Five days after their elimination in the Champions League quarter-finals against Real Madrid, Chelsea were able to console themselves somewhat by sealing their place to the FA Cup final, after beating Crystal Palace 2-0this Sunday in his semifinal.
The men of Thomas Tuchel tthey had to wait for the second half to get the winwith goals from Ruben Loftus-Cheek (minute 65) and Mason Mount (75).
They thus earned the right to confront each other. on May 14 in the Wembley final against Liverpool, who beat Manchester City 3-2 in the semi-final played on Saturday.
That duel will be a reissue of the other ‘coopera’ final of this season in England, the one played by those same two teams at the end of February in the FA Cup.
Then the match ended in a 0-0 draw. and Liverpool took the title in the penalty shootout (11-10).
Chelsea will be aiming for their ninth FA Cup title, having achieved the last one in 2018, while Liverpool will be looking for the eighth and have not lifted that trophy since 2006.
Chelsea won 3-2 on Tuesday of this week at the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid and was close to reaching the semifinals of the Champions League, but ended up paying in the Spanish capital, in extra time, the 3-1 loss they had suffered in the first leg at Stamford Bridge.
It remained to be seen how the south London team had digested that elimination and the ‘Blues’, who played in yellow on this occasion, They responded professionally and efficiently.
In the Premier League, Chelsea is third but off the hook for the title, so the FA Cup is presented as his opportunity to finish the course with a title, which would add to those achieved throughout the season in the European Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup.
– Patience rewarded –
After the 120 minutes that Chelsea had to play on Tuesday in Madrid, Tuchel barely made three changes in his eleven compared to those who started at the Bernabéu, especially leaving Thiago Silva and N’Golo Kanté on the bench.
Distrusting Crystal Palace, which is only thirteenth in the Premier League, Tuchel showed that he took the game very seriously, despite the fact that the rival could not count on Conor Gallagher, for example, his great entertainer in midfield, who has a contract with Chelsea and could not be lined up for this match due to a clause in his loan contract.
Crystal Palace tested the reflexes of the rival goalkeeper, Edouard Mendy, in various phases of the match, as happened with defender Cheikhou Kouyaté, who tried it with a rebound in the 36th minute and with a header from a corner kick in the 60th.
Chelsea did not lose their nerve and little by little he was reaching the domains of his opponent.
The first goal came in 65, when Kai Havertz’s cross was poorly cleared by the Crystal Palace defense and the ball went to Loftus-Cheek, who did not miss the chance.
Ten minutes later, Mason Mount placed second (75), Timo Werner’s cross and deceiving goalkeeper Jack Butland with a shot from close range.
In the final part of the match, the Belgian Romelu Lukaku, who had started as a substitute, sent to the post (90).
