Manchester City came from two goals down to beat Chelsea after extra time in the Women’s FA Cup semi-final at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, May 10, 2026, 15.30 BST, Khadija Shaw scoring the decisive goal in the 13th minute of extra time.
Chelsea had looked in control for almost the whole match. Erin Cuthbert put Chelsea ahead after eight minutes and Sam Kerr doubled the lead in the second half, leaving Chelsea on course for what would have been their fourth FA Cup final in five seasons.
The numbers tell the swing: 2-0 looked comfortable until Mary Fowler cut the deficit in the 86th minute and Shaw forced parity with a stoppage-time equaliser in the 92nd minute, pushing the contest into extra time where Shaw struck again to complete the comeback.
The semi-final carried extra edges. It was the fourth and final meeting between the clubs this season, and came two days after Manchester City celebrated their first league title in a decade on Wednesday, leaving them one cup victory away from their first domestic double in 10 years. Earlier on Sunday, Brighton had beaten Liverpool 3-2 to reach the final, setting up a Wembley date on Sunday, 31 May.
There were personal milestones and near-misses inside the frantic finish. The semi-final was Erin Cuthbert’s 300th appearance for Chelsea, a landmark that ended in sudden disappointment. In extra time Chelsea goalkeeper Khiara Keating tipped a header onto the crossbar, a moment that briefly kept Chelsea alive before Shaw’s winner.
The match also showcased the thin margins that separate triumph and heartbreak late in the season. Chelsea supporters could be heard chanting 'Bunny Shaw, we'll see you next season' during the game, and the mood in the dressing room turned quickly after City’s late surge. Cuthbert reflected that conceding two goals with five minutes remaining invites trouble and said the players know the dressing room is hurting; she added that she hopes the defeat will fuel the team’s hunger moving forward.
For Manchester City the victory confirmed extraordinary momentum. Having secured the league title earlier in the week, City’s comeback at Stamford Bridge underlined the depth of their resilience and moved them to Wembley to face Brighton in the Women’s FA Cup final on 31 May, a match that could complete a rare domestic double after a long wait.
The tension from the last five minutes — Fowler’s 86th-minute goal, Shaw’s 92nd-minute equaliser and the extra-time decider — will be the headline memory from Stamford Bridge, and it exposes the fragility of late leads. Chelsea had been minutes away from another final; instead they leave with a painful near-miss and a squad determined, in Cuthbert’s words, to turn this hurt into renewed appetite.
Shaw’s late heroics leave a clear next act: Manchester City head to Wembley as holders of both momentum and a league crown, while Chelsea must regroup and answer whether this setback will sharpen them for the next campaign or be the beginning of a deeper reckoning about closing out big matches.
