The FA Cup final was set today, with Chelsea facing off against Liverpool on May 5th at Wembley Stadium in London. Liverpool defeated cross city rivals 2-1 on a Andy Carroll header, but the more exhilrating match came today, where Tottenham and Chelsea faced off in a London darby.
The first goal came one minute from half time, with Didier Drogba weaving a strike past Tottenham goalie Carlo Cudicini, who was picked over American Brad Friedel. Lampard sent the ball to Drogba on the run, who chested it, then took a touch and a shot, sending a streak past Cudicini. The half ended with Chelsea up 1-0.
The second half was where things got exciting. In the 49th minute, a stray header in the box landed at Juan Mata's feet. He tapped the ball towards a pile up of several Tottenham players and John Terry, who, in the process of trying to head the ball in off a cross, had knocked a few Tottenham players, including Cudicini, to the ground. This should have been a foul, but we must move on to the more controversial call. The ball was batted and stopped by a Tottenham defender, BEFORE it crossed the line. Referee Martin Atkinson called it a goal, though both he and linesmen Mick McDonough were completly blocked by the pile up. The goal was not overturned, and though Tottenham scored off another controversial goal just 7 minutes later, Spurs could never recover.
The goal 7 minutes later came off a near sending off for Petr Cech, when he tripped a wide open Emmanuel Adebayor, and Gareth Bale saved the Chelsea goalie by scoring. David Luiz pulled up lame on the play, and Gary Cahill came on for him. Now Chelsea led 2-1, though it should have been 1-1. The game was one of attacks and counter attacks, with no one side controlling the ball for long enough to make a difference. Then, with Harry Redknap trying to find a man who could provide the crucial goal, Rafael Van der Vaart, the very heart of Tottenham, was taking off for Jermaine Defoe. That was when everything collapsed for Tottenham, when just two minutes later the Blues led 3-1 off a clever through ball from Mata and a Messi-like finish from Ramires. Five minutes after that, Spurs truly fell apart after Frank Lampard smashed a 30-yard free kick in. Florent Malouda came on and scored the fifth goal for Chelsea with just a minute left in the game.
The score line, however uneven it may have looked, did not do true justice to the quality of the game. It was high paced, with the possesion 51-49 in Tottenham's favor, and exhilarting. Both teams played well but in the end, Chelsea were too much.
Chelsea have now drawn near to a success that may very well be counted as a lone one in this 2011-12 campaign. The BPL is out of comprhension, the League cup is over, and a semi final matchup against UEFA Champions League holder Barcelona surely means that the Blues are out of sed competition also. On the other hand, the FA Cup presents a very close and very winnable challenge, with Chelsea facing off against a struggling Liverpool side. The Reds occupy the eighth spot in the BPL table, and are very likely to finish out of Europe. Though they did win the League Cup, a FA Cup victory is vital for Kenny Daglish's men. For the Blues, the Premier League is more worrying, with Chelsea outside of Europe by 2 spots. Unless the Londoners win the Champions League, it seems unlikly for the Blues to be joining Europe's elite next fall. A lot rests on these last two months for both FA Cup finalist sides.
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