Thanks to a realization of Hakim Ziyech, Chelsea of Thomas Tuchel, author of a remarkable performance this Saturday at Wembley, mastered Manchester City of Pep Guardiola (1-0) in the semi-finals of the FA Cup. The Blues reach the final for the second year in a row and will face either Leicester or Southampton on May 15.
The gratin of English football appeared on the legendary Wembley lawn this Saturday for the first semi-final of this 2020-2021 edition of the FA Cup.
Chelsea, 5th in the Premier League, was indeed opposed to Manchester City, the undisputed leader of the championship across the Channel, two teams also present in the last four of the Champions League.
For this shock eagerly awaited by lovers of the round ball in His Majesty’s Kingdom, Thomas Tuchel did not deviate from the tactics put in place since his arrival on the Blues bench last January and aligned a 3-4-3 within particular the tenure of N’Golo Kanté in midfield or even Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner in the attack. For his part, Pep Guardiola, faithful to his 4-3-3, decided to trust Zack Steffen in the goals of the Citizens,
Unsurprisingly, Manchester City imposed a very high pressing in the Chelsea camp from the start and tried to stifle the Blues’ first raises.
The technical quality of the latter, however, allowed them to get out of the pressure exerted by Pep Guardiola’s men and quickly put their foot on the ball.
On the Londoners’ first offensive, Ziyech even thought of surprising the Skyblues but saw his goal being refused by Mike Dean for a slightly offside position at the start of the action (6th).
Chelsea, domineering at the start of the game, then posed big problems for the Mancunians thanks to their system of play and their positioning.
Perfectly served on a cross from Reece James at the far post, Ben Chilwell rushed on his volley and saw his shot go past Steffen’s goal (19th).
Laporte then worked to counter a dangerous center back from Werner (33rd) before James missed the target with a heavy shot entering the area (34th).
If Manchester City regained control of the leather at the end of the first period and tried to find the loophole in the defense of the Blues, the two teams could not decide between themselves before the break.
Hakim Ziyech sends Chelsea to final
Half-time did not change the intentions of Chelsea, who logically confirmed their good form today and opened the scoring thanks to Hakim Ziyech.
The same configuration as in the first half on the goal denied to the Blues: Timo Werner, perfectly launched in depth by Mason Mount, took advantage of a hazardous exit from Steffen to serve in the area the Moroccan international who no longer had than to push the ball into the empty goal (1-0, 55th).
In the process, the doorman of the Citizens caught up and prevented Ziyech, again him, from doubling the bet by winning his face-to-face (59th) after an absence of Ruben Dias.
Probably shaken by the exit on the injury of Kevin De Bruyne, injured in the ankle (48th), the leaders of the Premier League, unrecognizable, struggled to raise their heads in this semi-final and were very clumsy (65th, 70th, 73rd). Operating against, Chelsea did not want to deprive themselves of weighing down the mark but came up against the vigilance of Steffen (77th).
Manchester City multiplied the assaults at the end of the meeting to force the London lock but could not overcome the vigilance of a reassuring Kepa for its partners (82nd, 90 + 4th).
In the end, after a new goal denied to the Blues for offside (90 + 3rd), the Skyblues paid their failed match against a convincing Chelsea formation who won 1-0 and joined, as in the previous edition (lost to Arsenal), the FA Cup final.
The Citizens miss the opportunity to afford an incredible quadruplet, unheard of in England, but still remain in the race to achieve the treble (Premier League, Champions League, Carabao Cup).
Thomas Tuchel’s players, who have only lost 2 in 19 games since the German manager took office last January, confirm their excellent second half of the season. They will face, on May 15 at Wembley, either Leicester or Southampton (opposed this Sunday at 7:30 p.m. in the other semi-final), in an attempt to lift the trophy of the oldest competition for the ninth time in the history of the club.
