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Chelsea vs. Manchester United, FA Cup final: Live blog - CHAMPIOOOONS!

Lineups, live blog, open thread, highlights, updates

FT: CHELSEA ARE THE 2017-18 FA CUP CHAMPIONS! Chelsea 1 - 0 Manchester United. So, so, sweet. Get in!

90+3: Matic’s header from Antonio Valencia’s cross is always rising and fails to force a save out of Courtois.

90min: Conte’s pretty much running down the clock here. Willian replaces Hazard.

89min: First change for Chelsea, Olivier Giroud is replaced by Alvaro Morata.

88min: Martial makes an absolute meal of a good attacking play by United by crossing straight to Thibaut Courtois, ever so gently.

87min: Yet another ex-Chelsea player in Juan Mata takes to the field, replacing Phil Jones. Will Chelsea be able to withstand the pressure?

84min: Sanchez, now occupying Lingard’s position, makes United’s eleventy-hundredth ineffectual long-range attempt. They’ll do at this point.

82min: Paul Pogba somehow manages to miss with a free header right in front of the goal, from the resulting corner. Good going, Pogs.

82min: Anthony Martial is going to prove tough to deal with down the left. He stretches Azpilicueta to the byline and wins a corner.

80min: It’s Nemanja Matic’s turn to shoot from distance and we know what he’s capable of but thankfully, it’s straight at Courtois.

73min: United make the first changes of the game - Lukaku and Martial on for Rashford and Lingard respectively.

72min: Lingard puts Rashford in space and through on goal but Courtois leaves his line to block the attempt. Quite a save!

69min: Kante runs straight through the United midfield and sets up Marcos Alonso one-on-one with De Gea, but his weak-footed shot forces the tamest of saves. VAR is consulted in the follow-up as Moses’ cross hits Ashley Young’s arm but there’s no penalty. What good is VAR if it can’t get obvious decisions right?

66min: Azpilicueta gives Young a mouthful after the United left-back not only dives in dramatic fashion but also kicks out at Dave while doing so. Chelsea are sitting back now, it’s United most of the attacking.

63min: PHEW! Sanchez gets it in the back of the net after Courtois saves excellently from a Phil Jones header but it’s disallowed for offside. VAR concurs. The Chelsea stopper is in some pain, though.

55min: Fabregas loses possession in a dangerous area again. Rashford nicks the ball from him near the edge of the area and unleashes a stinging shot but it’s straight at Courtois.

54min: Chelsea get caught out while trying to play it out of the back, Fabregas loses possession to Sanchez who sets Young free down the left but his shot doesn’t test Courtois.

52min: Marcus Rashford’s in-swinging free-kick is punched away from danger by Thibaut Courtois.

2nd Half: Eden Hazard and Olivier Giroud initiate proceedings.

HT: Eden Hazard’s penalty sees Chelsea go into the break leading 1-0. United haven’t particularly forced the issue, with some tame attempts at an attack, save for that one play towards the end of the half. 45 to go!

45+2min: Paul Pogba’s strong run into the Chelsea half results in the ball falling kindly to Marcus Rashford in the area but the striker fluffs his lines and doesn’t quite strike the ball properly.

42min: Ashley Young’s cross almost finds the head of Phil Jones at the back post but nothing comes of it. That just about sums up United’s attacking impetus in this half, it’s been strangely comfortable for the Blues.

32min: Chelsea are doing well to restrict United to long-range efforts. Sanchez has a pop this time but fires one well over.

30min: Paul Pogba unleashes one from distance but it’s comfortably wide.

22min: GOOOOOOOAL! Hazard slots it past De Gea to put Chelsea in the lead. 1-0.

21min: PENALTY TO CHELSEA! Ridiculously clumsy from Phil Jones, who brings down Eden Hazard. That’s a red card all day for Jones but somehow he gets away with a yellow.

13min: Chelsea have penalty shouts turned down by Michael Oliver; Bakayoko looks to have been tripped by Matic while receiving a pass from Fabregas. Probably the right call.

9min: The first on-target attempt of the match comes from Chelsea, as Eden Hazard breaks a couple of yards ahead of Phil Jones and launches a low shot from an acute at De Gea, who parries it comfortably enough.

KICK-OFF: Marcus Rashford and Alexis Sanchez get us underway. COME ON CHELSEA!


PRE-MATCH: Christensen picked up an injury, thus his absence.


Familiar foes, familiar faces await in the last match of the season. Probably last match of Conte's tenure.

Let's make it a good one.


Chelsea starting lineup (3-5-1-1):
Courtois | Rüdiger, Cahill (c), Azpilicueta | Alonso, Bakayoko, Kanté, Fàbregas, Moses | Hazard | Giroud

Substitutes from: Caballero, Zappacosta, Chalobah, Barkley, Pedro, Willian, Morata

The biggest surprise here is Trevoh Chalobah making the bench. Well done, Big T!

Manchester United starting lineup (4-2-3-1):
De Gea | Young, Smalling, Jones, Valencia (c) | Ander Herrera, Matić | Alexis, Pogba, Lingard | Rashford

Substitutes from: Romero, Bailly, Darmian, Mata, McTominay, Lukaku, Martial

So no Lukaku in the starting lineup, but he is on the bench. Ander Herrera, destroyer of Hazard’s ankles, of course starts.


Date / Time: Saturday, May 15, 2018, 17:15 GMT; 12:15pm EDT; 9:45pm IST
Venue: Wembley Stadium, London, England
Referee: Michael Oliver
On TV: BBC One, BT Sport 2 (UK); FOX, FOX Deportes (USA); Sony Ten HD 1, Sony Ten HD 3 (India); elsewhere
Streaming online: BT Sport Live, BBC iPlayer (UK); Fox Soccer Match Pass, FOX Sports GO (select markets) (USA); Sony LIV (India)


We’re trying something slightly different with gamethreads: instead of just an open thread, it will be updated regularly (while you comment away below) with highlights, stats, and anything else worthwhile for a live blog sort of thing.

Please keep comments civil and be excellent to each other.

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