Antonio Conte continues to cavort on the field, waving what could be some valedictory silverware. So there’s no word from him. Yet. No doubt there will be more to say about his position in the near future. Will he stay or go? All we can say for sure is that the FA Cup hasn’t done much for managerial longevity in the last couple of years, given what happened to Louis van Gaal and Arsene Wenger after winning it. Anyway, thanks for reading. Congratulations to Chelsea, as they join Spurs as the third most successful club in FA Cup history with their eighth win; commiserations to Manchester United as they remain stuck in second, one behind Arsenal on 12. The last word to our number one Daniel Taylor, who was at Wembley today, and filed the following report. Bye!
Jose Mourinho speaks. “I congratulate them because they won, but I don’t think they deserve to win. I congratulate because I am a sportsman. They score one more goal than us and they get the cup, and I have to do what my job asks me to do: I am the Manchester United manager and I have to be respectful, not just because they were my previous club, but because they are the opponent that won the cup. But I think we deserved to win, we were the best team, but that’s football. I am curious to know what you say, what people write, because I can imagine if my team played like Chelsea did, I can imagine what everyone will say. I am quite curious. But I am on holiday. I gave everything I could, I know the players gave everything, it was hard for us to play without Lukaku against a team who play nine players in the box, you need that presence. They are not stupid, they know without Lukaku we don’t have a presence, without Fellaini we don’t have a presence, so with eight or nine players in the box, they knew they were going to be dominant. For me the image of the game is that David de Gea didn’t touch the ball. We did everything, we tried, it’s the kind of defeat, while it hurts, we gave everything, no regrets.”
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The prize-giving ceremony. United go up to collect their runners-up medals, grim-faced to a man. Commiserations to them. Then it’s the turn of Chelsea, who climb the steps to lift their shiny new trophy. It’s awarded to a jubilant Gary Cahill by Jackie Wilkins, the widow of Chelsea and United legend Ray. Blue is the Colour blasts out of the PA. Ticker tape rains down. And eventually Antonio Conte - beaming, vindicated - takes his turn to hoist it. Plenty of cheering all round ... with the defeated United team sportingly looking on.
The match-winner Eden Hazard speaks! “We tried to defend well. We scored one goal, it’s enough today. Though if we want to win a lot of games, we need to play better, because we just played defensively. But we won it and we are happy.” He’s then asked about his future. “Now I’m just happy. We didn’t play a great season, but we finished well.”
Gary Cahill speaks! “It’s unbelievable. This was to save our season. I’m not saying we’ve had a magnificent season by any stretch, but we have to try to win things. We had a lot of defending to do. They pushed us to the line. We’re buzzing, we got the job done. This is a dream come true, as this is the first one as captain.” He’s then asked if he wants Conte to be here next season: “Listen, we needed to achieve this goal for everybody, no matter what happens in the future. We’re not in control of that as players. I’m sure the club and himself will make the best decision. Who knows what’s going to happen?”
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OK, it wasn’t a classic. But should Chelsea care? Nope! They’ve just won the FA Cup for the eighth time in their history! It’s the first cup victory on Conte’s managerial CV. And a first domestic cup defeat in England for Mourinho. Chelsea were the better side in the first half, and defended with great purpose in the second. United only really showed what they could do after the restart. But chances were at a premium for both sides, and Pogba missed United’s golden opportunity to equalise with that free header in the closing stages. Chelsea were the deserved winners, even if the contest was tight.
FULL TIME: Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United
Yep! Chelsea have won the 2018 FA Cup! On the touchline, Conte leaps around in joy ... before giving his old foe Mourinho a hug.
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90 min +5: Willian threatens to burst clear down the left. Mata is forced to toe-poke out for a corner. That’s surely it.
90 min +4: Now Mata crosses from the right ... and forces Moses to eyebrow out for a corner ... which is sent straight down the throat of Courtois!
90 min +3: Valencia crosses high from the right. Matic goes up to meet it, but his header flies harmlessly high and wide right. Courtois is booked for taking an age over the resulting goal kick.
90 min +2: Chelsea continue to keep United pressed deep in their own half.
90 min +1: Willian’s first act is to run at United down the left. He can’t break clear into the box, but United need a goal and they’re being pressed back at the wrong end of the pitch.
