Carelessness is not a word that has been applied to Chelsea very often this season, yet the champions began this final a little too laid back for their own good. They were behind after five minutes as a result, and player of the season N’Golo Kanté was partly to blame. Not for the attempted clearance that struck Alexis Sánchez and allowed the Chilean to run on and beat Thibaut Courtois, but for coughing up possession to allow Arsenal to threaten in the first place. Courtois had just made a routine catch from Mesut Özil’s early corner and bowled the ball out for Kanté to get an attack moving, only to see the normally reliable midfielder lose his bearings just outside his own penalty area to let Arsenal steal in.
It could not be said the error led directly to the goal but it was an ominously lackadaisical start by a side that has been noted for its smartness and precision all season. By the mid-point of the first half, by which time Gary Cahill had already been forced to clear off the line from Özil and Danny Welbeck had hit a post with a header from a corner, it was beginning to look as if Chelsea’s imperious march to the title had just been an illusion. It was either that or Arsène Wenger had simply been saving Arsenal’s best performance of the season as a means of answering his critics.
The Arsenal manager struck a familiar pose on the touchline when Kanté fouled Welbeck in the first half, arms spread out in appeal to the referee, who did not produce a yellow card. Nonetheless it was clear from Kanté’s act of desperation that Chelsea were being forced out of their comfort zone. Eden Hazard and Diego Costa were hardly in the game in the first half-hour.
Chelsea like to play on the counter, and do not mind soaking up pressure in order to break quickly when the chance arises, though they seemed unprepared for the effectiveness of Özil and Sánchez when allowing Arsenal to come at them. Cahill was required to come to the rescue again when Welbeck was played through on the left, and though Hazard managed to create a chance for Pedro that the 29-year-old Spain international wasted by shooting too high, Chelsea could hardly have complained had they turned round more than a single goal in arrears.
They perhaps had a legitimate grievance in that Aaron Ramsey seemed to be both offside and interfering when Sánchez stuck away his shot, and were perhaps unlucky that Anthony Taylor did not stick to his original intention of blowing up for handball, but they could not deny that Arsenal had carved out by far the best chances. Chelsea did not seem their usual purposeful selves, and when word arrived just before the interval that they had not even remembered to pick up their black armbands before taking to the Wembley field it hardly came as a complete surprise.
The armband oversight was sorted out by the second half, and when Kanté opened up proceedings with a shot at Ospina and Hazard surged powerfully forward to send in a cross that Costa nearly reached it began to appear Chelsea had remembered the rest of the script too.
Certainly it looked much more like business as usual when Kanté dispossessed Sánchez to supply Costa, who backed into Per Mertesacker to set up Victor Moses for a shot that Ospina had to scramble to reach.
Suddenly it was a story of Chelsea surrounding their opponents’ area, though Arsenal can also play on the counter, and had Hector Bellerin supplied a better cross when Sánchez sent him away with a marvellous pass the contest could have been over just past the hour. With Chelsea improving and Arsenal doggedly protecting a slender lead the final was proving both watchable and exciting, though the longer it went on the greater the case became for the introduction of Cesc Fàbregas to increase the trailing side’s attacking options. Nemanja Matic duly made way with a little under half an hour of the match remaining, and after Courtois had saved from Bellerin at one end Fàbregas missed the target with his first chance at the other.
Fàbregas was also involved in the move that possibly influenced the outcome most, though not in the way he would have chosen. He supplied the pass to Hazard from which the Belgian picked out Moses on the right, who was cutting into the Arsenal area apparently weighing up his options when he inexplicably chose to hit the floor after a mere suggestion of contact with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. The referee was right on the spot and was having none of it, correctly signalling a dive and reaching for his pocket. Moses must have forgotten he had been booked 10 minutes earlier for a foul on Welbeck, and his look of almost amused incredulity did not do him any favours. He had to go, replays backed up Taylor’s reading of the situation, and Moses must have been as relieved as any Chelsea fan in the stadium when Costa equalised on behalf of the 10 men two minutes later.
Incredibly a five minute sequence of nonstop drama was completed when Ramsey responded with Arsenal’s winner almost instantly, taking advantage of poor positioning by David Luiz. At that precise point it was becoming necessary to remind oneself to breathe, and there was still drama to come when Ospina denied Costa at point-blank range. Chelsea can be proud of taking part in one of the great Cup finals, but the Double was not to be. A little too careless on the day.
