Arsenal Women 2-1 Manchester City Women: Dutch duo secures a place in the final for the Gunners

Arsenal punched their ticket in for the Continental Cup final thanks to goals from their dynamic Dutch duo.

Arsenal Women 2-1 Manchester City Women: Dutch duo secures a place in the final for the Gunners
Photo Credit:(Gettyimages/James Chance)
aaron-hindhaugh
By Aaron Hindhaugh

A dominant Arsenal performance saw them safely book their place at Wembley as they proved too much for Manchester City.

Ellie Roebuck's first-half error ended up costing City but did not create enough to warrant a place in the final.

Story of the game

Vivianne Miedema opened the scoring after six minutes.

Danielle Van De Donk doubled the Gunners' lead after 44 minutes.

Gemma Bonner clawed one back on the hour mark.

It did not take long for City to carve open a chance as three minutes in as Ellen White pounced on Manuela Zinsberger's save but the Austrian stood tall to deny White from close range.

However, it was the hosts who struck first as they capitalised on Bonner's loose touch as Beth Mead slipped in Miedema who sent Steph Houghton the wrong way before finishing emphatically. 

City were below their best in the first half an hour but they managed to work the ball across the box to Jill Scott who opted for placement over power which saw her shot glide wide of the far post.

With only one minute left in the first-half Van De Donk worked some space for herself on the edge of the box before firing a tame effort goalwards that somehow squirmed under Roebuck.

FIve minutes into the second-half saw the Gunners pick up where they left off in the first-half as some neat build-up saw Mead set up Jill Roord on the edge of the area but she shanked her shot well over the bar.

A corner that seemed straight from the trainer ground saw an Arsenal corner find Miedema unmarked at the back post and her powerful volley was stopped excellently by Roebuck.

A minute of madness saw Lauren Hemp bundles over in the box which allowed White the chance to score from the spot but Zinsberger guessed correctly and pushed it behind for a corner.

However, from the resulting corner, Bonner got free at the front post and volleyed home to claw one back for City.

This was almost short-lived as Miedema slipped in Van De Donk who was one-on-one with Roebuck who made her self big to deny Arsenal's number seven.

With five minutes left to play, City failed to clear a corner which ended up Arsenal having two attempts to scramble the ball over the line but Katie McCabe could not quite steer it past Roebuck on the line.

Takeaways

Arsenal flex their muscles

The Gunners never had to get out of second gear to book their place in the Continental Cup final as they strolled past Man City.

The Gunners had too much quality for City going forward, however, Leah Williamson was a rock at the back all evening ushering White pretty much out of the game.

However, it will be a concern for City who never looked like taking the tie to extra-time with their goal coming via a corner after a missed penalty.

Looking for redemption

After falling narrowly short last season in the final it would have made the win that bit sweeter for the Gunners who made nos mistake this time around.

Arsenal will face London rivals Chelsea in the final who will be making their first appearance in the tournaments final which will give the Gunners a chance to put right the result from two weeks ago.

The Blues put Arsenal to the sword last time out as they ran out 4-1 winners very comfortably and the Arsenal players will be hoping nothing of the sort happens again.