90 min: Hazard bursts down the left, a gorgeous ball-on-string dribble in the circumstances, and wins a corner off Mata. It gives them opportunity to faff in the corner. They win a throw. Then Willian comes on for Hazard. A brave call if United force an equaliser and take the match to extra time ... and there’s five extra minutes to be added!
89 min: Morata comes on for the very hard-working Giroud.
88 min: Young slips a pass down the inside-left for Sanchez, just inside the box but with his back to goal. There’s a sea of blue shirts behind him. Sanchez lays off to Martial, who tries to float one, George Best style, into the net from a daft angle on the left. It flies harmlessly over the bar.
87 min: Mata comes on for Jones. It’s fair to say this is symbolic of a change of artistic intention.
86 min: Hazard and Fabregas take the ball for a walk down the right. Their perambulations eat up 60 seconds or so.
85 min: Sanchez sends a low fizzer wide left from 20 yards. He wants a corner for a deflection - he is livid - but he’s not going to get it.
84 min: Wembley is a very tense place. United are pressing Chelsea back again, but still there’s no way through.
82 min: This is end-to-end now. Hazard dribbles down the Chelsea left but is stopped by Smalling. Martial threatens to break down the United left and earns a corner. From which Pogba is found, alone on the penalty spot, but he sends his free header wide right when it was surely easier to get something, anything, on target! He holds his head in his hands. What a chance that was!
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80 min: Matic shoots from 25 yards. It’s a rising missile, and Courtois does very well to punch it around the post. From the corner, Martial has a dig from the edge of the box. Azpilicueta gets in the way and the deflected shot loops into the hands of the keeper.
79 min: Jones is back on. A rare period of possession for Chelsea. They stroke it around the middle in the professional, clock-bothering style. How they’ve needed this, in the face of United’s near relentless attack since the restart.
77 min: At first, Giroud looked to have come off worse, but he’s up and about soon enough. Jones has cut his head open, though, and needs taping up. He’s off getting those running repairs.
75 min: Valencia robs Alonso down the right and tees up Martial, whose shot is deflected softly into Courtois’ arms. Then up the field, Giroud is nutted in the back of the head by Jones as the pair contest a high ball. Ooyah, oof.
73 min: Lingard puts Rashford clear down the inside-right channel. Rashford draws Courtois but his shot is tipped away by the keeper. A wonderful save. At which point United make a change, Lingard and Rashford making way for Martial and Lukaku.
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71 min: A huge chance for Chelsea to score a second! Kante drives at the United box, then feeds Alonso on his right. Alonso takes too long and shoots low towards the near corner, and de Gea’s not going to be beaten from there. He parries. Moses latches onto the loose ball, to the right of goal, and tries to flick it past Young. The ball hits Young’s arm, which moved a little towards the ball. The decision goes to VAR, but there’s no penalty given. Perhaps Young was too close to act, but that’s a contentious decision all right. There’ll be debates of course, but it looked like a penalty.
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69 min: Lingard earns a United corner down the right. What follows is not much cop. But since coming out for the second half revived, United have done everything but score.
67 min: Young goes down the left and is blocked by Azpilicueta. He doesn’t get the free kick, and takes out his frustration by getting up in the Chelsea player’s grille. For a split second, it threatens to boil over. Play nicely, everyone.
66 min: This is still all United. Valencia tries to break clear down the right, but can’t find a gap in the blue line. Chelsea surely can’t keep soaking up this pressure, though. They’re giving the ball away with metronomic regularity.
64 min: A brief pause as Courtois recovers from that good old stretch, while the offside decision is checked by the VAR. It’s fine. We play on.
63 min: Rashford is bowled over on the right. Free kick, which he takes himself. Jones, on the penalty spot, guides a header towards the bottom right. It’s heading in! But Courtois stretches to claw it out. However, Sanchez is lurking, and knees the rebound into the net. He wheels off to celebrate ... but the flag goes up for offside. It’s the correct decision, though it was very close.
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61 min: Rudiger lashes a long pass down the left wing. Hazard scampers after it, races along the touchline, and then zips down the byline. It’s like a game of Amidar. He thrashes a shot-cum-cross straight at de Gea, who handles well.
