Chelsea Wins English FA Cup 2012

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It was celebration galore at Wembley stadium as Chelsea lifted the FA Cup for the 4th time in 6 years and their first major trophy under Roberto Di Matteo. Nobody gave them a chance considering their poor runs and their inconsistency in the league this season.

Ramires opened scoring for the Blues in the 11th minute after collecting Juan Mata’s pass from the midfield. The mercurial and fast paced midfielder simply outran Liverpool’s last standing defender Jose Enrique and drove a powerful shot that beat goal keeper Pepe Reina for the first goal. It would be recalled that his first goal was all they needed to qualify for the Champions’ league final at Camp Nou in their match against FC Barcelona last time.

It took Chelsea only 7 minutes on resumption of the second half to finish up their already started job. Didier Drogba scored the winning goal for the blues in the 52nd minute to become the first player to score a goal in 4 FA Cup finals in the 141 years history of the tournament. This victory also made it Ashley Cole’s 7th FA Cup title having won 3 with Arsenal FC previously.

Liverpool’s substitute, Andy Carroll pulled a goal back in the 64th minute but it was not enough to stop the Blues from winning the 2012 edition. The reds started to mount pressure in the second half of the match after the damage had been done. Andy Carroll almost got a second goal but his goal-bound header was saved by goal keeper Petr Cech before it could cross the goal line.

The London club now has silverware and has already qualified for the Champions’ League finals against Bayern Munich in Munich come 19th May 2012. They are also in the 6th place on the EPL table and can still play in Europe next season at least in the Europa League should they fail to lift the Champions’ League.

What happens if Di Matteo eventually wins the UEFA Champions’ League on the 19th of May in Germany? Would he then be confirmed as the Chief Coach of Chelsea or would Roman Abrahamovic still continue to search for a more experienced coach as many soccer pundits believe that Di Matteo does not have the pedigree to take the blues to greater heights?

Whatever be the case the coach has done remarkably well having won his first trophy with a team that was obviously in crisis when he took over from Andre Villas Boas few months ago. He has been able to return Chelsea to winning streaks again. Whether he remains at Stamford Bridge or not, he has proved his mettle and also proved a lot of pundits wrong.

Chelsea Wins English FA Cup 2012