Chelsea cruised through to the 2018 FA Cup final after beating Southampton 2-0 at Wembley on Sunday afternoon.
Olivier Giroud’s 15th goal in the competition set Antonio Conte’s men on their way just after the break, before Alvaro Morata wrapped it up just moments after coming onto the pitch late on.
The Blues were made to work right until the end, but they will now meet Manchester United and their former boss Jose Mourinho in the showpiece next month.
Here are four talking points from the game.
1. Olivier Giroud loves playing against Southampton – and in the FA Cup
There can’t be many more underrated players in the Premier League than Giroud; the French striker is rarely fancied in the pre-game betting markets, and he has never commanded huge transfer fee or interest from the top clubs in the world. But Arsenal were undoubtedly taking a risk when they sold him to Chelsea in January and, slowly but surely, he has asserted himself under Conte, his manager, who supposedly didn’t want to sign him in the first place. Giroud loves playing Southampton, coming off the bench to score twice, inspiring a comeback win at St Mary’s Stadium in the Premier League, just last week. He flexed his muscles once again, netting his eighth goal in just 12 games against the Saints.
Rewarded for that display on Saturday with a start alongside Morata, who missed two other chances after scoring himself when he came on, against Burnley on Thursday, Giroud started ahead of him this time as Eden Hazard and Willian returned. His experience of Wembley, and the FA Cup, certainly paid dividends just 28 seconds into the second half; Cesc Fabregas found Hazard with an impeccably weighted pass and, after a quick turn, the Belgian found Giroud. He twisted, he turned, but under the pressure of a challenge that unbalanced him, he slotted the ball past Alex McCarthy; the 22nd goal in 26 FA Cup ties he has been involved in.
2. Southampton’s tactics saw them surrender in attack from the off
Mark Hughes’ team selection left a lot to be desired for Southampton; it wasn’t hard to see his reasoning, but because of his decision making, the Saints were second best in almost every department in the first half. Mario Lemina came into the centre of midfield in order to beef them up against the threat posed by Fabregas, but Southampton really missed the interplay of James Ward-Prowse, Nathan Redmond and Dusan Tadic, who were all on the bench. They stayed in the game for long periods, defending deep, and Hughes clearly wanted to attack the game as it went on, but it didn’t work out.
They were far too easy to play against; Fabregas was enjoying himself and, after being rested on Thursday night, Hazard and Willian were in the mood alongside Giroud. Charlie Austin and Shane Long played up front, but Hughes’ approach rendered them useless; without any of their most creative trident on the pitch, nobody could find the key pass. N’Golo Kante, interceptor extraordinaire, snuffed everything out and it was far too easy to cut the supply to Long particularly. Ryan Bertrand and Cedric Soares, usually two of Southampton’s biggest threats, just couldn’t impact the game from wing back; as soon as Tadic was introduced alongside Redmond in the second half, the space began to open up.
3. Hazard proves how he can make Chelsea tick with vintage display
When Hazard is focused and confident, there isn’t much out there to stop him. He may not have got on the scoresheet, but his performance was so impressive throughout. Not only did he assist Giroud’s opener, but he provided a constant outlet between the lines for the Blues, refusing to stand still and always playing with his head up. It would be easy to pinpoint his almost telepathic relationship with Giroud as a factor in his performance, but his impact on the game went well beyond that.
There weren’t many opportunities for him to get on the scoresheet, other than an effort that whistled past McCarthy’s post moments after Southampton almost pulled level. Everything went through Hazard, though; his touch was on point and absolutely nothing was for show. Once again he was the difference in a huge game for Chelsea but, with little chance of Champions League qualification next season, there may be a few men in suits in Madrid readying a phone call or two.
4. Southampton need to find full performances after decent showing after the break
Nobody was really surprised to see Southampton pick up the pace once the game was there to be chased, but it begged the question why Hughes had started so tentatively in the first half. Tadic and Redmond came on just after Giroud had put Chelsea ahead, and they injected the impetus into the play. Bertrand was getting forward more, which opened the pitch up, and the space between midfield and attack looked as if it had been halved. Redmond pulled a stunning save out of Willy Caballero, who replaced Thibaut Courtois in the Chelsea goal, and referee Martin Atkinson gave a foul against Austin as he challenged Caballero from the resulting corner. To add insult to injury, the ball appeared to go over the line after the goalkeeper dropped it.
Southampton must now pick themselves up and dust themselves down ahead of their final four league games; they are four points adrift of safety and the situation is looking dire. If the Saints are to get out of their predicament, they need to play the way they did in the second half at Wembley, but for the full 90 minutes.