59 min: United are dominating possession and territory. Chelsea are finding it very hard to get out of their final third. And this time United are asking serious questions. Matic has a shot which bobbles harmlessly wide ... but they’re racking up some chances now. On the touchline, Mourinho applauds his men.
57 min: Pogba shoots and wins a corner ... from which Chelsea break upfield. Hazard tears past Herrera, then cuts inside, past Valencia. He’s upended, and that’s Valencia in the book.
56 min: Herrera splits Chelsea’s back four with a slide-rule pass down the inside right that releases Valencia. The right back is clear in the area, but looks for a pullback instead of shooting. Rashford has a blast that’s parried by Courtois. Pogba tries again, but lifts a soft one into the keeper’s hands. This is miles better from United ... though Valencia might reflect that he really should have had a shot himself.
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55 min: Chelsea are sitting deep and living dangerously. Lingard dribbles his way into the box and causes some bedlam. Chelsea half clear. Herrera slips a pass down the left and Young floats a chip over the bar from an ambitious angle.
53 min: Rashford curls a vicious free kick into the mixer. It might even have been a direct shot. Either way, Pogba rises but just misses his attempted header, six yards out. Courtois punches out bravely in the middle of a crowded box. United are on top here.
52 min: Young dribbles his way down the left and goes over the outstretched leg of Moses. That was a slightly cheeky one, he bought that very cheaply. It’s a free kick to the left of the Chelsea box, though, in a very dangerous position.
50 min: Hazard is down, having taken an accidental finger in the eye from Smalling in a midfield tussle. Or maybe it was a crack across the nose. Either way, he’ll be fine to continue. A splash of water on the face and a dap with a sponge will do the trick. Pleasingly old-fashioned treatment.
48 min: United have been first to pretty much everything since the break. Chelsea haven’t come out for the second half yet.
46 min: Pogba, dropping deep, spreads a lovely pass wide right for Rashford, who lays off to Sanchez, who slides the ball wide right for Valencia. The resulting attempt at a cross comes off Alonso then back off Valencia for a goal kick, but it looks like United are determined to play at a higher tempo. That was much better.
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And we’re off again! Chelsea get the second half underway. No changes.
Half-time entertainment, courtesy of Norman ‘a song, a smile, a piano’ Long. As 78rpm platters go, Long’s 1928 release Why Is The Bacon So Tough? / Never Have A Bath With Your Wrist Watch On is hard to beat. But it’s cup final day, and Chelsea are playing, so here’s his 1933 classic On The Day That Chelsea Went And Won The Cup. The conceit doesn’t quite hold post 1970, admittedly, but let’s go with it. “The sun came out in Manchester and funny things like that ...”
HALF TIME: Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United
Giroud nearly releases Hazard into the United box with a cute first-time cushioned pass. United flood up the other end, Pogba driving into the area from the left, Rashford miskicking at a chance from the penalty spot. Rudiger hacks clear, and the players trot off to the changing room for their half-time tactical de-brief. Those last 60 seconds of the half were the most exciting yet! Typical. Another 45 minutes like that, then, please!
45 min: ... United create their best chance of the game so far! The ball’s worked to Young, out on the left. He sends an inswinger to the far post. Jones rises highest, but can only head wide right from close range. A tight angle, to be fair.
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44 min: Young drops a shoulder to circumvent Moses on the outside, but is cynically shoulder-barged to the floor. A free kick. It should have been a booking, but no. From the set piece, a corner. And from that ...
42 min: Matic, of all people, channels his inner Garrincha and nearly twinkle-toes his way through a small gap down the left. Chelsea shut that door quickly enough. United have done next to nothing in attack so far. On the touchline, Mourinho looks accordingly frustrated.
40 min: Fabregas hits the corner, from the left, long. De Gea rises and a telescopic arm extends to punch the ball away. Fine keeping with the likes of Giroud lurking with intent.
39 min: Hazard nips through a small gap between Pogba and Lingard, and is fouled by both of them at once. The resulting free kick is hoicked into the mixer, and Smalling is panicked enough to head straight out for a corner.
38 min: Pogba’s work earns United a corner on the left. Sanchez tries to curl a saucy one straight into the net, but Fabregas is guarding the near post and heads out for another corner. That second one goes straight down Courtois’ throat.
36 min: Fabregas batters one witlessly straight into the wall. This is not a classic. But there have been many worse finals over the years, and there’s still plenty of time to go.
