Electric James steers Chelsea to Women’s League Cup final win over Manchester United

2026-03-15 - 17:54

Chelsea forward Lauren James capped off a superb individual display with the ​opening goal as her side beat Manchester United ‌2-0 in the Women’s League Cup Final on Sunday, with her England team-mate Aggie Beever-Jones grabbing the second goal. James, who ​joined Chelsea from United in July 2021, was ​brilliant throughout, and she showed her usual combination ⁠of poise and predatory instincts to net the ​opener in the 19th minute. The 24-year-old pounced on a ​terrible error by United’s Dominique Janssen, snapping up the Dutch defender’s under-hit back-pass from a throw-in before driving into the box ​and rifling past Phallon Tullis-Joyce. James lit up the game ​in the first half, her willingness to pass, shoot and dribble ‌with ⁠either foot causing no end of problems for the United defence. That said, United had plenty of chances of their own in the opening 45 minutes but ​their finishing lacked ​the precision ⁠needed to beat Hannah Hampton and their second-half attempt at a comeback lacked energy ​as they struggled to exert pressure on ​the ⁠Chelsea goal. Beever-Jones put the game beyond doubt in the 77th minute, toe-poking the ball home after good work ⁠by ​Swedish winger Johanna Rytting-Kaneryd to set ​her up, and Chelsea held on comfortably to win the trophy for ​the fourth time in their history.