Full Time: Chelsea 2-0 Southampton
Chelsea qualified for the finals of the FA Cup in style as goals from Olivier Giroud and Alvaro Morata helped them beat Southampton 2-0. The Blues will now meet Manchester United in the epic finale set to take place on May 19th. It was a commanding performance from Antonio Conte’s men, who truly deserved the win.
Southampton’s Charlie Austin did come close to equalising but the goal was disallowed, which paved way for a bit of controversy. However, it all came down to a scintillating goal from Morata which sealed the outcome of the match.
Chelsea Player Ratings
Willy Caballero – 7/10
Maintained a clean sheet owing to some good saves in the second-half, particularly the one off Nathan Redmond.
Cesar Azpilicueta – 8.5/10
Southampton played with two strikers but Azpilicueta handled both of them with ease. Towards the end of the game, he partnered well with Morata as well.
Gary Cahill – 7/10
The skipper put in a reassuring performance and was defensively solid throughout the game.
Antonio Rudiger – 6/10
Utilised his pace well to keep Shane Long at bay. However, his passing was a bit haywire and he was caught out of position a few times as well.
Victor Moses – 7.5/10
A decent display from Moses, who started the match poorly but improved as time wore on.
Emerson – 7/10
Emerson could not contribute much to the attack but he was decent as far as defending is concerned.
N’Golo Kante – 9/10
Kante has played a crucial role for Chelsea this season and his influence was apparent in this game. Broke up the play effectively and aided the attack.
Cesc Fabregas – 7.5/10
Fabregas was particularly effective in the first-half but his influence waned after half-time. Nevertheless, it was a good show from the creative midfielder.
Willian – 8/10
Willian was a constant threat to the Southampton defence and he made some lung-busting runs. However, he was taken off by Conte with quite a lot of game time remaining and the player was visibly frustrated.
Olivier Giroud – 9/10
Linked up well with his teammates up front and was quite influential in aerial situations as well. He made a stupendous finish to see his goal fly safely into the net.
Eden Hazard – 10/10
Hazard was at his lethal best against Southampton. He utilised his skills well to show drive and passion and was involved from the starting whistle to the final one.
Subs:
Tiemoue Bakayoko – 5/10
Struggled with pace and looked a bit rusty.
Pedro – 6.5/10
Provided some much-needed energy in the midfield area.
Alvaro Morata – 7/10
This goal will surely restore the striker’s confidence ahead of the games to come.