35 min: Sanchez clips the heel of Bakayoko, who was threatening to break into the United box down the left. A free kick in a very dangerous position, just to the left of the D.
34 min: This is very bitty. Chelsea nudge the action up to the middle of the park, away from their goal, where both teams faff awhile.
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32 min: A frustrated-looking Sanchez tries to blooter one in from 25 yards. It’s nowhere near the target.
31 min: United are dominating possession now. But it’s sterile domination at the moment. Chelsea’s back line is holding firm. There’s no way into the box.
29 min: United press Chelsea back a little. This has been their best spell of the match. Pogba drifts inside, but his shot flies harmlessly wide left. Courtois had it well covered anyway, despite the sun gleaming in his face.
27 min: Sanchez pulls the free kick back for Herrera, who shanks his shot dismally. But it dribbles straight back to Sanchez, who is able to curl in a cross for Pogba. The big man’s header clanks off Rudiger and that’s a corner ... which is wasted. But that’s a little bit better from United, who have seen plenty of the ball but not so much of it in Chelsea’s final third.
26 min: Pogba is fouled just to the left of the Chelsea area. A chance for United to finally work Courtois.
24 min: Well that got the crowd going. Wembley had been a little quiet before Hazard tore United in two with that glorious take and dribble. Chelsea wanted Jones sent off, but he was going for the ball, and the new double-jeopardy law saved him.
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GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United (Hazard 22 pen)
Once Jones is booked for his unique contribution, Hazard steps up and strokes the ball into the bottom right. Has there been a cooler cup-final penalty since the days of Eric Cantona?
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PENALTY TO CHELSEA!
21 min: I knew that would do it. Fabregas, deep in his own half, strokes a glorious ball down the inside-right channel. Hazard, cutting in, stuns it with one touch, tearing down the field. He enters the box, and is brought crashing down by Jones, who tries to toe-poke the ball away but falls over, spins through 180 degrees, and ends up felling Hazard with his back.
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20 min: This final hasn’t got going yet.
18 min: Sanchez goes on a determined dribble down the centre. For a second, it looks as though Chelsea’s defence will be prised open by his ball-glued-to-boot stylings, but the door shuts on the edge of the box. That was a fine run.
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16 min: Up the other end, Sanchez claims a penalty after a brush with Moses, who was busy falling down behind him. He then goes down near Azpilicueta’s trailing leg, but there didn’t seem much contact either. To be fair to Sanchez, his appeals weren’t particularly vocal.
14 min: Bakayoko tries to turn Matic on the edge of the United box, then falls inside it. He wants a penalty, because Matic’s hand was lightly on his back. Older fans who remember the Sinclair-Kanchelskis decision in 1994 would have been hoping for a little karmic payback, but it’s not coming.
13 min: United have yet to find theirs, though. Young is seeing quite a bit of the ball out on the left, but his deep, looping cross here is easily snaffled by Courtois.
11 min: Moses, tight on the right touchline, hooks a lovely first-time pass down the channel for Giroud. United’s defence is split open ... but Giroud’s been flagged offside. Chelsea are slowly finding a little rhythm.
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9 min: The resulting free kick is worked wide left to Young. His cross is headed clear by Cahill. The ball’s then misplaced in midfield by Jones, allowing Sanchez to skedaddle down the middle at pace. He drifts left and drops a shoulder to pass the half-recovering Jones, then fires for the bottom left. De Gea sticks a leg out to stop. A lovely run and a fine save.
8 min: Chelsea press a little, but go nowhere. United break back upfield through Sanchez and then Lingard, who is brought down by Kante. Young isn’t happy about it at all, but the referee awards a free kick and nothing else.
6 min: It’s been a nervous start by both teams. Nothing’s happening at all. Some light speculative sparring. Probably not the best time for Hubert O’Hearn to proselytise for the FA Cup, but here he goes anyway: “When I was growing up in Canada and the FA Cup Final was the only live football match the CBC broadcast, I always thought that this was the highest achievement a club could win. Years pass. Well, to paraphrase Oscar Levant upon hearing of the passing of George Gershwin, I have heard that the FA Cup is dead, but I don’t have to believe it if I don’t want to. This is the true champiosnhip of all of England, not just a 20-team Division.”
