Sunday, May 31, 2009

Full-time: Chelsea 2-1 Everton

90+4 mins - Webb blows the full-time whistle and Chelsea have won The FA Cup for the fifth time to give their Temporary Manager the perfect send off. Goals from Drogba and Lampard are enough to give Chelsea their first trophy since 2007.

90+3 mins - Baines is booked for bringing down Jose Bosingwa on the edge of the area.

90+2 mins - Anelka outpaces Lescott to reach Lampard's ball forward, but he is unable to convert.

90 mins - With time running out, Cahill shoots from distance but it bends just wide. There are to be four added minutes.

88 mins - Chelsea left-back, Ashley Cole, is named the 'E.ON Man of the Match' as the clock ticks towards the 90-minute mark.

84 mins - Lampard receives a booking from Webb after he was adjudged to have dived under a challenge from Pienaar. The attendance at Wembley is 89, 391.

83 mins - Danny Gosling, Everton's hero against Liverpool in the Fourth Round, replaces Leon Osman.

81 mins - Howard collects a backward header from Drogba, before setting Everton up on the counter attack. Vaughan's first meaningful contribution since coming off the bench sees him send in a delicious cross from the left, but Cech gets his hand to the ball with Cahill lurking menacingly.

78 mins - Chelsea's French winger tries to atone for his earlier miss with an audacious attempt - another from distance - which cannons off the bar.

77 mins - Everton's goalscorer, Saha, is replaced by James Vaughan as Everton look for the equalising goal.

75 mins - After Cole expertly controls Drogba's cross field ball, Malouda should have extended Chelsea's lead, but shoots over after escaping the offside trap.

74 mins - Pienaar attempts to restore parity immediately, but his shot lacks direction.

72 mins - GOAL! After his sighter in the first half, Lampard drives Chelsea into the lead with just under 20 minutes left to play. He is found by Anelka almost 25 yards from goal, he turns Neville but is forced to hit the ball with his left foot following a slip. It matters not as his powerful shot bends away from Howard and into the corner of the net. It is one of the best goals we have seen in an FA Cup Final in recent years.

70 mins - Malouda bursts down the left and flashes the ball across the box at pace, but it is too fierce for Drogba to do anything with and it just cannons off the Ivorian and hits the stanchion.

67 mins - An Everton free-kick almost gives David Moyes' side the lead. Leighton Baines is played in down the left and his pinpoint cross is met by Saha who heads over from close range, when he should have at least hit the target.

63 mins - John Obi Mikel is the first Chelsea player to receive a caution this afternoon.

62 mins - Cahill and Terry climb for a high ball and the break favours the Australian. He drives the ball goalwards from distance, but Cech is right behind it.

61 mins - Guus Hiddink makes his first change of the afternoon as Essien is replaced by Michael Ballack.

60 mins - Lampard threads the ball through for Anelka to run on to, but the Frenchman can only lift the ball over the bar from an angle.

57 mins - Both sets of fans really turn up the volume at Wembley as they try to urge their team to victory with just over half an hour remaining.

51 mins - Alex cuts out a through ball from Pienaar which seemed destined to send Saha on his way.

50 mins - Malouda sends a ball high into the crowd from a corner.

48 mins - Everton skipper, Phil Neville, is the second player in Webb's notebook.

46 mins - Everton make one change at the break with Lars Jacobsen replacing Tony Hibbert at right-back. Drogba and Lampard get the second half up and running.

45+2 mins - Webb sounds his whistle and this FA Cup Final reaches its halfway point with the score locked at 1-1.

45 mins - There are to be two added minutes at the end of the first half.

44 mins - Cole benefits from a Fellaini deflection and embarks on a foray into the Everton area, but he slices his shot harmlessly wide.

36 mins - Pienaar then tries to thread the ball through to the Toffess' goalscorer, but John Terry is on hand to clear.

34 mins - Everton clear a Lampard corner, allowing Steven Pienaar to gallop into the Chelsea half. He finds Saha who chips the ball forward for Tim Cahill, but the ball has slightly too much weight on it and Cech collects.

23 mins - Having recovered from Saha's hammer blow, Guus Hiddink's side now attempt to take the lead. Lampard attempts a trademark long-range effort but it's narrowly too high to trouble Howard.

