Chelsea Clinches spot in FA Cup Final
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Arsenal 1-2 Chelsea
Poland international Lukasz Fabianski had a birthday to forget as his error gifted Chelsea a 2-1 victory in their FA Cup semi-final defeat of Arsenal at Wembley.
Theo Walcott put the Gunners ahead after 18 minutes when his volley took a deflection off Ashley Cole and beat Petr Cech.
Chelsea fought back and levelled through Florent Malouda, and sealed a return to Wembley when Didier Drogba latched on to a long ball ahead of the on-rushing Fabianski, and slotted into a empty net six minutes from time.
Although Andrey Arshavin went close in stoppage time, there was no way back for the Gunners, allowing Chelsea to claim capital dominance, while also quietly keeping them on track for the Treble.
And, as almost a side issue, there is bound to be a further clamour for Guus Hiddink to stay on as manager beyond next month, although it had not looked too good for the Dutchman earlier on.
Having conceded seven goals in a week, the last thing Petr Cech needed was to see another flash past him in slightly dubious circumstances.
In fairness, Cech was not the only one culpable. Nicolas Anelka was caught on his heels as Kieran Gibbs nipped past to reach Emmanuel Adebayor's neat pass.
Gibbs' cross was decent, allowing Theo Walcott to let fly with a first-time volley that flicked off Ashley Cole's hand.
The deflection did alter the direction of the ball. Yet the feeling persisted that the Cech of three years ago would have kept it out.
Walcott's goal was just reward for a sparkling start. The young England star was the pick of an Arsenal side whose movement was a joy to watch, even if their end product was not always the best.
Denilson and Abou Diaby had been asked to anchor midfield. Yet they still found time to push forward. Indeed, with a bit more composure, Diaby might have found the net himself.
The Gunners' bench contained Arshavin, Samir Nasri and Aaron Ramsey. In other areas they were lacking, specifically goalkeeper.
In all probability Manuel Almunia would not have been involved at Wembley even if an ankle injury had kept him on the sidelines.
On Friday Wenger expressed his faith in Fabianski. It looked more like blind optimism judging by the Pole's first-half performance.
On his 24th birthday, Fabianski was the one handing out presents, setting the tone barely two minutes into the game when he lost out in an aerial duel with Drogba, Gibbs forced to chase back and hack off the line as the Ivorian's header was about to bounce in.
Fabianski was then fortunate to escape when he failed to get behind a fierce shot from Florent Malouda that skimmed under his body before flashing across goal.
It all pointed to an equaliser, which duly arrived when Malouda cut inside Emmanuel Eboue and beat Fabianski at his near post, although it was hard to quibble with the Frenchman's accuracy.
Anelka hit a post after robbing Diaby inside the Arsenal box just before half-time and Chelsea continued to look the more likely scorers after the break, even though their opponents were, in patches, the better team.
An acrobatic clearance by Alex may have denied Walcott, who was involved in a fascinating duel with England team-mate Cole, but it fell perfectly for Robin van Persie, who could only fire disappointingly over.
Anelka was off target with a header at the other end, before Lampard volleyed an excellent chance wide from Drogba's cross.
Through all this, Fabianski had been relatively stable.
All that changed six minutes from the end when he inexplicably raced out of his area as Drogba brushed off Mikael Silvestre to reach Lampard's long ball.
What should have been a 50-50 duel turned into a walkover as Drogba skipped round Fabianski and tapped Chelsea into the final, where they will meet either Manchester United or Everton on May 30.
From www.soccernet.com
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Chelsea were deserved winners in a good match. It was a very spirited performance by both sides, with Frank Lampard making some very good tackles in the match, which doesn't always happen.
Arsenal was lucky though to finish the match with all 11 men with Denilson actually putting his hands on the referee. He didn't push the referee or hit him, but that wasn't like a friendly arm round the referee or something. A less lenient referee would also have sent him off.
There was a bit of luck involved in the opening goal with a deflection off Ashley Cole. However, Adebayor did well on Chelsea's right flank to create the opening and Chelsea's defence was left open and exposed.
Ivanovic didn't have a good match in my opinion and made a needless brash challenge that earned him a yellow card.