4 min: Otherwise, it’s been a slow, studious start with players seemingly happy just to get their first touch of the ball. United are seeing a little bit more of it, though to no great effect yet.
2 min: Alonso dribbles down the left and is bundled over from behind by the ever-busy Herrera. A free kick, and a chance for Chelsea to load the box. Fabregas takes, but it’s an awful delivery, floating straight into the grateful arms of de Gea.
And we’re off! United get the party started. Young launches it long down the left. Courtois claims it. The keeper’s peering into fierce sun, without a cap. Good luck, then. “I’m going for a classic,” predicts Simon McMahon. “1-0 United. Or 1-0 Chelsea. But either way, done in the classic style.”
The teams are out! Both teams are able to wear their famous colours: Chelsea are in blue, United in red. The national anthem is belted out. The crowd roars. Pitchside flamethrowers blast away theatrically. The RAF fly past. We’ll be off in a minute!
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And now the singing of the traditional cup-final hymn, Abide with Me. Each note sounds especially poignant this year, as tribute is paid to Ray Wilkins. The much-loved midfielder, who served both of these clubs with class, quality and distinction, passed away last month. Two huge banners picturing Wilkins flutter in the gentle summer breeze: dressed in Chelsea blue on one, lifting the cup for United on the other. That trophy will be presented today by his widow Jackie. Wilkins won the trophy three times as assistant manager of Chelsea, in 2000, 2009 and 2010, and as a player for United in 1983 when he did this:
That’s not only one of the great FA Cup final goals, it’s one of the great celebrations too. RIP Butch.
Pre-match singalong. Nobody releases cup-final songs any more, which on balance is probably a good thing. Still, you can’t help feeling something’s been lost along the way. Here’s some beige period footage of Chelsea recording one back in the day (for the 1972 League Cup final, but let’s not start pulling at threads).
It’s a glorious day at Wembley. The vibes coming off the two managers: not so sunny. Both appeared a little downbeat, perhaps feeling the pressure ahead of a game that, if lost, will guarantee them opprobrium a-plenty. Both launched defences of their season’s work, though neither made their case with any great verve or passion. Life imitating art, hey. Mourinho also made sure everyone knew that Lukaku had declared himself not fit enough to start. Another agenda-setting masterclass. You have to love him.
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Jose Mourinho speaks! “Lukaku has decided he is not ready to start, but is ready to give us some help. One thing is to start a match and play for 90 minutes, another is to be on the bench and play a few minutes. And that’s what he told us he was ready to do. We change Romelu with Marcus Rashford. Of course they are two different players but he will play in the same position with different qualities. It is not fair and not my philosophy as a manager to put the responsibility on one player, we have to defend and attack as a team, and Marcus is just one of them. It is better to win that lose, it is much more beautiful, but it is not fair to analyse my players and what they did during the season because of one result. They are one of the two best teams in the two most important domestic competitions in a very difficult country with lots of very good teams. So I think they did a positive season. Can we win? Let’s try everything.”
Antonio Conte speaks! “We have worked very hard to prepare for this game. The result of the last game was not positive, and the team have to play in a better way if they want to win this final. It is normal to send messages of positivity to the group, but the best way to do that is to work, and we prepare that way. Our starting XI is the same team we played against Liverpool two weeks ago. It is the best formation, the best XI for us today. I don’t think we have had a disappointing season, finishing fifth can happen in England. It is a great achievement to play two finals in a row in this important competition; now we have to change the result of last season.”
Chelsea make three changes to the team that didn’t turn up at Newcastle on the final day of the Premier League last Sunday. Andreas Christensen, Emerson and Ross Barkley make way for Antonio Rudiger, Marcos Alonso and Cesc Fabregas.
Manchester United played an experimental side against Watford last weekend. Ashley Young, Marcus Rashford and Alexis Sanchez are the only folk to make today’s starting XI as well. The big news for them: Romelu Lukaku is fit though he only makes the bench.
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The teams
Chelsea: Courtois, Azpilicueta, Cahill, Rudiger, Moses, Fabregas, Kante, Bakayoko, Alonso, Hazard, Giroud.
Subs: Caballero, Barkley, Morata, Pedro, Zappacosta, Willian, Chalobah.
