Chelsea took on Liverpool at Wembley on Saturday in the 150th FA Cup final. Liverpool picked the lineup that was expected but Konate started ahead of Matip. Mendy started in goal for Chelsea with a back three of Chalobah, Silva, and Rudiger. James and Alonso started as the wing-backs with Kovacic and Jorginho in midfield. Mount started behind Lukaku and Pulisic. Werner and Havertz were ruled out due to hamstring issues. It was the same lineup as Leeds and one that several felt was the right one.
Chelsea started the game poorly and Diaz had plenty of joy in behind James and Chalobah for the opening 15-20 minutes. Liverpool were just playing ball in behind Chelsea’s defence and Diaz was running onto them. Chelsea survived the onslaught and grew into the game. Pulisic came close for Chelsea with the first real chance for the team. Pulisic then played in Alonso who missed his chance. Salah had to come off for Jota. The half ended evenly with both teams having had good chances.
Chelsea started the second half brilliantly and Pulisic saw his shot saved by Alisson early in the 2nd half. Alonso then saw his free-kick hit the bar. Liverpool came back and got some chances of their own but missed as well. Pulisic then had a good chance to finish but his shot went wide again. Diaz hit the post late in the half and Robertson also hit the post but Chelsea stayed in the game as extra time came into play.
Extra time yielded no chance for either team and the game went to penalties. Alonso and Milner converted theirs to make it 1-1. Azpilicueta missed his and Thiago finished his to make it 1-2 to Liverpool. James and Firmino converted to make it 2-3. Barkley and Trent converted to make it 3-4. Jorginho converted to make it four for Chelsea and Mane with a chance to win the game saw his saved to bring Chelsea back into the shootout. Ziyech and Jota converted to make it 5-5 but Mount missed and Tsimikas converted to win Liverpool the FA Cup.
Chelsea Team Review
Goalkeeper
Mendy had a stellar game. Some shady passing at the back but big saves and saved the penalty as well. Another clean sheet against Liverpool and not much more could be asked from the goalkeeper.
Defenders
Chalobah did well after initially struggling against Diaz. Silva battled through for the whole 120 minutes and looked exhausted by the end of it. Rudiger did well but could not find joy going forward. James was amazing once again and probably should have had an assist once again. Alonso missed several chances and was infuriating. Azpilicueta came on and missed a penalty. Defensively Chelsea were solid and got the job done the team did not concede a goal.
Midfielders
Jorginho had a brilliant game and controlled the tempo for Chelsea. The Italian was strong defensively after the shaky start. Kovacic looked like he was playing at 50% but he held on until the 60th minute when Kante came on. Mount had a decent game but was missing times and missed the penalty. Kante struggled at first but made some massive tackles. RLC came on and then went off as the game headed to penalties. Barkley came on for penalties and scored.
Forwards
Pulisic was good but at the same time wasteful infant of goal. He should have finished his chances and Chelsea would have won. He is a talented player but needs to find consistency. Lukaku was missing again. van Dijk and Konate handled him well and he could not make a real impact. He missed a brilliant chance on his left foot. Ziyech came on late in the game and did well.
Manager
Tuchel coached another win for Chelsea but the finishing let us down. We didn’t concede against Liverpool and again on another day we win this game. Just a tough time for him and the team.
Chelsea lose a 2nd straight final at Wembley this season and have lost the last three FA Cup finals in a row. It is not a good record to have. Players can miss penalties but missing chances once again is what cost us the trophy. We also missed the movement of Werner and Havertz and that was unlucky. These players need to be clinical otherwise we will always rue the chances we miss. Next up is a visit by Leicester as Chelsea look to seal top 3rd. COME ON CHELSEA!!!