Canadians in Europe: Fleming, Buchanan win FA Cup

It was a weekend of triumph for Jessie Fleming and Kadeisha Buchanan as Chelsea claimed the FA Cup, while Liam Millar and Basel followed up a big win in the Europa Conference League with disaster in the Swiss Super League. Here's a look at Canadians in Europe over the past week.

Jessie Fleming and Kadeisha Buchanan, Chelsea - For the third straight season, Chelsea are the Women's FA Cup champions. Emma Hayes's side continued its dominant run in the competition on Sunday in front of a record crowd for women's football of 77,309 at Wembley Stadium. The match was a coming together of the two sides vying for the Super League title at the top of the table with Manchester United clinging to a one-point lead over the Blues, who have a game in hand, with two matchdays remaining in the season for the Red Devils. The season has seen a meteoric rise for this United side, which only re-entered play in 2018 and earned promotion to the Super League in 2019. To reach the final, United went through Sunderland, Durham, Lewes and Brighton. The Blues advanced with wins over Liverpool, Arsenal (in a rematch of the 2021 FA Cup Final), Reading and Aston Villa. Sunday's match was a cagey affair. London, Ont.'s Jessie Fleming, in her third season with the Blues, was handed a start, while Brampton, Ont.'s Kadeisha Buchanan, who only made her return in a midweek win over Leicester after five weeks out with an ankle injury, was a substitute. On the other bench, Markham, Ont's Jayde Riviere was an unused substitute for the Red Devils. The team's other Canadian player, Mississauga, Ont. winger Adriana Leon, is currently on a short-term loan with the Portland Thorns. United were in dreamland only 23 seconds after the opening whistle as Leah Galton beat Ann-Katrin Berger to make it 1-0. The joy was short-lived, however, as the lineswoman's flag immediately shot up for offside and a VAR check confirmed that Ella Toone was just offside in the lead-up to the goal. Berger kept busy as the half progressed, with good saves from Nikita Parris and Millie Turner. Galton, perhaps, should have had a goal when she missed from close range on a dangerous cross from Alessia Russo. The Blues' best chance in the first half came when a looping header from Lauren James was smartly turned aside by Mary Earps. As the second half opened, United had an early chance when England forward Russo's press forced Magdalena Eriksson into a turnover, but her shot was directly at Berger. The Blues would grab the only goal of the match in the 68th from a throw-in near midfield. Guro Reiten spotted Pernille Harder, whose introduction in the 57th for Fleming gave the Chelsea attack some teeth, down the right. Seeing the run of Sam Kerr, Harder's cross was spot-on and allowed Kerr to poke home from close range. Buchanan came on as a late defensive substitute in the 88th for James to close out the victory. The win was Buchanan's first trophy at Chelsea, having come over from Lyon in the offseason. Having turned pro in 2017, Buchanan now has won 14 major honours in her club career to go along with an Olympic gold and bronze for the national side. For Fleming, it was her third FA Cup triumph to go along with two Super League titles and a League Cup. Another honour - the 2023 Super League title - could be in the offing for both Buchanan and Fleming in a few short weeks.

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Liam Millar, Basel - Liam Millar's Basel side got the job done midweek, but the weekend was an unmitigated disaster as the team's domestic form continued to sputter with winning Europa Conference League the most realistic option for a European return next season. Basel travelled to Tuscany on Thursday for the first leg of their Conference League semi-finals against Fiorentina. The Swiss side is looking to reach their first European final in 22 years since falling to Aston Villa in the 2001 Intertoto Cup. Things started brightly for the visitors with Jean-Kevin Augustin completing a two-on-none break with a goal in the seventh, but it was immediately ruled off for being well offside. In the 19th, Pietro Terracciano was forced into action with a fine diving stop of a well struck Andy Diouf shot. The Viola would open the scoring in the 25th. From a Cristiano Biraghi corner, Argentina defender Lucas Martinez Quarta headed forward where it was headed in by Arthur Cabral. With the late intervention from Cabral, Marwin Hitz was powerless to react in the Basel goal as the hosts took the 1-0 lead into halftime. Basel would take the initiative in the second 45 with Millar being introduced in the 57th for Riccardo Calafiori. They were rewarded in the 71st with a fine solo effort from Diouf. Picking up a pass from Taulant Xhaka in midfield, the 19-year-old Frenchman ran at goal, cut inside on Quarta and dragged a low shot past a diving Terracciano to make it 1-1. Basel would head home a goal to the good thanks to a stoppage time winner. Xhaka's free kick from was headed across the face of goal by Michael Lang where it found Darian Males. The forward on loan from Inter fired the ball into a crowded area where it was met by a strike from Switzerland forward Zeki Amdouni to win the match at 2-1 and head into the second leg at home with a huge one-goal advantage. Millar finished his evening with 25 touches in his 28 minutes of action, completing 13 of his 19 pass attempts and winning two tackles. Basel followed up their huge European victory with arguably their worst performance of the season in the Super League. Millar and Basel were hammered 6-1 by fellow midtable side St. Gallen with Andi Zeqiri scoring the lone goal for FCB. Toronto's Millar played the full 90 minutes, winning two tackles, making two interceptions and drawing two fouls. His one foul earned Millar a booking. With three matches left in the season, Basel sit in sixth place, four points back of fourth-place Luzern for the final European place. The winner of the Conference League wins a spot in Europa next season. West Ham holds a 2-1 edge over AZ in the other semi-final.