Chelsea
booked their place in the FA Cup final after a 5-1 demolition of Tottenham
Hotspur at Wembley.
Despite the emphatic scoreline, much of the pre-match discussion will surround
Chelsea's second goal which should not have stood.
After Didier Drogba's stunning opener, Juan Mata claimed Chelsea's second but
replays showed that his shot was cleared by Benoit Assou-Ekotto and was nowhere
near crossing the line - but referee Martin Atkinson allowed it.
Spurs pulled one back through Gareth Bale, before Chelsea ran riot late on.
Ramies' brilliant finished made it 3-1, before Frank Lampard smashed home a
long-range free-kick soon after.
Substitute Florent Malouda wrapped up the win in the final minute, to cap an
emphatic display from Roberto Di Matteo's side and piled yet more misery on
Spurs boss Harry Redknapp.
Chelsea, now through to their 11th FA Cup final, raised their game to play like
a team used to gracing the Wembley turf while Redknapp's team were wasteful and
nervous.
Tottenham, who went in to this game with one win in their last eight league
matches, will have no trophy to show for a season that started with so much hope
but threatens to end with a big whimper.
Chelsea thoroughly deserved their win and will now go into Wednesday's game
against Barcelona rightly full of confidence.
Nervy
There was no indication this game would end up being a goal-fest during a nervy
opening quarter in North London.
Drogba bustled his way past William Gallas to get on the end of a long punt from
the back but he horribly mis-hit a volley and Cudicini gathered.
The Chelsea defence then backed off and allowed Scott Parker in, but Lampard put
in a crucial block.
Careless defending from Kyle Walker then almost gifted Chelsea the lead. He
dallied on the ball and Salomon Kalou took advantage, galloping 40 yards towards
goal before finding Mata, but his touch let him down.
The Spurs fans thought their team had the breakthrough nine minutes before
half-time when Rafael van der Vaart beat Petr Cech, but John Terry cleared off
the line.
Emmanuel Adebayor then missed an easy chance. The former Arsenal striker slipped
his marker to get in the path of Van der Vaart's looping cross but he failed to
connect and the ball struck a post before bouncing to safety.
Tottenham were instantly made to pay for the mistake as Drogba fired Chelsea
ahead in the 43rd minute.
The former Marseille man picked up Lampard's long ball and turned Gallas easily
before firing a fierce rising shot past Carlo Cudicini.
Chelsea's second came in the 48th minute, but only in very controversial
circumstances.
Ledley King's clearance from David Luiz's header fell in to the path of Mata,
whose shot hit King on the line and Benoit Assou-Ekotto then cleared while
laying on the turf.
The ball had not crossed the line, but referee Atkinson blew his whistle and
awarded the goal, much to the fury of the Spurs players and supporters.
Van der Vaart led the vocal protests, shouting at the referee, while another
group of Spurs players surrounded assistant Mick McDonough complaining at the
decision.
Atkinson waved away their protests, however, and the goal stood.
Tottenham got themselves back in to the game six minutes later.
Scott Parker's brilliant slide-rule pass sent Adebayor free, he was sent
tumbling by Petr Cech and Luiz, but the referee played advantage, allowing Bale
to tap in to an empty goal from five yards.
Luiz was hurt in the challenge and was carried off on a stretcher to be replaced
by Gary Cahill.
Chelsea almost restored their two-goal cushion on the hour mark when Terry
climbed to meet Lampard's corner but Assou-Ekotto cleared off the line.
King headed just wide from Van der Vaart's corner as Spurs looked desperately
for an equaliser in the final 20 minutes.
Inspiration
Redknapp looked to Jermain Defoe for inspiration, the England striker replacing
van der Vaart with 15 minutes to go, but the game soon fell to pieces for the
men in white.
Ramires latched on to Mata's through-ball after being played onside by Walker
and he coolly lifted the ball over the advancing Cudicini.
The Tottenham fans fell silent for the first time and they started leaving in
their droves with 10 minutes to go thanks to a brilliant 30-yard free-kick from
Lampard which dipped and swerved past Cudicini to make it 4-1.
Florent Malouda replaced Ramires and, worryingly for Di Matteo, Drogba hobbled
off to be replaced by Fernando Torres.
Malouda robbed Gallas and wandered unchallenged in to the box, but his looping
shot just missed the goal, and Torres at the back post.
Tottenham's frustration boiled over in injury-time when Parker lashed out at
John Obi Mikel after the Nigerian kicked the England captain while he was on the
floor. Both were booked.
The humiliation was complete moments later when Malouda got on the end of Mata's
pass and slid past Cudicini for Chelsea's fifth.
Teams
Tottenham Hotspur
Cudicini, Walker,
King, Gallas, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon, Modric, Parker (Sandro 90), Bale, Van
der Vaart (Defoe 75), Adebayor,
Subs Not Used Friedel, Nelsen,
Levermore, Rose, Dos Santos
Booked
Adebayour, Gallas, Parker
Goals Bale 56
Chelsea
Cech, Bosingwa, Luiz (Cahill 59),
Terry, Cole, Mikel, Lampard, Ramires
(Malouda 82), Mata, Kalou, Drogba (Torres 84)
Subs Not Used
Turnbull, Essien, Meireles, Sturridge
Booked
Drogba, Mikel
Goals
Drogba 43, Mata 49, Ramires 77, Lampard 81, Malouda 90
Attendance
85,731
Referee
M. Atkinson
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