BOMPASTOR & JAMES react after reaching League Cup final! ¦ Man City 0-1 Chelsea ¦ WLC 25⁄26

Sonja, congratulations, you've reached another final. You have a fine margin in that game, but how pleased are you with the performance? Yeah, really pleased with the performance. I think tonight, again, one more time, I can be really proud of the players, the performance and the hard work they put into the pitch. I think we spoke before the game, being able to have a team performance, especially in the defensive aspect, but I think tonight, being able to come to this ground and not concede any goal, even if in some moments of the game we were a little bit lucky, they hit the post twice, but yeah, that's part of the game. Again, we were able to score one goal, it was enough to win, and yeah, that's a great performance and good for the confidence. You mentioned the defence there. How pleased were you with the resilience that your team showed? It was a gritty display. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I agree with you. I think resilience is part of the DNA of the club. I think the players have that in their mentality. They always come into the game with wanting to give their all and to put the best performance on the pitch. I think tonight we needed to be really strong as a team because, as you could see, City were in a really good form. They are still in a good form and they are a really difficult team to play and with a lot of quality on the pitch, world-class players, and I think to be able not to concede a lot, I think against this team, means a lot for us. And equally, in a game of fine margins, taking your chances when they come and being clinical is vital. How important was Vika Kapteijn's goal just before half-time? Yeah, I think it was crucial. It's the goal that brought us into the final, so I think when you have few opportunities, because as you just said, in these games it's fine margins, I think you need to take them and that's what Vika did. So yeah, I'm really glad, really pleased with that and obviously, I think we already know that you need to be clinical in these games if you want to have a chance to win. And what does that result say about the mentality of this team? It's easy to underestimate just how difficult it is to keep performing year on year. Yeah, I think, I don't know if people understand, but it's really difficult to stay at the top in the women's game for so many years. I think Chelsea's been winning for a long time and yeah, Chelsea's a team that keeps winning, even if sometimes it's difficult. But this is part of the DNA of the club and I think having this mentality just proves how good the players are. And again, I spoke about having world-class players and I think in this sense that's the case, so really pleased with that. And yeah, we have still many games to play until the season is over, so we'll take them one by one. This team, like you just said, always steps up in big moments. You've reached another final, your opportunity to compete for the first trophy of the season. We have to wait until March, but it's a feeling that never gets old. No, for sure, it never gets old. And I think, yeah, we always want to go far in every competition, so that's already a good thing to be in the final, but it doesn't mean anything if you don't go there to win the title. So as you just said, it's the first trophy that comes in the season and yeah, we will have the chance to compete for that. So it's really good for the team, for the club. And finally, it's a super quick turnaround, Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. How important is it for the players to rest, recover and concentrate on the next game? Yeah, I think it will be the priority for the next few days, few hours, I would say. Really important for them to recover and to go into the game as fresh as possible. I think, yeah, it will be another battle against Arsenal. We play at Stamford Bridge and we know we'll have the support of the fans, so it will be great. But again, we will have to be able to put on a good performance. And that's also really important in the positions we are right now in the WSL. Lauren, a really good result here in Manchester through to the League Cup final. What is your overall assessment of the performance? I guess it was probably a weird game at the start. It was one of those where both teams, I don't think both of us got up to our fifth gear yet. But, yeah, we're through to the final and that's the most important thing. In the first half, we kept our shape well out of possession. How important was it to be patient in earning the first goal which Vika scored? Yeah, massive. I think these are the games that you've always got to be patient in. In fact, all the games you've got to be patient. I think not rushing it and always having the belief and the faith that we're going to score a goal. And today we managed to do that and keep a clean sheet at the same time. These sorts of results, it always takes collective effort. How pleased were you with the overall performance of the team today in grinding out that result? Yeah, massive. I mean, the whole team worked hard for each other today. Even the ones coming on, including myself, we had to dig deep. And sometimes when you come on in these types of games and results, you've got to do the hard stuff instead of all the pretty nice stuff. League Cup final to look forward to in March. How much are you looking forward to going to Bristol and looking to defend our title? Another final again, I'm looking forward to it. The team are looking forward to it. And yeah, hopefully we get another trophy. Before that, attention switches to Saturday. Arsenal in the WSL at Stamford Bridge. The result tonight, will that be a big confidence boost going into that match? Yeah, for sure. I think there's always belief in the dressing room that we're more than capable of beating any team. It's just a matter of making sure we're on our game on the day and that's what counts. Last but not least, can't let you go without congratulating you on your 100th Chelsea appearance. What does that mean to you personally? I was actually surprised when I got told. But yeah, it's a massive achievement. I'm proud of it. It's been with my club since I was born really. I've always supported it growing up and now I'm living my dream. I've lived it 100 times for this club and hopefully there's many more to come.