Despite the result, West Ham – who beat Reading on penalties in their semi-final – have impressed many during their maiden WSL campaign and appear to be building a growing fanbase, with their fans appearing to significantly outnumber City supporters at Wembley.
The East London club had asked the Premier League to move the kick-off time of their men’s team’s league match at home to Southampton earlier on Saturday, but the plea was denied, much to the Hammers’ disappointment.
On the pitch, they initially surpassed the bookmakers’ pre-match expectations, frustrating City early on, at odds with their 10-2 aggregate loss from this season’s two league meetings, but Ross’ first-half header was the best chance.
Ultimately, City’s clean sheet saw Cushing’s side – lead by talismanic England captain Steph Houghton at the back – finish their five-game cup run without conceding a goal.
Man City boss Nick Cushing told BBC Sport:
“West Ham were excellent, but I expected them to be good, play on the counter-attack and cause us problems.
“I thought we were just a little bit emotional [in the first half]. The occasion affected our offensive play.
“We asked the players to just settle down, play logically and be controlled. In the second half they looked comfortable.
“I’m so proud of the players. I hope they will go now and spend so much time with their family. They’ve put in so much effort to make this team successful again, they deserve everything they get.”
West Ham boss Matt Beard told BBC Sport:
“It was a game of two halves, wasn’t it? We created the better chances in the first half.
“The first goal changes the game. When you go behind against Manchester City, they’re a very good team, and Man City deserved to win it on their second-half performance.
“But when we walked around at the end, with the fans, and you look at what we’ve created in such a short space of time as a club, this team is only going to get better and our fanbase is only going to grow. It’s been really tough but, to be here, speaks volumes for what we’re trying to do.
“We have a lot of young players who will learn from this and become better players because of it.”