Manchester United: de Gea, Valencia, Smalling, Jones, Young, Herrera, Matic, Pogba, Lingard, Rashford, Sanchez.
Subs: Bailly, Mata, Lukaku, Martial, Romero, Darmian, McTominay.
Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland).
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Chelsea are hoping to avoid becoming the first club to lose back-to-back finals since Newcastle United in the late 1990s. Antonio Conte will be desperate to avoid becoming the first manager to taste defeat in consecutive finals since Howard Kendall in the mid 80s. His side were in decent form for a while back there, with a five-game that took them to this final and within a sniff of fourth place in the League. But then came a home draw with Huddersfield and a miserable no-show at Newcastle. Conte has looked short of energy, his team listless. It’ll be a miserable end to the season if they can’t raise themselves one last time.
But United didn’t have a great deal of late-season momentum either. They finished their Premier League card with a defeat at Brighton, a goalless draw at West Ham, and a nondescript home win over Watford. Though to be fair, second place had long been in the bag. A trophy would throw different light on a season during which Mourinho has copped flak from his own punters for his style of play. It’ll be a miserable end to the season if they can’t raise themselves one last time.
Two slightly erratic teams, capable of great things as well as the odd misfire ... but they’ll both take a look at the recent head-to-head record and fancy their chances. United were victorious in the most recent clash: a 2-1 comeback win at Old Trafford ... but Chelsea won the other League meeting, back in November; they also knocked United out of the cup last season. United have won two of the last three meetings between the clubs ... but those are their only victories in the last 15, a period in which Chelsea have won on eight occasions. So you can slice it according to preference.
Preamble
Welcome to our coverage of the 2018 FA Cup final. It’ll be the 137th staging of English football’s showpiece match, the third time it’s been contested between Chelsea and Manchester United, and the first to make use of the popular Video Assistant Referee feature. Throw in Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho on the touchline, and this could be a whole world of fun.
The clubs first met in the final in 1994. Sir Alex Ferguson’s first great United side had swanned their way to the Premiership, and were favourites to beat Chelsea, who had finished Glenn Hoddle’s first season in charge as player-manager in 14th position. Favourites, though not hot favourites, because Chelsea had beaten United home and away in the League, Gavin Peacock scoring the only goal on each occasion.
It all looked like coming to pass again, when Peacock intercepted a poor Gary Pallister clearance, chested down, and caressed a glorious looping half-volley over Peter Schmeichel. It would have been one of the great FA Cup final goals ... but it came crashing back off the crossbar. The ball sailed back upfield, taking with it Chelsea’s hopes and dreams. In the second half, United, having been unusually lethargic, rediscovered their mojo. Eric Cantona, ice in the veins, rolled two identical penalties past Dmitri Kharine in six decisive minutes - the second having been awarded somewhat controversially when Frank Sinclair and Andrei Kanchelskis clanked together. A dispirited and disoriented Sinclair then slipped to let in Mark Hughes, Paul Ince set up Brian McClair for a tap-in, and United sealed their first double: 4-0.
That final wasn’t considered a classic at the time. But it looks like the Matthews Final when compared to the time the teams next contested the prize in 2007. Not that Chelsea will care: having just been beaten to the Premier League by United, they completed a domestic cup double when Didier Drogba settled the first final at the new Wembley with four minutes of extra time remaining. Ryan Giggs had missed a golden chance a wee bit earlier, sliding in but not connecting properly from a couple of yards out. Petr Cech snaffled the scuffed shot, only to be bundled over the line by Giggs and his momentum. That’d get the VAR rock and rolling for a few minutes these days.
So it’s 1-1 in finals between these two famous old foes. Someone’s got to edge ahead today, even if there must be extra-time and penalty kicks. And whatever happens, it’ll have a significant effect on the FA Cup roll of honour, because United will either match Arsenal’s record of 13 wins, or Chelsea will join Spurs as the third-most-successful club in history. Look!
13: Arsenal
12: Manchester United
8: Tottenham Hotspur
7: Aston Villa, Liverpool, Chelsea
6: Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United
5: Wanderers, West Bromwich Albion, Everton, Manchester City
We’re due a classic final. There’s every chance this could be it. Why not? It’s Chelsea! It’s Manchester United! It’s the most storied old trophy in the world! It’s on!
Kick off: 5.15pm BST.
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