Manchester United vs Tottenham LIVE: Women’s FA Cup final reaction after Garcia double inspires Reds win

Mary Earps has said this weekend’s Women’s FA Cup final will be the highlight of her season.

The Manchester United and England goalkeeper was made an MBE for services to football during an investiture ceremony conducted by the Prince of Wales at Windsor Castle on Wednesday.

United have struggled in the Women’s Super League this season but could lift the first major piece of silverware in the club’s history in Sunday’s final against Tottenham at Wembley.

And the 31-year-old told the PA news agency: “I’m very prepared for it, very up for it and really looking forward to it. It’s only a few days away so bring it on.

“It’ll be the highlight of the season, for sure, by a million miles.”

United, who are currently fifth in the Women’s Super League, take on first-time finalists Spurs a year on from playing in their own maiden final, losing 1-0 to Chelsea in a campaign that also saw them finish second behind the Blues in the league.

Having won the competition in 2012 with Birmingham, Williams, 36, has subsequently been an FA Cup runner-up twice, the other occasion being with Notts County in 2015 when the final was first held at Wembley, and has also in that time experienced League Cup final defeats with both of those clubs.

She said: “2012 is when I last won it. I’ve had a few finals along the way and keep losing. So this year, I want it.

“It would be finally a relief, because I’ve got a winners (medal) and then a losers, losers, losers, so it would nice to get another winners’ one.”

The 2012 success against Chelsea at Ashton Gate – which Birmingham won on penalties after a 2-2 draw, with Williams equalising late in normal time to make it 1-1, then having a spot-kick saved in the shootout – came alongside goalkeeper Becky Spencer.

The pair were also team-mates during Williams’ two-year Tottenham stint and are now set to face each other in Sunday’s showpiece.

“That’s women’s football for you – one minute I’m winning an FA Cup with Becky Spencer and now we’re against each other,” she said.

“Becky’s known me for a long time. So you kind of play that cat and mouse game, like she’ll probably know what I’m going to do, I’m going to know her strengths and weaknesses.

“The best team is going to win at the end of the day and I’m just hoping that’s going to be us.”

Manchester United forward Rachel Williams says winning the FA Cup this weekend would be “massive” for the team – and a relief for her personally.

United will look to clinch the first major piece of silverware since the side was launched in 2018 when they face Tottenham in Sunday’s sold-out Wembley showdown.

And Williams, who joined in 2022 after leaving Spurs, told the PA news agency: “It would be massive.

“I do think people forget that United Women are only five, six years old and for me being at that club, the improvements I see, even behind the scenes – it’s a club that wants to win things and they invest in us and we’ve got the best of everything to be the best players we can be.

Forward Nikita Parris, United’s top scorer this season with 16 goals in all competitions, won the Women’s Super League, two FA Cups and two League Cups with Manchester City before in 2019 joining Lyon, where her trophy haul included the Champions League.

She is yet to claim further club silverware since returning to English football in 2021, having initially been with Arsenal for a year then signing for United in 2022.

And Parris told the PA news agency: “I think regardless of where I’ve been, the time spent away, the FA Cup has always been special. For me, I want to continue to win silverware and as a club, it would be massive and hopefully help us kick on.

“There’s so many different parts to this game, it’s going to be a test for the team. Many people will say we’re no longer the underdogs like we were last year, but I think we have to focus on what we can do and control.

“To win your first trophy will help build success in the future. You need to know what it takes to win.”

“I don’t mind penalty shoot-outs but I hope and I’d want us to win in normal time,” Spencer admitted.

“Of course, if it did come to a penalty shoot-out, then hopefully I can step up to the plate again.”

United are looking to secure a first major trophy since the team was launched in 2018, having been beaten 1-0 by Chelsea when they made their debut appearance in the final last season.

Forward Nikita Parris, United’s top scorer this season with 16 goals in all competitions, won the Women’s Super League, two FA Cups and two League Cups with Manchester City before in 2019 joining Lyon, where her trophy haul included the Champions League.

She is yet to claim further club silverware since returning to English football in 2021, having initially been with Arsenal for a year then signing for United in 2022.

