Women’s FA Cup: talking points from the weekend’s fifth-round action

Renée Slegers said it was “very important” for Arsenal to progress in the FA Cup after they were left “hurt” by their failure to reach the League Cup final on Thursday night. A rotated Gunners eased past London City Lionesses with a 2-0 win at Meadow Park to reach the quarter-finals. With Slegers’ side knocked out of the League Cup and 10 points behind Chelsea in the WSL it was imperative that they kept their FA Cup hopes alive given alongside the Champions League it is their most viable chance for silverware this season. However, London City are no routine Championship side, the Michele Kang-owned club boasting a host of experienced internationals as they bid to win promotion to the WSL. “We are very happy with the patience we showed because we were hurt after the City loss,” Slegers said. “You are going into a game like this where the ground is really hard to play on, the opposition makes it really hard and then we have to wait for the second goal to really secure the game.” Suzanne Wrack