‘Drogba wins first Wembley Cup Final’
Manchester United 0 – 1 Chelsea – 19th May 2007
An excellent finish from Didier Drogba was enough to secure a Chelsea victory in the first FA Cup Final at the New Wembley and helped the Blues finish a season of struggles on a high note.
The game had been largely dominated by the team who finished second in the Premiership but with neither side wanting to give way too much the game turned into a tactical master class with Jose Mourinho having his Ivorian striker to thank for picking up a winners medal.
The game was dubbed as the battle of the top two in the Premiership and as the sun beamed down a star studded audience greeted English Football back to it’s traditional home in London at the newly reconstructed Wembley stadium. Having been seven years since the last final their both sides were looking to make history with Chelsea having an extra incentive for victory having missed out on their third league title in a row thanks to Manchester United.
With the match hyped up to be a battle between the two outstanding players in the Premiership this season Ronaldo and Drogba, it was surprising then that neither really featured heavily in first half play.
In front of the 90,000 crowd, Manchester United began well in a cagey first twenty minutes. Realising the importance of an early goal they looked to set the pace and Wayne Rooney found himself in space twice but failed to hit the target on either occasion.
Frank Lampard had Chelsea’s best chance when his typical long range effort forced Van der Sar into a low save. Manchester United continued to press however and Rooney was caught offside on several occasions ruining several possible opportunities for his side.
With both sides not wanting to make a mistake, much of the game was played in the centre of the field meaning attacking players such as Cole and Ronaldo were on the periphery of the game. When in possession Chelsea looked more assured and looked to break United down by playing off Drogba upfront where as through Paul Scholes in the main, the Reds looked to find that killer ball giving one of their attackers a simple opportunity to find the net.
In the second half Chelsea began the bright, substitute Robben, who came on at half time, now became the Blues main threat and when in possession looked dangerous running at Wes Brown. The tricky winger beat his man several times but his crossing in the first twenty minutes of the second half was poor and Chelsea created little.
With the game looking to warm up significantly, the pace picked up and on the counter attack Rooney nearly gave Man Utd the lead with an excellent run which ended in a weak shot which was easily saved by Cech. The Chelsea goalkeeper was forced into action again when he was made to save by Carrick and with Giggs following up on the rebound the Czech goalkeeper made an excellent recovery save not knowing the Welshman was offside.
In the dying seconds of normal time Vidic nearly connected with a Giggs free kick and Drogba curled a free kick just wide but both sides seemed happy to settle for thirty minutes more football. Both sides had glorious chances to break the deadlock during the first period of extra time as the game finally sparked into life.
Giggs headed straight at Cech with the goal at his mercy and Drogba headed an equally good chance into the side netting from an equally promising position at the other end. Finally five minutes from the end of the second period of extra time, Drogba broke into the penalty area after an excellent pass from Lampard and nudged the ball past the onrushing Van Der Saar to win the game for his side.
Though United tried to equal the scores up in the final minutes of the game some excellent defending from John Terry and Michael Essien prevented them from creating any moments of promise as Chelsea became the first team to climb the steps at the new Wembley to claim the most famous Cup competition in the World.
The game was dubbed as the battle of the top two in the Premiership and as the sun beamed down a star studded audience greeted English Football back to it’s traditional home in London at the newly reconstructed Wembley stadium. Having been seven years since the last final their both sides were looking to make history with Chelsea having an extra incentive for victory having missed out on their third league title in a row thanks to Manchester United.
With the match hyped up to be a battle between the two outstanding players in the Premiership this season Ronaldo and Drogba, it was surprising then that neither really featured heavily in first half play.
In front of the 90,000 crowd, Manchester United began well in a cagey first twenty minutes. Realising the importance of an early goal they looked to set the pace and Wayne Rooney found himself in space twice but failed to hit the target on either occasion.
Frank Lampard had Chelsea’s best chance when his typical long range effort forced Van der Sar into a low save. Manchester United continued to press however and Rooney was caught offside on several occasions ruining several possible opportunities for his side.
With both sides not wanting to make a mistake, much of the game was played in the centre of the field meaning attacking players such as Cole and Ronaldo were on the periphery of the game. When in possession Chelsea looked more assured and looked to break United down by playing off Drogba upfront where as through Paul Scholes in the main, the Reds looked to find that killer ball giving one of their attackers a simple opportunity to find the net.
In the second half Chelsea began the bright, substitute Robben, who came on at half time, now became the Blues main threat and when in possession looked dangerous running at Wes Brown. The tricky winger beat his man several times but his crossing in the first twenty minutes of the second half was poor and Chelsea created little.
With the game looking to warm up significantly, the pace picked up and on the counter attack Rooney nearly gave Man Utd the lead with an excellent run which ended in a weak shot which was easily saved by Cech. The Chelsea goalkeeper was forced into action again when he was made to save by Carrick and with Giggs following up on the rebound the Czech goalkeeper made an excellent recovery save not knowing the Welshman was offside.
In the dying seconds of normal time Vidic nearly connected with a Giggs free kick and Drogba curled a free kick just wide but both sides seemed happy to settle for thirty minutes more football. Both sides had glorious chances to break the deadlock during the first period of extra time as the game finally sparked into life.
Giggs headed straight at Cech with the goal at his mercy and Drogba headed an equally good chance into the side netting from an equally promising position at the other end. Finally five minutes from the end of the second period of extra time, Drogba broke into the penalty area after an excellent pass from Lampard and nudged the ball past the onrushing Van Der Saar to win the game for his side.
Though United tried to equal the scores up in the final minutes of the game some excellent defending from John Terry and Michael Essien prevented them from creating any moments of promise as Chelsea became the first team to climb the steps at the new Wembley to claim the most famous Cup competition in the World.