FA Cup: Chelsea join Liverpool in final after victory over Crystal Palace

After Liverpool qualified on Saturday afternoon against Manchester City, the second semi-final of the 150th edition of the FA Cup saw Chelsea face off against Crystal Palace, still on the same sunny lawn at Wembley. The Blues, reigning European champions but eliminated from the last Champions League by Real Madrid, wanted to save their up and down end to the season with a national cup final. For their part, the Eagles stagnated in the soft underbelly of the championship and had the opportunity to get closer to their first coronation in the history of the competition. To do this, Patrick Vieira trusted his compatriot Jean-Philippe Mateta at the forefront of his attack alongside Wilfried Zaha and Eberechi Eze. For his part, Thomas Tuchel put N’Golo Kanté on the bench, preferring Mateo Kovacic to him with Jorginho in his midfield. The continuation after this advertisement Not seeming to have forgotten the exit of the Cup with the big ears, the Blues, dressed in yellow for the occasion, did not show great offensive intentions, if not aggressiveness in the last third. Injured during the meeting, Kovacic even had to leave his place on the field to Ruben Loftus-Cheek (26th). On the contrary, the men of the 1998 world champion did not hide and even won the best opportunity of the first period: at the entrance to the penalty area, Cheikhou Kouyaté drew a low recovery, well diverted by Édouard Mendy, who distinguished himself a second time in the wake of the close range strike from Joachim Andersen, finally signaled offside (36th). At the break, this London derby remained on a goalless draw. Coaching winner When he returned from the locker room, the former Paris Saint-Germain coach left with the same eleven players, waiting for an electric shock from them. Mason Mount tried to concretize the reaction of his people but his strike passed far from the goals of Jack Butland (49th). On the Palace side, Vieira brought in former Marseillais Jordan Ayew to keep the pressure on the opposing defense, in vain. But on another corner kick, Kouyaté could have deceived a motionless Mendy if his helmet shot had not grazed his right post of the Blues (61st). Chelsea were successful after the hour mark: on a low cross from Kai Havertz pushed back, the incoming Loftus-Cheek took the ball perfectly to deceive the English goalkeeper, well helped by the deflection of Andersen (1 -0.65e). An opener far from undeserved given the dominance in the game of the men in yellow, pushing Crystal Palace back in its last 30 meters. Seeing the Eagles go up the field to come back to score, the Blues took advantage of the spaces in the back of their defense to worry the CPFC rearguard. It was finally against a low block that Mason Mount doubled the lead: eliminating Andersen thanks to his oriented control, the Englishman found Butland’s small left net to make the break (2-0, 76th). Entering the game, Lukaku could even seal the fate of the meeting but his resumption of the center of Timo Werner hit the post, before the defense of Palace countered the resumption of the right foot of Hakim Ziyech (90th). The score did not move until the final whistle: Chelsea joined Liverpool in the final of this FA Cup, scheduled for May 14 in the same lair of Wembley, to seek the 9th FA Cup in its history.