After yesterday’s main event, Arsenal and Manchester City was a bit of a letdown in terms of entertainment, but the Gunners and all their fam won’t care one bit after engineering a comeback win over Guardiola’s favored men.
20 - Arsenal have now reached more FA Cup finals than any other team in the competition's history. Magic.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 23, 2017
Sergio Aguero opened the scoring on a counter in the second half after City dominated the scoreless first, but a goal from Nacho Monreal of all players was enough to send the game into extra-time, where Alexis Sánchez popped up with the crucial winner after some hilarious defending on a free kick.
The Blues will face Arsenal at Wembley in the FA Cup final on Saturday 27 May. pic.twitter.com/JLasCOQ4bR
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) April 23, 2017
Arsenal, who have won two of the last three FA Cups, now face Chelsea, who have more FA Cup wins (4), than any other team in the last 10 years, though none since 2012.
7 - @ChelseaFC have reached their 7th FA Cup final since the year 2000, more than any other side in the 21st century. Regulars. pic.twitter.com/iCIW2HFjdx
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 22, 2017
This will be a rematch of the 2002 final that the Gunners won 2-0 with fantastic second half goals from Ray Parlour and Freddie Ljungberg, one better than the other, completing the last Double in England by a team not named Chelsea. A certain Ashley Cole was a 21-year-old left back in this one, winning the first of his still-record seven FA Cup wins (three with Arsenal, four with Chelsea).
While we might make plenty of fun of Arsenal, their fan TV, and of course their manager, in a one-off match, anything can happen, especially with Wenger actually trying new things (3-4-3 today!) and our good friend Petr Čech on hand to make the difference.