Chelsea beat Manchester United to win Women's FA Cup in front of record crowd

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Sam Kerr's second-half goal saw the Blues come out on top in a match watched by a world-record crowd for a domestic club match

Chelsea players celebrate Sam Kerr's goal against Manchester United in the Women's FA Cup final at Wembley in May 2023.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Sam Kerr's second-half goal was the difference as Chelsea beat Manchester United 1-0 to win the Women's FA Cup in front of a world record crowd at Wembley on Sunday.

Manchester United had the better of the first half and Leah Galton saw an effort ruled out for offside in the very first minute, but the Red Devils were unable to take their chances after that and Chelsea improved dramatically in the second period following the introduction of Pernille Harder.

After missing a couple of opportunities herself, Harder sent over a perfect cross from the left for Kerr to convert past Mary Earps at the back post and the Australian forward – who was given the Player of the Match award – celebrated with a spectacular back flip.

Goalkeeper Earps went up for a corner in added time and United almost scrambled an equaliser after that, but Chelsea somehow cleared to claim the FA Cup for the fifth time and for a third season in a row.

With 77,390 fans at Wembley, the crowd set a new world record attendance for a domestic club match, smashing the previous mark of 60,739 at the Wanda Metropolitano for Atletico Madrid versus Barcelona in 2019.

These two teams are also fighting it out for the Women's Super League title, with Manchester United ahead of Chelsea by a point, having played one more match than the Blues.

United have two games left and Chelsea three, while both clubs have a +42 goal difference.

Ben Hayward
Ben Hayward
Weekend editor

Ben Hayward is a European football writer and Tottenham Hotspur fan with over 15 years’ experience, he has covered games all over the world - including three World Cups, several Champions League finals, Euros, Copa America - and has spent much of that time in Spain. Ben speaks English and Spanish, currently dividing his time between Barcelona and London, covering all the big talking points of the weekend on FFT: he’s also written several list features and interviewed Guglielmo Vicario for the magazine.