The season’s final piece of silverware was up for grabs at Wembley. Chelsea and Everton squared off against each other to see who would win the FA Cup, the oldest and most prestigious cup competition in football. Both teams had enjoyed contrasting seasons up to this point. Everton, under the management of David Moyes, had once again proven themselves to be the best side outside the big 4, finishing in 5th position in the Premiership. Despite finishing 3rd, Chelsea, on the other hand, were less satisfied with their campaign. A string of poor performances led to Luiz Felipe Scolari’s sacking earlier this year. Guus Hiddink was brought in until the end of the season to steady the ship, and had revitalised Chelsea, taking them to a Champions League semi final. However, if they didn’t win beat Everton here, they would finish the season without a trophy for the 2nd consecutive year. Despite going into the game as favourites, Chelsea would face a strong challenge from Everton. Who would come out on top and claim the FA Cup.
In the blistering heat at Wembley, it was Everton who made a red hot start. Steven Pienaar’s cross was properly cleared by the Chelsea defence, and Marouane Fellaini headed the ball down for Louis Saha to lash home the opener after just 25 seconds. It was the fastest goal in FA Cup final history. Chelsea tried to regroup and search for an equaliser and even though they were behind, as the game settled down, Chelsea looked most like scoring. Michael Essien skied a volley over the crossbar, but on 21 minutes, the Blues did get the equaliser. Nicholas Anelka made a foraging run before playing in Florent Malouda down the left hand side. Malouda delivered a brilliant cross, which Didier Drogba nodded into the back of the net. Having got on level terms, Chelsea began to relax and push forward, looking to take the lead. Not long after Drogba’s goal, Frank Lampard had a dipping effort for Chelsea which went narrowly over. Chelsea pressure continued to mount. A lucky ricochet bounced into the path of Ashley Cole, who, with no support, decided to have an attempt on goal, which he blazed over the bar. The sweltering heat began to take its toll, as both teams began to tire and the amount of chances dried up as the first half wore on. At half time, there was everything to play for, as the teams went in level at 1-1.
Both sides began the 2nd half looking to win it within the remaining 45 minutes. Another half an hour of extra time in the sweltering heat wouldn’t have appealed much. Both sides had chances with which to get their noses in front. Tim Cahill charged down Chelsea captain John Terry’s attempted clearance. From the resulting loose ball, Cahill had a long range pop at goal, which didn’t trouble Chelsea keeper Petr Cech. Anelka then went close for Chelsea. Latching onto Lampard’s chip over the top, Anelka had a clear sight of goal, but proceeded to fire over the bar. Then Saha should have put Everton back in front, but he headed Leighton Baines’ cross over from a decent position. With the game locked at 1-1, extra time and penalties were beginning to creep ever closer. A moment of madness or genius would decide the game. We got genius. Lampard, who all game had been shackled by Everton captain Phil Neville, finally managed to get free of his marker. He then thumped a magnificent 20 yard drive past Tim Howard in the Everton goal to give Chelsea the lead with 18 minutes remaining. Malouda then missed 2 chances to put the game beyond Everton’s reach. Firstly, having been played clean through by Lampard, Malouda put his effort high and wide. The Frenchman nearly made amends with a long range drive which struck the crossbar, and then bounced very close to the line. Replays showed that the ball had in fact bounced over the line, but no goal was awarded. In the end, Everton never really threatened to snatch a late leveller, as Chelsea ran out 2-1 winners.
For the 2nd time in 3 years, Chelsea had won the FA Cup, giving Guus Hiddink the perfect send off. During his short tenure as Chelsea boss, Hiddink has turned Chelsea’s fortunes around, dragging the Blue out of the rut they seemed to be stuck in. Carlo Ancelotti has been appointed permanent Chelsea boss, and he will hope that it isn’t too long before Chelsea win their next trophy. Let’s not forget the great effort from Everton, who beat Liverpool and Manchester United on the way to their first FA Cup final since 1995. They will look back on this season having achieved a lot. But the day belonged to Chelsea, who had secured their 5th FA Cup, bringing the curtain down on another exciting, dramatic and fantastic season of football.
By Chris Sykes
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