Chelsea will face Arsenal in the final of the Conti Cup on 31 March, after Emma Hayes’ side defeated Manchester City at Joie Stadium on Thursday.

An early goal from Lauren James was enough to seal progression to the showpiece final at Molineux later this month, with Khiara Keating beaten at her near post after the Chelsea star’s eighth-minute strike took an awkward deflection off Alex Greenwood.

MCI: Keating; Ouahabi, Greenwood, Aleixandri, Casparij; Hasegawa; Hemp, Coombs, Park, Kelly; Shaw

CHE: Hampton; Charles, Nüsken, Carter, Périsset; Reiten, Leupolz, Cuthbert, James; Čanković, Ramírez

Ahead of Thursday’s semifinal, Chelsea boss Emma Hayes insisted that the match would not be ‘a Death Star destroying moment’ after the Cityzens inflicted a painful defeat on her side at Kingsmeadow last month.

It has not been the easiest week for those associated with Chelsea as a result of off-pitch difficulties – but the visitors looked remarkably composed on a chilly evening in Manchester.

With the Blues having taken an early lead through a well-placed Lauren James strike, Thursday’s hosts were frustrated in their desperate searches for an equaliser, as the young Jess Park seemed to be experiencing a rare off day at the heart of the City midfield.

But Chelsea’s troubles would undoubtedly be more concerning than a mere off-day from the youngster, as Mayra Ramírez was forced off through injury in the 34th minute – with Aggie Beever-Jones replacing the Colombian. Emma Hayes and her backroom staff will be praying that the issue is not serious, given the severe shortage of fit forwards at the club.

As the half-time interval grew nearer, the hosts would find their rhythm though and the Cityzens were perhaps unfortunate not to have restored parity ten minutes before the break. Having pounced to dispossess Jess Carter, Khadija Shaw wasn’t able to pick out either the back of the net nor her colleague Chloe Kelly, as a golden chance went begging for Gareth Taylor’s side.

With the City boss desperate not only to progress to the Conti Cup final, but also to claim a victory in the first match since he signed a three-year contract extension, Hannah Hampton was forced into a fine save at the start of the second half as Khadija Shaw danced past Sjoeke Nüsken and fizzed a shot across goal.

The ex-Aston Villa goalkeeper would be called upon again as the match wore on; Jess Park whipped in a fierce cross from the right flank having seemingly returned to her best since the interval, but Lauren Hemp’s desperate stab at the ball was smothered well by the Chelsea shotstopper.

Hannah Hampton would deliver a performance worthy of all the plaudits throughout the second half, arguably becoming Chelsea’s most valuable asset as she produced a number of great saves to preserve their early lead.

Khadija Shaw would prove to be a thistle in her side though, forcing a low save before then threatening to trouble again merely minutes later as she latched onto a Leila Ouahabi cross – although a deflection off a Chelsea defender saw the ball behind for a corner on that occasion.

But Manchester City’s hard work could have been moot as in the 80th minute, replays showed that Lauren James should have been awarded a penalty after her strike was handled inside the box by Laia Aleixandri – though the referee did not award the spot-kick.

The five additional minutes of stoppage time would prove to be chaotic, with Manchester City appealing for a penalty yet again after a supposed handball offence by Alex Greenwood – but ultimately Chelsea were able to hold on and progress to the final of the Conti Cup, courtesy of Lauren James’ first-half strike.

With Arsenal having cruised past Aston Villa on Wednesday, Chelsea will now face the Gunners twice in the space of just over two weeks. More than 25,000 tickets have been sold for their meeting at Stamford Bridge on 15 March, while club-specific tickets for the Conti Cup final will go on sale on Friday afternoon.