas picked out the pass - unfortunately, Phallon Tullis-Joyce made the one-on-one save with her legs. Three minutes after that break, Holdt's free-kick found England free at the far post. She headed back into the danger area.
The ball was cleared to Spence, who controlled and fired a volley into the top corner—brilliant technique from the midfielder. United started to get on top in the second half, and Rolfo's dart down the left led to the equaliser on 51 minutes, her cross stroked home by Jess Park from 12 yards. Ella Toone was forced off in this game, and it looks like a hamstring issue as she was seen heavily strapped.
Marc Skinner, United manager, said:
"I was pleased with the performance. Obviously, Tottenham, we played against them last week, and they showed their resilience and quality. They go ahead through a fantastic goal from Drew, although we'll be a little bit disappointed with our defensive situation. It means a lot to us [this win], because it sees us through to the semi-finals of the League Cup. Now it's time for reflection for us and how we can hit the second half of the season with aggression and take on those four competitions."
Martin Ho said, “Performance for large parts was good, I thought we were competitive,” Martin told us, reflecting on the game. “We pushed right to the end, and I think it shows how far we’ve come. They were trying to wear down the clock and waste time near the end, which shows they respect us. We’re very disappointed with the result, but the performance for large parts was excellent.
Arsenal v Crystal Palace 2-0.
Probably the most shocking result was not that Arsenal won, but by how few goals they scored. Last time the two sides met, Arsenal won 4-0, so this game was definitely more evenly matched than expected. Laia Codina scored the first for Arsenal, and Stina Blackstenius added the second late on. Caitlin Foord pulled it back for Maanum, and her first-time effort was knocked behind for a corner. It was from that Cooney-Cross delivery that Codina headed the ball back across the goal and into the back of the net by way of a deflection.
The home side should have equalised straight away, though, as Ashleigh Weerden’s cross was cannoned off the post by Abbie Larkin from close range. Beth Mead then came on for her 250th Arsenal appearance, replacing Olivia Smith.
Foord and McCabe both had shots blocked late on, and it was in the 93rd minute that Mead went through on goal and around the goalkeeper before unselfishly pulling it back for Blackstenius to bury.
Crystal Palace were the only WSL2 side left in the competition against the reigning Champions League holders. It was going to be incredibly hard. But the home side pushed Arsenal and kept the score line down, and Larkin was denied by the woodwork twice in the first half.
Arsenal manager Renee Sleger said: “We did well in the circumstances, the pitch wasn’t easy to play on, and the way Crystal Palace manipulated the game to their advantage, there were a lot of duels, a lot of long balls, it was a second balls game. So we did that in the end, I think we conceded too many chances in the first half, the second half was better from that perspective, but you have to play the game that’s in front of you if it’s hard to play the game that we usually play, and I think that’s where we’ve made some steps as a team. If that’s what it is, then we have to deal with those moments and be really humble about our football.
Crystal Palace Jo Potter said: "There aren't many teams that push Arsenal that far and create that many chances in the first half in particular.
"Obviously, they can bring on quality off the bench, and we tried to change it a little bit, but I'm super proud of the players' performance today.
"I think that's in line with what we've been delivering. We were super hard to beat. I thought our defence was brilliant.
"We kept their forward line quiet, which is not easy to do, so there's really a lot of positives to take from that performance."
Manchester City v West Ham 5-1
City signed off their 2025 on a high with a 5-1 victory away. Goals from Kerolin and Lauren Hemp gave the away side a two-goal lead inside the opening eight minutes. Kerolin started for the first time this season, and she reacted quickly to Bunny Shaw's saved effort to score her second goal in three matches. Grace Clinton pinpointed a pass into Hemp's feet before the winger broke into the box and squeezed the ball into the bottom corner.
Before Riko Ueki pulled one back for the Irons, Grace Clinton extended their advantage with a trickery on the cusp of half-time before second-half strikes from Bunny Shaw and Laura Coombs. Hemp fired over a Bunny cut-back – the Jamaican grabbed our fourth when sending a header from the back post, looping into the net from a free-kick. With 25 minutes remaining, Coombs. She was introduced and made her presence known with the fifth and final goal, meeting Hemp's pullback.
Shaw has now scored 13 goals this season.
It represented the Blues’ 14th match in succession without defeat in all competitions and means we’ll face Chelsea in the last four of the League Cup.
Andrée Jeglertz added, “I think that we showed again that the mentality of winning these games is excellent in the team.
“Even though we started the game great, we had a bit of a setback in the first half, but in the second half we dominated totally and scored some great goals.
“Getting playing time for lots of players and those coming in bringing lots to the team, it says a lot about the structure of the group also.
“They’re tight together, and we have the foundations for performance.”
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