Manchester City beat Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon, sealing a spot in the semi-finals of the Adobe Women’s FA Cup against the current holders, Manchester United.
After a goalless first half, two right-footed strikes – one in the 53rd minute from Khadija Shaw and one in the 71st minute by Jess Park – secured the victory for City.
Manchester City started with a relentless attack, with Aston Villa struggling to break out of their own half. Mary Fowler and Jess Park fed crosses into the box but no one was able to get on the end of them, and while City had multiple chances on target – such as Shaw’s strike in the 11th minute that was shot wide – none of their chances particularly troubled the Villa defence, with Vivianne Miedema also striking wide from distance in the opening half-hour.
Villa had moments in which they charged forwards against the run of play, but lacked chances until the 34th minute when Ebony Salmon was through on goal, but was denied by City keeper Ayaka Yamashita. Anna Pattern and Lucy Parker communicated well in defence, working well together to mitigate the threat of Shaw for the majority of the first half, and both teams went in goalless at the break.
City came out strong again at the start of the second half, and their efforts paid off after a pass from Fowler landed at the feet of Shaw, whose right footed strike sent the ball cleanly into the goal past Villa keeper Sabrina D’Angelo in the 53rd minute. The aggression continued from City, but they failed to capitalise until the 71st minute when Miedema dispossessed Miri Taylor and assisted Park, who sent a powerful shot across the goal into the lower left of the net, solidifying their lead.
[Embed from Getty Images](http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/2204150054)
Victory at the Joie Stadium sees Gareth Taylor’s side into the semi-finals of the 2024/25 Adobe Women’s FA Cup, where they have been drawn against Manchester United. The match will take place on the weekend of 12/13 April, ahead of the final at Wembley on 18 May.
**MCI:** Yamashita; Casparij, Prior, Aleixandri, Ouahabi; Hasegawa; Roord, Park, Miedema, Fowler; Shaw
**AVL:** D’Angelo; Mayling, Patten, Parker, Tomàs; Baijings, Taylor; Grant, Salmon, Robinson; Nunes