Chelski won the F.A. Cup. It’s a painful result for every neutral fan as the world wanted to see Everton win! And after Louis Saha scored the fastest goal in the history of an F.A. Cup Final, it seemed Everton were ready to derail Chelsea from their mission to win their first major trophy since the departure of Jose Mourinho. But it wasn’t to be for the Toffees.
I really thought Everton had this one in the bag. It seemed like their year, but unlike the way Manchester United folded like cheap lawn chairs after giving away an early goal in the Champions League Final, Chelsea dug deep and minute-by-minute they fought back to win. Drogba’s powerful header equalized to make it 1-1 and then Lampard saved the Blues once again with a lovely effort outside the box. Should Tim Howard have saved that shot? Maybe. But there was definitely nothing Howard could have done about Malouda’s incredible strike that definitely went over the line. The score should have been 3-1. And how similar was Malouda’s shot to Roberto de Matteo’s for Chelsea in the 1997 F.A. Cup Final? By the way, Di Matteo’s goal was the fastest scored at 43 seconds before Saha’s effort in this year’s final.
The season is now well and truly over and for Chelsea it was certainly a topsy-turvy one. This win will give them every confidence going into next season. Their players and fans must be gutted Guus Hiddink will not be returning as manger of the club. He really did help turn it around and it seems he’s receiving all the credit for Chelsea’s resurgence. But let’s also give some credit to the players (well everyone except Ashley Cole that is)!!! I guess I should mention that he has now won the most F.A. Cup medals of any player since 118 years ago! For us neutrals, that’s a really painful way to end a long but beautiful season…