Johanna Rytting Kaneryd opened the scoring with a stunning finish after 20 minutes, before Sjoeke Nusken fired home into an empty net after rounding the goalkeeper only nine minutes later.

Those first-half goals secured our place in the final for a record-breaking sixth consecutive season. The final, where we will face either Arsenal or Manchester City at Pride Park on 15 March, will be Bompastor's first in English football and as Chelsea head coach.

She said: 'I'm really pleased with the win and now we are on our way to the final. It's always important in the semi-final to win, and it's never easy.

'West Ham came with a different mindset from the last game (a 5-0 league win to Chelsea in January). We were playing at home tonight and we had a good first half in terms of performance.

'We were leading 2-0 at half-time and I think it was good enough. We created some chances. We were clinical. That's good when you're able to be efficient in the box.'

Bompastor continued: 'It's really important to be efficient, especially from the beginning in the first half. In that situation, you don't give any hope to your opponent and that's really important.

'When you are not able to be efficient or to be clinical, the opponents have hope and then after that it is a different game. To play against a block who is compact and low, they start with a back five but we were able to score. It makes a big difference.'

With the Blues in their first cup final of the campaign, Bompastor was asked whether she was at all thinking about winning a quadruple. Our head coach was firm that focus is now on the next game against Everton in the FA Cup on Sunday.

Bompastor said: 'I never think like this. I'm more focused on the next game on Sunday. It's another cup game, but we're really happy to get to this final, but if you don't win, it doesn't mean anything.

'For me, now the focus is making sure we go deep in every competition. We go game by game and have a focus on the next game and how we can make sure we have big chances to win.'