Nikita Parris bagged a brace as Manchester City secured an impressive away win against Chelsea to reach the FA Women’s League Cup final.

England forward Parris netted after 49 and 81 minutes — her seventh and eighth goals in City’s last six games — in front of 1,348 spectators at Kingsmeadow.

She opened the scoring with a penalty, after winning the spot-kick herself when she was fouled by Deanna Cooper.

Manchester City reached the final of the FA Women’s League Cup on Wednesday evening

City won 2-0 at Chelsea courtesy of two second-half goals from England forward Nikita Parris

England manager Phil Neville was among the 1,348-strong crowd at Kingsmeadow in London

Parris then doubled her tally for the night with a composed one-on-one finish.

After the match, a delighted Parris said: ‘It’s a great feeling to be in the Continental Cup final – the smile on my face says it all!

‘It was a massive team performance. We were under the cosh in the first half but in the second half, we came out fighting.’

City will now face the winner of Thursday’s second semi-final — between Arsenal and Manchester United.

The final will take place at Bramall Lane on Sunday, February 23 — the same day City’s men meet Chelsea in the Carabao Cup showpiece at Wembley.

Parris opened the scoring with a calmly-taken penalty, after winning the spot-kick herself

Twenty-four-year-old Parris scored again to make it 2-0 with her eighth goal in six City games

The R&A and USGA have revised a rule which was only introduced in January after two controversial incidents on either side of the Atlantic.

China‘s Li Haotong was penalised two shots on the 72nd hole of the European Tour’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic because his caddie was on a direct line behind the ball when he began to take his stance on the green.

That was in breach of rule 10.2b(4), one of a number amended at the start of 2019, and meant the defending champion dropped from a tie from third to a tie for 12th, costing him more than 80,000 euro.

China’s Li Haotong was penalised two shots on the 72nd hole at Omega Dubai Desert Classic

Five days later American Denny McCarthy was penalised for the same offence in the Waste Management Phoenix Open on the PGA Tour, although that penalty was swiftly rescinded.

A joint statement from the R&A and USGA on Wednesday read: ‘The purpose of Rule 10.2 is to reinforce the fundamental challenge of making a stroke and to limit the advice and other help a player may receive during a round.

‘Rule 10.2b(4) ensures that aiming at the intended target is a challenge that the player must overcome alone. It states: ‘When a player begins taking a stance for the stroke and until the stroke is made, the player’s caddie must not deliberately stand in a location on or close to the player’s line of play behind the ball for any reason. If the player takes a stance in breach of this Rule, he or she cannot avoid penalty by backing away.

‘Exception – Ball on Putting Green: When the player’s ball is on the putting green, there is no penalty under this Rule if the player backs away from the stance and does not begin to take the stance again until after the caddie has moved out of that location.

American Denny McCarthy was penalised in the Waste Management Phoenix Open

‘The two clarifications provided today can be summarised as follows:

‘Meaning of ‘Begins Taking a Stance for the Stroke’: If a player backs away from a stance, the player is not considered to have begun a ‘stance for the stroke’. Therefore, a player can now back away from his or her stance anywhere on the course and avoid a breach of Rule 10.2b(4) if the caddie had been standing in a location behind the ball.

‘Examples of When a Caddie is Not ‘Deliberately’ Standing Behind the Ball When a Player Begins Taking Stance for Stroke: As written, the Rule does not apply if a caddie is not deliberately standing behind a player.

‘It is clarified that the term ‘deliberately’ requires a caddie to be aware that 1) the player is beginning to take a stance for the stroke to be played and 2) he or she (the caddie) is standing on or close to an extension of the line of play behind the ball.’

David Rickman, executive director of governance at the R&A, said: ‘These clarifications are designed to improve the operation of the Rule and give the players more opportunity to avoid a breach while remaining true to the purpose of the Rule.

‘We appreciate that this requires some players and caddies to make an adjustment, but we believe there is widespread acceptance that it is for the player alone to line up a shot.’