This was the fifth time in seven years that two of English football’s heavyweights have met in the semi-final stage of the competition – curiously, we’ve never faced them in a final – and for the fourth time it is Chelsea who go on to Wembley Stadium to compete for silverware.

Although City started strongly in front of their own fans, we always looked the more threatening side and we made our dominance count with a quick-fire double midway through the first half, to effectively settle the tie early on.

Our opener came from Erin Cuthbert, who scored a brilliant goal against Juventus earlier this month, and this was another fine strike to add to the Scot’s collection. She was on her toes to take a quick corner from Guro Reiten in her stride with an excellent first touch, and she thumped a powerful finish past Karima Taieb at the near post.

The City keeper was beaten for a second time only five minutes later, as Melanie Leupolz cut in from the right-hand side and struck a low shot with her left foot that the keeper got two hands to but could only push into the back of the net.

With an injury-hit side on the pitch and up against the reigning WSL champions and Continental League Cup winners, it was always going to be an uphill struggle for Manchester City and they barely laid a glove on Chelsea over the remaining hour or so.

The Blues always looked more likely to score next, as Taieb made up for her earlier error with a series of fine saves to keep the scoreline respectable.

However, there was nothing she could do to prevent substitute Bethany England from making it 3-0 in the closing stages, as Jessie Fleming sent in a peach of a cross for our No9 to power home a header that put the icing on the cake.

Job done, and onto Wembley we march, looking to win the trophy for the first time since 2018 – and third time overall – when we face Arsenal in the final at Wembley Stadium on Sunday 5 December.

Following the recent spate of international matches, which the bulk of the squad participated in, Emma Hayes had little time to work with her players for the Blues’ first fixture in 18 days. Her team selection showed just two changes from the side that recorded a hard-fought victory at Juventus, as Aniek Nouwen and Sophie Ingle came in for Ji So-Yun and Pernille Harder.

Nouwen slotted in at the heart of the back three stationed in front of Ann-Katrin Berger, playing alongside Millie Bright and Magda Eriksson. The versatility of Jess Carter and Cuthbert helped accommodate Nouwen’s inclusion, as the former moved to right wing-back and the latter became part of the front line.

Reiten continued at left wing-back, as Ingle came in to partner Leupolz in centre-midfield, while Sam Kerr and Fran Kirby started alongside Cuthbert. There was also the welcome sight of Laruen James among the substitutes, as she made a matchday squad for the first time since joining the Blues in the summer.

Despite the injury crisis that has hit Manchester City during their slow start to the season, Hayes warned her players of the threat posed by a side that came into today’s game unbeaten in the FA Cup since losing to the Blues in the semi-finals in 2018.

They enjoyed a few bright moments during the opening exchanges of this tie, most notably when Ellen White shot wide from a Lauren Hemp cross. However, the better chances arrived at the other end of the pitch, as Chelsea could have scored from two headers. The first, by Kirby, was uncharacteristically skewed well off target, while Nouwen didn’t miss by much when she got on the end of a Reiten set-piece.

At the third time of asking, we made one of our opportunities count. Cuthbert had arguably been the liveliest player on the pitch and she was alert to a quick-corner routine from Reiten, taking one touch to bring the fizzed cross under her control before letting fly with a fierce drive that beat the keeper at her near post.

We doubled our lead five minutes later, as a clearance by Demi Stokes only reached Leupolz on the edge of the box, and the German midfielder struck a left-footed shot that Taieb could only help on its way into the far corner.

The Blues were cruising at this point, dominating possession and keeping the home side at arm’s length. When we went up a gear, it looked like we could score at will, and one such opportunity came when Kirby was allowed to turn in a dangerous area and she slid in Kerr, whose low shot was brilliantly kept out by Taieb.

Kirby, at times, was simply unplayable. She had three City defenders to contend with as she ran along the byline, yet she was still able to get a shot away that cannoned off the top of Taieb’s head and away to safety. Only good fortune was keeping the home side in it at this point, as from the resulting corner they somehow scrambled away a goal-bound header from Leupolz.

A two-goal lead at the break was well merited, although there was no doubt a hint of frustration at the fact we had not put the game out of sight after an utterly dominant opening 45 minutes. City boss Gareth Taylor looked to change things up by introducing young forward Jess Park for Bunny Shaw at the break, while Hayes understandably saw no reason to make any adjustments.

Another big chance went begging for the Blues just five minutes after the restart, as Kirby played in Cuthbert and the Scot forced Taieb into another impressive save. If there had been question marks about her goalkeeping for the two goals midway through the first half, the former PSG player had more than made up for it with her efforts since.

As the game approached the hour-mark, Hayes freshened up her attack with the introduction of England, who replaced Kerr. She was in the thick of things immediately, albeit at the other end of the pitch, when she just about did enough to put off Hemp as City’s biggest threat looked to pull the trigger. England did have a chance of her own soon after, as she ran on to a long pass over the defence by Ingle, but the angle got a bit tight on her and she was unable to get any power behind the shot.

The changes kept coming for both sides, with City bringing on Vicky Losada and Chelsea introducing Drew Spence, Fleming and Niamh Charles in place of Reiten, Leupolz and Kirby. The game was heading to a conclusion – and a comfortable one at that – when two of our subs combined to add an exclamation mark to the result.

Fleming scampered away down the right-hand side and spotted England’s run into the box, which she picked out with a cross that was bang on the money. Our No9 simply does not pass up opportunities like that, as she met it with a powerful header that left Taieb with no chance.

City thought they’d nabbed a consolation in stoppage time when Park let fly with a wonderful strike that Berger somehow got her finger tips to, tipping the ball against the post and then watching on as her defence did the rest.

It summed things up perfectly – this had been a wonderful team performance from back to front, one worthy of booking a spot in the final of the FA Cup for the first time since 2018. Our quest for a clean sweep of domestic honours goes right down to the wire…

While the prospect of a return to Wembley Stadium looms large, however, there is plenty of football to be played before then. A run of five matches in a little over a fortnight begins next Saturday when we travel to Aston Villa for our latest Women’s Super League fixture. Kick-off for that one is 12.30pm.

Man City (4-3-3) Taieb; Beckie, Scott, Greenwood; Coombs, Walsh (Losada 67), Weir; White, Shaw (Park h/t), HempUnused subs Angeldal, Raso, PillingBooked Stokes

Chelsea (3-4-3) Berger; Bright, Nouwen, Eriksson (c); Carter, Ingle, Leupolz (Spence 74), Reiten (Fleming 74); Cuthbert, Kerr (England 59), Kirby (Charles 79)Unused subs Musovic, Ji, James, Andersson, FoxScorers Cuthbert 23, Leupolz 28, England 89

Referee Rebecca Welch