Manchester City ended Chelsea’s 22-game unbeaten home run with victory at Kingsmeadow in FebruaryVenue: Joie Stadium, Manchester Date: Thursday, 7 March Kick-off: 19:15 GMTCoverage: Watch live on iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app from 19:10
Chelsea manager Emma Hayes has dismissed talk that her side will seek revenge in Thursday’s Women’s League Cup semi-final against Manchester City.
The top two in the Women’s Super League (WSL) go head-to-head less than three weeks after Gareth Taylor’s side ended Chelsea’s 22-match unbeaten home run with a 1-0 victory at Kingsmeadow.
But Hayes said revenge is not on her mind as she looks to guide Chelsea to a fifth successive League Cup final.
“This is not Star Wars. This is no Death Star-destroying moment,” she said.
“Revenge for me is something I don’t think about when it comes to football. What I do know is that they are a top team, they took points off us at home, there wasn’t a lot between the two sides.
“If you want to compete to play in cup finals you have to be in the position to do so which we are, and it’s important the team learns from the last game and looks at the opportunities that are there for us.
“It’s something we spoke about as a team. We trained on a couple of things. I love being in these games and I know the team loves these situations so I look forward to it.”
City expect to face ‘wounded animal’
Manchester City’s WSL win over Chelsea saw the teams go level on points at the top and could prove a pivotal moment in the title race.
Taylor said it is only natural for Hayes’ side to seek vengeance.
“We turned them over at their place recently, now they have the opportunity for a bit of revenge,” he said.
“There’s potential to look at it as the wounded animal a little bit in terms of they will be bottling up that frustration of that result when we went down there. That’s normal and natural to expect that reaction.”
Chelsea are still fighting on all four fronts in the WSL, League Cup, FA Cup and Champions League and are on course to be the only English side other than Arsenal’s women in 2006-07 to achieve the Quadruple.
City still have three trophies up for grabs and Taylor said it is all to play for.
“We could come out with one, a couple, three, or nothing,” he said.
“My way won’t change. My feeling won’t change about what we are able to achieve.”
2024-03-06 18:33:47
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