Finally!

FA Cup Final

Arsenal v Chelsea

Saturday 1st August 5.30pm

In front of the smallest attendance for a Wembley FA Cup final since 1923, Chelsea kicked off the London derby.

After only two minutes, Arsenal created an opportunity to take the lead. Maitland-Niles skilfully kept the ball in play down the left touchline, chipped in to Aubameyang at the near post, but his header was wide.

A couple of minutes later, Mount robbed Xhaka in midfield, advanced on the Arsenal goal and his fierce shot required a good save from Martinez.

It was a lively start and we settled back for what promised to be a good final.

Six minutes in, Chelsea launched another attack on the Arsenal box. Mount received the ball, squared for Giroud to flick on to Pulisic, and the American opened the scoring with a controlled finish. 0 - 1.

On the quarter hour mark, Kovacic received a yellow card for a careless late tackle on Xhaka.

When the now familiar drink break came, we had a chance to catch our breath and reflect on the events so far. It was a pulsating game, with Chelsea looking threatening going forwards, while the pace of Maitland-Niles and Aubameyang promised danger from the Gunners.

Arsenal thought they had equalised on 25 minutes when a sweeping move was finished by Pepe, but the linesman had raised his flag several seconds earlier.

However, a minute later, parity was restored. Aubameyang ran clear of Azpilicueta, who pulled down the Arsenal striker, earning a booking. There was some doubt about the location of the foul, with first contact just outside the area but play being stopped inside. On first viewing it looked like a penalty, but the referee deferred to VAR for the decision. After several minutes, the spot kick was awarded.

Inevitably, it was Aubameyang who stepped forward and, inevitably, he sent Caballero the wrong way. 1 - 1.

Chelsea were defending high, allowing the pace of Arsenal to get behind their back line. Meanwhile, the Blues passed effectively through midfield, so chances came and went in both directions. We expected more goals.

As the half neared its end, Arsenal began a sustained period of pressure. They exploited the width of the Wembley pitch well, with Maitland-Niles on the left and Pepe on the right, both feeding dangerous balls into the Chelsea area.

With a minute left, another Pepe surge brought a foul from Christensen, right on the edge of the area. Lacazette took the resulting free kick, but blazed his shot wide of the right post.

Chelsea were on the back foot, and the fourth official indicating an additional five minutes did not help. However, they managed to keep the Gunners out until, with relief, they heard the referee whistle.

Half Time Arsenal 1 - 1 Chelsea

We took a well-deserved break, refreshing our drinks, discussing the match. It was a good first half, with plenty of incident, a couple of goals, and we were excited for the second period.

Chelsea went on the attack immediately after the restart. Pulisic, who had impressed throughout the opening 45 minutes, gathered the ball near the halfway line, surged forward and shot inches wide. Just as he pulled the trigger, he pulled up, grabbing his left hamstring. His reaction told a clear story, with pain etched on his face as he dropped to the ground. Sadly, his final was over and he limped dejectedly to the dugout, with Pedro taking his place.

In the 57th minute, a precise ball from Jorginho found Mount in an advanced position, but the Chelsea midfielder failed to connect effectively, returning possession to Arsenal. They broke immediately through Pepe who slid the ball to Lacazette, and he squared to Aubameyang. However, the Arsenal forward struggled to get his shot away and Chelsea cleared.

Although the Blues continued to show their promise from the first half, it was Arsenal who posed more threat going forward.

After 67 minutes, Bellerin stole the ball in midfield, only to be tackled strongly by Christensen. Pepe picked up the loose ball, squared to Aubameyang, who skilfully deceived the Chelsea defence, switching the ball to his left foot and delicately lifting it over the advancing Caballero. It was a sublime finish and fair reward for the Gunners. 2 - 1.

With a little over quarter of an hour remaining, Kovacic committed another reckless challenge on Xhaka. Ceballos immediately indicated to the ref that he should show a card, which would be the second for the Chelsea player. This is a sad part of the modern game, which the official clearly felt as he showed a yellow to the arsenal man. However, he also considered the foul deliberate and, somewhat harshly, double Kovacic's yellow card tally, sending him for an early bath.

This was a huge setback for Chelsea, who had been showing determination to get on level terms. They persevered and, in the 80th minute, the ball was played long to Abraham with only the keeper to beat. Martinez claimed the ball, but it looked to be outside the area. There were strong appeals from the Blues and several angles were viewed by VAR but, to the dismay of the Chelsea contingent, the decision was in favour of Arsenal.

It appeared that this combination of events knocked the stuffing out of Chelsea, who looked broken. Despite the addition of seven minutes, they only created one more meaningful attack when Pedro ran clear of the Arsenal defenders, but was thwarted by a resolute Martinez.

Fourteen extra minutes were actually played before the referee decided enough was enough and, finally, blew to end the match.

Full Time Arsenal 2 - 1 Chelsea

It was an entertaining and exciting final, certainly up until the Kovacic dismissal, and the Gunners were worthy of the win. Aubameyang received the Man of the Match accolade, although we thought Maitland-Niles and Pepe were both outstanding on the flanks.

Congratulations to Arsenal, FA Cup Winners 2020.

Finally, after 358 days, the road to Wembley ended.

Or did it?

Ratings:

Food 10/10

Facilities 10/10

Atmosphere and Entertainment 9/10 (Would have been a classic without the Kovacic red card)

Attendance: 0 in stadium, 8.2 million at home.

Round trip: 0 miles

#FACup