Chelsea reached the FA Cup final for the third time in four seasons with a comprehensive, if controversial, 5-1 thrashing of London rivals Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley Stadium on Sunday.
Goals by Didier Drogba and Juan Mata either side of halftime put Chelsea in command, before Gareth Bale replied for Spurs, but Ramires, Frank Lampard and Florent Malouda struck again for the Blues, who are set to meet Liverpool in the final next month.
Mata’s strike in the 49th minute proved a major turning point as his shot appeared to have been blocked before the goal-line, only for referee Martin Atkinson to award a goal.
Photo: Reuters
In the end the decision did not prove decisive as Chelsea ran riot to give themselves a huge boost before hosting Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals tomorrow.
The only negatives were a hamstring injury to central defender David Luiz, who went off on a stretcher, and disrespectful chanting by some Chelsea fans which forced a pre-match silence to mark the anniversary of the Hillsborough tragedy to be cut short.
“It was a great performance by our team. I think that it’s a boost of confidence for us,” Blues caretaker manager Roberto Di Matteo told reporters after admitting his side had enjoyed a slice of fortune along the way. “In this case we were on the lucky side, but many times before we have had the game going against us. But we didn’t score two, we scored five.”
Photo: AFP
Chelsea, bidding to win the FA Cup for a sixth time and the fourth time since 2007, took the lead against the run of play.
Spurs had just began to enjoy some dominance when, in the 43rd minute, Drogba controlled Lampard’s lofted forward pass, held off William Gallas and turned to thrash an unstoppable shot past Carlo Cudicini, one of three former Chelsea players wearing Spurs shirts.
It was Drogba’s seventh goal in nine appearances at Wembley and it knocked the stuffing out of Tottenham, who had gone closest to taking the lead.
John Terry, back from a rib injury, blocked Rafael van der Vaart’s goal-bound header on the line and then Van der Vaart’s inswinging pass evaded Spurs striker Emmanuel Adebayor and Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech, but bounced off the post.
Tottenham began the second half groggily and Mata could have made it 2-0 with a low shot brilliantly saved by Cudicini.
Chelsea did not have to wait long to double their lead.
Cudicini again made a great save to deny Drogba and when the ball broke to Mata, he fired goalwards. The ball appeared to be blocked by the goalkeeper and Terry, who was prone on the turf.
To the astonishment of Cudicini, the Spurs players and even Terry, referee Martin Atkinson awarded the goal.
“I thought Mata’s strike hit me and didn’t go over, but the linesman’s seen it and given it,” Terry said. “I honestly don’t think it went over the line, but the linesman gave it and there’s nothing we can do about that. Spurs are one of the best sides in the league. It was a great performance and a great result.”
Tottenham’s goal also had a tinge of controversy.
Scott Parker put Adebayor through on goal with a superb pass and when the Togo striker pushed the ball past Cech he was sent tumbling by the goalkeeper. However, Cech escaped any punishment as Bale followed up to score into an empty net.
“I would rather have had the penalty and them down to 10 men,” Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp told reporters. “We had to gamble with four forwards at 2-1 down, and we were wide open and they picked us off.”
Tottenham pressed forward, but they were dealt a killer blow after 77 minutes when Ramires got behind Benoit Assou-Ekotto and finished coolly past Cudicini.
Lampard’s long-range free-kick past Cudicini sent Spurs fans streaming for the exits and substitute Malouda completed the party for Chelsea with a tap-in fifth.
With a Cup final booked on May 5, Chelsea now face a massive week as they host Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final, before a Premier League clash with Arsenal next weekend.
For Tottenham, a season that offered so much promise is crumbling before their eyes and they are left with the sole aim of trying to secure a top-four finish in the league.
Taiwan’s men’s table tennis team won bronze on Saturday at this year’s International Table Tennis Federation World Team Table Tennis Championships in London, matching the country’s best-ever finish at the regular tournament. Consisting of Lin Yun-ju, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7, Feng Yi-hsin, Kuo Guan-hong, Hong Jing-kai and Hsu Hsien-chia, the team won bronze after losing 0-3 to Japan in the semifinals. In the opening match, 24-year-old Lin played the first game against world No. 3 Tomokazu Harimoto 11-5, but ultimately lost the next three closely contested games 9-11, 10-12 and 10-12. Feng then faced world No. 8 Sora Matsushima in
Lin Yun-ju on Thursday handed Taiwan two key victories as they advanced to the semi-finals of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London. The Taiwan men’s table tennis team beat Sweden 3-2 in five singles matches. The 24-year-old Lin, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7 and nicknamed the “Silent Assassin,” opened the tie by defeating world No. 2 Truls Moregard 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11) before clinching the deciding fifth match with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5) win over Anton Kallberg to hand his team the overall victory. Kuo Guan-hong put Taiwan up 2-0 with a 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 8-11,
Taiwanese fire dancer Yang Li-wei advanced to the final of Britain’s Got Talent this weekend after receiving a Golden Buzzer during her live semi-final performance. Yang, a member of Taiwan’s Coming True Fire Group, awed judges and audiences with a high-intensity fire performance featuring flaming umbrellas, fire swallowing and spinning metal structures balanced with her legs. Judge Simon Cowell praised Yang as a star, while guest judge KSI reacted with amazement before pressing the Golden Buzzer, sending her to the finals. The dance group wrote on social media that the Golden Buzzer was “the highest honor” on the talent show, adding: “Twenty-three years
As Super Rugby fast approaches its playoff season it finds itself racing toward a reckoning with many issues that threaten the southern hemisphere tournament. A group of stakeholders met in the New Zealand city of Christchurch late last month to address problems that are making the future of the 31-year-old competition increasingly tenuous. The discussion was made more urgent by the decision by the owners of Moana Pasifika to fold the Auckland-based club for financial reasons. That followed the closure of the Melbourne Rebels at the end of the 2024 season, likewise because of financial difficulties. Problems addressed included player retention as more
RSS