Chelsea dumped Manchester United out of the FA Cup to set up a mouthwatering semi-final clash against Manchester City.
A brilliantly constructed and executed Demba Ba volley was the
difference between the two heavyweights as Rafael Benitez’s team
triumphed 1-0 in the quarter-final replay.
As expected, both managers made wholesale changes to the teams that started in league clashes less than 48 hours previously.
Sir Alex trumped Benitez in the rotation stakes by bringing in seven
new players to the Chelsea manager’s six, although Wayne Rooney was
surprisingly not one of them.
The forward was omitted from the United match-day squad with what Sir
Alex claimed was a groin injury picked up on England duty. David De
Gea, Chris Smalling, Michael Carrick and Antonio Valencia were the only
United players to start both Saturday’s 1-0 win at Sunderland and then
again today.
Benitez notably dropped John Terry, Frank Lampard and Fernando Torres
to the bench, as he significantly reshuffled his attacking options,
with Ramires, Juan Mata, Eden Hazard and Demba Ba restored to the team,
along with David Luiz and Ashley Cole. Before the match began, there was the chance for both sets of
supporters to vent their feelings towards Ferdinand, returning to the
pitch for the first time since his withdrawal from England’s World Cup
qualifiers.
The defender was roundly jeered by the home fans at the end of the
warm-ups, again when the teams were read out shortly before kick-off and
then whenever he touched the ball as the match began. The large United
contingent responded on nearly every occasion with chants of ‘Rio, Rio,
Rio’.
Sir Alex sprung a tactical surprise with Phil Jones anchoring
alongside Carrick, Tom Cleverely tucked in on the left of midfield and
Antonio Valencia deployed at right-back with Nani in front of him. Even without Jones providing extra screening, Benitez had warned that
it simply would not be possible to have a classic because of the
demands on the players, and so it initially proved as both sides
struggled to settle into a rhythm.
Chelsea were forced into an early change after Ashley Cole pulled up
with a hamstring injury while chasing Danny Welbeck. He looked in severe
pain as he hobbled off, to be replaced by Ryan Bertrand. It took half-an-hour for the game’s first real opening, which came
when Hazard played in Ba on the right. The striker shot powerfully to De
Gea’s near post, but the United keeper was alert and smartly kept it
out.
Hazard looked the most likely player to conjure an opening. Running
with the ball from the left, he skipped past Jones and shared a one-two
with Oscar before smashing his shot narrowly over the bar.
Petr Cech nearly became the victim of a hopeful Javier Hernandez
long-ranger. It did not wobble in the air as much as the goalkeeper’s
reaction suggested, but the captain’s blushes were saved by his
out-stretched right leg. Chelsea had ended the first period marginally in charge and took
control early in the second through a superbly constructed goal that
blew the cobwebs off what had been a tepid encounter.
Mata seemingly had few options when he picked up the ball in a
central area in the middle of the United half. But the Spaniard’s feet
are in perfect sync with his sharp football brain, and he picked out Ba’s run with a perfectly weighted chipped pass.
The Senegalese had plenty to do but, crucially, had the technique to
match his confidence. A brilliant first-time hooked finish on the volley
surprised De Gea as much as onlookers to put Chelsea ahead.
United responded with typical vigour. Hernandez inspired one of the
saves of the season from Cech with a diving header that had looked
destined for the net. Robin van Persie and Ryan Giggs were then sent on
in place of ineffective pair Tom Cleverley and Nani to save United’s FA
Cup campaign.
Hazard gave United a let-off after 67 minutes when he burst into the
penalty area following a mistake from Carrick only to shoot a yard wide
of the goal.
It prompted a flurry of opportunities for the hosts, but their
finishing did not match their approach play as, time and again, chances
sailed above and either side of the woodwork.
Mata ran the show late on but, despite late United pressure, the hosts survived without the security of a second goal.
