Chelsea beat Crystal Palace to book Liverpool clash in FA Cup final
India Today
Second-half goals from Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Mason Mount saw Chelsea overcome Crystal Palace 2-0 in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley Stadium on Sunday and set up a showdown with Liverpool.
Chelsea overcame Crystal Palace 2-0 in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley Stadium on Sunday and set up a showdown with Liverpool. This will be Chelsea’s 16th FA Cup final, their fifth in the last six years, and third in a row in this tournament. This is also their 10th successive victory over Crystal Palace in all competitions.
The game started with Crystal Palace trying to create chances by breaking Chelsea’s defence open. Forwards Jean-Philippe Mateta and Wilfred Zaha tried to run in behind the Blues’ defence but were unsuccessful in causing any real threat.
Mateo Kovacic, who has been unlucky on this ground as he was sent off last time out got injured, and was substituted in the 25th minute in place of Ruben Loftus Cheek. It was Eduard Mendy who made the first save keeping Kouyate’s low shot out and Schlupp smashed the rebound at the near post in the 36th minute.
Kai Havertz got in the referee’s book for diving after Marc Guehi’s challenge on the edge of the Crystal Palace box. Chelsea had the possession, took more shots, and had more dominance, but the Eagles were more threatening in the limited chances they had in the first half.
Chelsea clearly missed N’Golo Kante who started the game on the bench. Ruben Loftus Cheek and Jorginho could not hold the Palace attack who nicked the ball off the duo, leaving Thomas Tuchel’s men exposed, being very quick in transitions.
Palace started the second half defending deep, allowing Chelsea to press them high up the pitch. Timo Werner came very close to scoring as he ran in behind the defence, but couldn’t get any contact with the ball. Mitchell was dispossessed by Azpilicueta in a dangerous area, who gave the ball to Jorginho, and with a couple of one-touch passes, Ruben Loftus Cheek smashed the ball into the net, making it 1-0 for Chelsea in the 65th minute.
There was a little bit of intensity for Palace when Patrick Viera introduced Christian Benteke, but Chelsea scored their second through Mason Mount when he took a shot into the bottom corner, beyond Guaita, with an assist from Timo Werner in the 76th minute.
