Manchester City ended Chelsea's dominance of the Women's League Cup and claimed the trophy for the first time in three years after a stirring second-half comeback, led by Caroline Weir, saw them cruise to a 3-1 win over the Blues.
Chelsea came into the game seeking their third successive triumph in the competition, but ended up handing the trophy they have held since 2020 over to City after a meek second 45 minutes that was heavily punished by Gareth Taylor's side.
Emma Hayes said after the game she had "never seen" her side "concede as poorly" as they did in the second half, which was particularly surprising given they had the better of a frantic first period, which saw Sam Kerr give them the lead after a mix up between Ellie Roebuck and Demi Stokes.
That error from City was part of a pattern of unconvincing defending, with Chelsea threatening to score almost every time they crossed the ball into their opponents' penalty area.
City also caused their own issues on several occasions, with Alex Greenwood and Stokes both guilty of gifting Chelsea the ball in dangerous areas, but Hayes' side could not make more of their generosity.
Both sides had strong penalty claims turned down, with Allana Kennedy lucky not to be penalised after Lucy Bronze's header hit her outstretched arm, while Sophie Ingle was also fortunate not to give away a spot-kick after blocking a shot with her arms.
City should have opened the scoring before Kerr's goal, but Lauren Hemp missed a glorious opportunity from Georgia Stanway's cross after starting the move herself with a clever turn on the left-wing.
But City were a different team after half-time and blew away Chelsea thanks to two strikes from Weir, which came either side of a poacher's finish from Ellen White.
Weir's first came with Niamh Charles off the field receiving treatment, and Chelsea did not respond well to being briefly reduced to 10 players as they gifted Stanway the freedom of their half to square for the Scotland international, who steered a shot past Ann-Katrin Berger.
City completed the turnaround nine minutes later when Hemp pinched the ball from Chelsea on the edge of their area and scampered into the box before seeing her shot saved by Berger, who could only parry it straight to the grateful White.
Weir then ended Chelsea's resistance on 69 minutes by side-footing Bronze's knockdown from Stanway's corner into the roof of the net.
Chelsea looked stunned - Hayes said after the game that she felt her side were missing "experience" with the likes of Fran Kirby and Jessie Fleming ruled - and they barely mustered a fightback, with Roebuck only called into action to parry away a Charles shot from the edge of the area.
In truth, Chelsea were lucky not to concede more, with White guilty of snatching at a chance and Berger fumbling another Bronze header from a corner.
Hayes: I've never seen us concede so poorly
Speaking to BBC Sport after the game, Chelsea boss Emma Hayes criticised her side's defending and said she felt they missed experience in the cup final.
"It's easy to make emotional remarks," she said. "When it goes 2-1, 3-1, it becomes even more open. I've never seen us concede as poorly as we have done and I thought we looked like we were missing a lot of experience in our team.
"First half we did enough without having control of the football in the way that we wanted. I think that's what let us down today - we didn't keep the ball well enough.
"Then when it becomes quite transitional, I thought second half, Niamh's off the pitch, we're down to 10 and they get a goal and the momentum shifted. The best team won the game over 90 minutes."
Taylor: Second-half performance was immense
After winning his second trophy as City manager, Gareth Taylor told BBC Sport: "Just really proud of the players. I thought we were immense second half, we were so good.
"We knew we weren't great in the first half, we knew we had to tweak a few things. We spoke a little bit about belief and faith at half-time, and I thought the players showed more of that in the second half. We went up so many levels it was unbelievable, and we're deserved winners.
"This is a really honest group. We've been through tough moments and we've come out of it the other side."
Taylor also paid tribute to match-winner Weir, but was keen to emphasise the efforts of everyone involved in City's success.
"She's obviously really important," he said of Weir. "She scores important goals but she realises the importance of the team and that's what I would say the second half was all about - the team.
"The team of staff on the sidelines, the team of players who didn't get onto the pitch and the players out there were unbelievable in their physical efforts."
Player of the match: Caroline Weir
Who else? The City midfielder was exceptional in the second half, fully justifying her return to the team with two well-taken goals that spearheaded her side's cup final win.
What's next?
Chelsea face a London derby at West Ham on Thursday night in the Women's Super League (WSL), live on Sky Sports; kick off 7.45pm.
Man City's next game is also in the WSL, away to Tottenham on Sunday, March 13.