21 mins - GOAL! The Toffee faithful are soon silenced by Drogba's equaliser for Chelsea. Drogba gets ahead of Lescott on the edge of the six yard box to head home a Malouda centre. It is Drogba's second Cup Final goal in three years after his winner against Manchester United in 2007.

19 mins - Buoyed by Saha's opening goal, the Everton fans are in good voice as they long for their first FA Cup Final victory since 1995.

15 mins - Fellaini chases a bouncing ball into the Chelsea area, but he can't quite jump high enough and Cech gathers.

14 mins - Chelsea are beginning to see more of the ball and create another opportunity to equalise. Michael Essien fires a shot high and wide after being set-up by Drogba.

12 mins - Ashley Cole and Florent Malouda threaten down the left flank only to be foiled by Howard, but the Assistant Referees flag is raised for an offside against Cole.

8 mins - Frank Lampard sends a free-kick into the Everton box, but it dips harmlessly over Howard's bar. Tony Hibbert receives a yellow card from referee Howard Webb.

5 mins - After recovering from the very early setback, Chelsea begin to assert themselves. Nicolas Anelka crosses for Didier Drogba, but a combination of Tim Howard and Joleon Lescott prevents the Ivorian from doing any damage.

1 min - GOAL! Amazing scenes here at Wembley! Louis Saha writes himself into the history books by scoring the fastest goal in FA Cup Final history, slamming the ball home after just 25 seconds. A Steven Pienaar cross is nodded down by Marouane Fellaini and Saha fires the ball beyond Petr Cech in the Chelsea goal. The Everton fans go wild.

You can follow the action between the Blues of Chelsea and Everton here on TheFA.com and via our Twitter. To register for our updates go to www.twitter.com/thefadotcom.

The Teams

Chelsea
1 Petr Cech, 3 Ashley Cole, 5 Michael Essien (13 Michael Ballack, 61), 8 Frank Lampard, 11 Didier Drogba, 12 Mikel John Obi, 15 Florent Malouda, 17 Jose Bosingwa, 26 John Terry (c), 33 Alex, 39 Nicolas Anelka
Subs 40 Henrique Hilario, 2 Branislav Ivanovic, 9 Franco Di Santo, 21 Salomon Kalou, 35 Juliano Belletti, 42 Michael Mancienne

Everton
24 Tim Howard, 2 Tony Hibbert (15 Lars Jacobsen, 46), 3 Leighton Baines, 4 Joseph Yobo, 5 Joleon Lescott, 9 Louis Saha (14 James Vaughan, 77), 17 Tim Cahill, 18 Phil Neville (c), 20 Steven Pienaar, 21 Leon Osman (32 Dan Gosling, 83), 25 Marouane Fellaini
Subs 1 Carlo Nash, 8 Segundo Castillo, 26 Jack Rodwell, 37 Jose Baxter

Kit Colours
Chelsea Yellow shirts, yellow shorts and yellow socks
Everton Blue shirts, white shorts and white socks

Fans
Chelsea West End
Everton East End

Match Officials
Referee Howard Webb
Assistants Michael Mullarkey and David Richardson
Fourth Official Martin Atkinson

Did you know?

  • Everton last appeared in an FA Cup Final in 1995, beating Manchester United 1-0.
  • Chelsea's last appearance in The FA Cup Final was just two years ago. They also beat United 1-0.
  • This is the 128th season of The FA Cup, and it will be the 75th FA Cup Final at Wembley.
  • The First Final was played at Kennington Oval in 1872, a 2,000 crowd paid a shilling (5p) each to watch.
  • This season’s Cup has had 925 matches and 3,035 goals. The biggest win was Mildenhall Town 8 Felixstowe & Walton United 0 in the Extra Preliminary Round (Attendance 166).
  • The Final will be seen by 90,000 fans inside Wembley and nearly 500 million around the globe on television.
  • The 88,141 crowd for Manchester United v Everton at Wembley last month was the highest ever for a Semi-Final.
  • Chelsea and Everton have already played in 20 Finals between them. Chelsea have lifted The Cup four times and Everton five times.
  • Twins Amar and Arjun Purewal scored for Bishop Auckland against Darlington RA in this season’s Extra Preliminary Round in August.
(From Website : http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/FACompetitions/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/2009/TheFACupFinal2009.aspx)