At both ends, Adebayor and Drogba made use of their large size which made it hard for opposing players to get them off the ball. And it was their good touch that resulted in good chances.
There was a bit of luck involved in the opening goal with a deflection off Ashley Cole. However, Adebayor did well on Chelsea's right flank to create the opening and Chelsea's defence was left open and exposed.
Drogba's goal reminds me of the one he scored against Man U in the FA Cup final two seasons ago. Quite similar in the sense that it involved a lob by Frank Lampard, a Drogba who outmuscled the last defender and good touch of the ball to beat the keeper and finish. Silly of him to concede the yellow for his celebrations though.
Van Persie was subject to some rough treatment but to me, Arsenal really lost their attacking threat when Adebayor came off. Against lesser teams, Arshavin coming on late in the game might have made a difference, he is a not bad player but something special would be needed to beat Chelsea.
Arsenal is left only with the Champs' League as most realistic chance of silverware this season and are infact lucky they are meeting Man U of the 3 other semi-finalists. Man U in europe seems like the most beatable and least convincing as compared to Barcelona and Chelsea.
But with their back four changing so constantly and injuries having limited the seasons of players like Van Persie and today's goalscorer. it really seems like it isn't Arsenal's year so far.
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Lol I followed the entire match via livescore.
Looks like lady luck rained on arsenal's parade. -
Wenger stands by Fabianski
“Yes [I feel sorry for him] because he is a great goalkeeper and I think it was not his greatest day,” Wenger told Setanta Sports’ Dan Roan after the game.
“But we have to take notes on board and he will learn a lot from today’s game.
“Inexperience? Yes. It was a game of course during which every mistake could be costly.”
“It is just disappointing because we had a good start, and we dropped a little bit physically,” he added.
“In the second half we had a few chances and the game was tight. I think that today we gave away two cheap goals.”
The Frenchman does not think that the Wembley pitch is good enough to play such a big game, and he said: “I believe as well that as long as the pitch is in a bad state you cannot see a great game in terms of technique. It is terrible.
“I believe that when people pay to watch a football game you have to make sure the pitch allows you to play a good game.”
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The pitch is bumpy and really sucks for a game of short passing football... though it does not give one team the advantage over the other... no excuse
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Originally posted by sand king:
Lol I followed the entire match via livescore.
Looks like lady luck rained on arsenal's parade.Don't think it was luck, in fact Chelsea actually hit the post once. If you watched you'll realise it's nothing about luck the way they won.
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chelsea was just the better side.
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now its either Man u or everton in the finals.
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Oh no here we go again...
Man utd versus Chelsea on all 3 fronts... how boring...
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Wenger put his best player on the bench. WTF?
It's all wenger fault.
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Originally posted by CannyOng:
Wenger put his best player on the bench. WTF?
It's all wenger fault.
Saving for the crunch league game against liverpool on tuesday? -
They secure the 4th place already what. What is the point of league game?
FA cup is the only glory they can get...
Wenger is crazy one lo.
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there is ucl
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Originally posted by CannyOng:
They secure the 4th place already what. What is the point of league game?
FA cup is the only glory they can get...
Wenger is crazy one lo.
4th place need to go through playoff to qualify for the champions league group stage, top 3 places no need.
They are aiming to snatch 3rd place from liverpool as usual.
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Both Hiddink and Wenger Heap Praise on Drogba.
But Wenger still can't resist a poke at Drogba being a diver.
"It is amazing," said Hiddink.
"Didier Drogba is playing a lot of games, every three or four days, and he is producing all the time.
"You do not just judge a striker by his goals. He can do a lot of other things for the team.
"But now Didier is scoring decisive goals in almost every game."
"Drogba is a killer," said the Frenchman.
"We made it a little bit easier for him but he never stops and is always focused. Look at the number of goals he has scored in big games.
"He dives a little bit too much sometimes but he is a great player."
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3rd and 4th need to go through playoff to qualify
only 1st and 2nd dont need -
Originally posted by limpper:
3rd and 4th need to go through playoff to qualify
only 1st and 2nd dont needrule change. check it out.
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at where
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google
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damn lost shyt