Three American stars were in cup action for their European club teams this weekend, with wildly varying results.
Easy progress for Lyonnais
Alex Morgan and her Olympique Lyonnais side faced Henin-Beaumont in the Coupe de France semi-final, and the lower division side provided little threat as Morgan scored four times.
French star Eugenie Le Sommer opened the scoring in the tenth minute, and doubled the lead as Morgan unselfishly squared to her teammate for a tap in. Morgan got a goal of her own just two minutes later, as she found herself unmarked in the box to control and fire home.
With a 4-0 lead at half-time Lyon continued their relentless attack, and five minutes after the restart Morgan grabbed another assist as she slipped Ada Hegerberg through to score.
Morgan went on to secure a second half hattrick with two tidy finishes inside the box, before the pick of the bunch as she ran onto a ball over the top from Dzsenifer Marozsan, and dinked the ball over the keeper.
The game ended in a double digit victory for Lyon, 10-0 overall. They’ll face, unsurprisingly, Paris Saint-Germain in the final, as they also won their semi-final. Morgan will line up against a national team rival in Canadian centre-back Kadeisha Buchanan on May 20.
Mixed results in England
Carli Lloyd started for Manchester City as they narrowly edged out Liverpool for a spot at next month’s FA Cup Final - which is being played at England’s home of football, Wembley, for the third year running.
After a scoreless first half the home side opened the scoring thanks to Melissa Lawley’s strike from distance. Lloyd had the chance to put the game to bed as she rose to meet Lawley’s cross but could only head over - it didn’t matter though, as City saw the out to a 1-0 win.
The final on May 13 will be City’s first trip to Wembley, as they look to win the one piece of domestic silverware missing from their collection. Lloyd will certainly be looking to recreate her two-goal performance at the same stadium in the final of the 2012 Olympics. However, her focus must turn swiftly to Saturday, when her side host Morgan’s Lyon in the Champions League semi-final first leg.
Lloyd will be the only American playing in that match however, as Crystal Dunn couldn’t stop Chelsea falling to defeat at Birmingham City - the same side that also knocked out Heather O'Reilly's Arsenal in the previous round.
The injury-hit Blues fell behind in the second-half after Meghan Sargeant headed home a corner, but they were bailed out thanks to a last minute goal from substitute Drew Spence. Dunn played the full 120 minutes of extra time but failed to really make an impact, excluding one marauding run and shot that forced Ann-Katrin Berger into a good save.
Dunn was not one of the four penalty takers for Chelsea, and her side eventually lost 4-2 after teammates Eni Aluko and Millie Bright had their spot-kicks saved.
This is the first Wembley final that Chelsea have missed, after recording a win and a loss in the last two years respectively.
The FA WSL Spring Series kicks off this weekend, with O'Reilly's Arsenal hosting Notts County. Dunn and Lloyd start their campaigns next week, as they face Bristol City and Yeovil Town respectively.