“Every time we came in after playing one of the FA Cup games, the bus was moving along the journey and it was great seeing it.

“They (Vilahamn and Jepson) always had belief. I think the team then, I think we had that belief to get to that final.

“And we had some easy games, some people say, and then you come up against the likes of Man City where you come back from being 1-0 down and then beat them on penalties.

“You’ve got to beat the best to be the best. So, I think the team deserve to be there and I think Robert and Vicky have kind of fed that through everyone from the start, which is great.”

Becky Spencer had a key role in the shoot-out win over Manchester City, Spurs’ first victory over the current Women’s Super League leaders in four attempts this season.

It has helped Spencer reach another domestic final but she laughed off talk of a repeat of 2012, when the Jamaica goalkeeper starred to help Birmingham clinch the trophy with a 3-2 win on penalties over Chelsea.

“We were playing at Cheshunt in front of like 20, 30 people with no grass. That’s where we were and I’m very grateful for where we’ve come to now,” the 31-year-old reflected.

“For the club and for me personally, where I’ve come from with Spurs, it’s a massive game.

“We’ve obviously already made history, but hopefully we can come home with some silverware to show our hard work and it’d be really nice.”

The Wembley dream started back in January when Vilahamn revealed his own aspirations to make the final ahead of Tottenham’s fourth-round tie at home to Sheffield United.

Assistant Vicky Jepson took things further when she mocked up a picture of the Spurs bus on its way to Wembley with each stop a different round.

Neville added: “Vicky took it upon herself to show this image and it’s been great. It’s our little Tottenham bus and the journey we’ve come on.

Ashleigh Neville insists Tottenham always had belief they could reach a maiden Women’s FA Cup final this season and are now determined to finish the journey with silverware at Wembley.

Spurs face 2023 runners-up Manchester United at the national stadium on Sunday with a new winner of the competition guaranteed.

It has been a remarkable turnaround for Tottenham in Robert Vilahamn’s debut campaign in charge after they battled relegation last season and finished ninth.

Full-back Neville quit teaching to pursue a full-time football career with Spurs in 2017, when they had just secured promotion to the second tier, and seven years later they are about to play at a sold-out Wembley for the first time.

Such form may not matter in a cup final, however, but the loss of Grace Clinton certainly will. The 20-year-old midfielder is on loan from Manchester United and is ineligible to face her parent club, a huge blow given her performances for Spurs have seen her break into Sarina Wiegman’s England squad. United are unlikely to make the same mistake of loaning her out next season, either.

Marta Thomas, the former United forward who scored Tottenham’s extra-time winner against Leicester in the semi-finals, could return to punish her former team, however. The Scotland international left United last summer and it has proved to be an astute move for Spurs, while too many of the bigger names United brought in to replace her have not made the desired impact.

It throws forward to another big summer for United as they look to close the gap to the WSL’s best, and a historic FA Cup final that may have a bigger say in the future of their most important player. Earps’s popularity among the masses will be evident, with a second sellout crowd in as many years declared ahead of the Wembley final. And once again, all eyes will be on the England goalkeeper, both against Tottenham and in the next few weeks.

FA Cup or not, there are irrefutable signs that United need to strengthen in the summer, while a decision on Skinner’s future will need to be made. The 41-year-old must also win over a fanbase that has taken to chanting “Skinner out” at times this season, as United failed to build on last season’s title challenge. United have lost all but one of their seven league games against top-four sides. They have dropped points against Leicester, West Ham, Brighton and, just two weeks ago, Tottenham.

For Spurs, it was an improvement on the 4-0 thrashing they suffered earlier in the campaign, and if there are clear divides between teams in the WSL table, they sit somewhere as the best of the rest. It has already been a decent debut season for manager Robert Vilahamn: Tottenham triumphed over Leicester in the semi-finals, taking advantage of the result that opened up the possibility of a cup run when they defeated Manchester City on penalties in the quarter-finals.

But Tottenham will have to perform above themselves if they are to defeat United. While Spurs sit sixth, they have won just one of their nine matches against top-half teams in the WSL this season, but a 1-0 victory over north London rivals Arsenal was the signature result of Vilahamn’s first term. The majority of their points have been picked up against teams in the bottom six.