Arsenal 2 Chelsea 1: Aaron Ramsey seals third FA Cup in four years as Gunners wreck Blues’ double dream
Welshman scores decisive late goal to down the ten-man champions at Wembley and earns Arsene Wenger record seventh cup
Welshman scores decisive late goal to down the ten-man champions at Wembley and earns Arsene Wenger record seventh cup
IT will go down as one of the most improbable and memorable finals.
Arsene Wenger’s team have been accused of lacking fight, resilience and the will to win this season.
Yet this incredible triumph came against all the odds and answered all those questions as they denied Chelsea the Double.
This ragtag Wenger team were devastated by injury and on the floor after missing out on the Champions League — but they showed real balls to pull this off.
When Diego Costa cancelled out Alexis Sanchez’s opener it was surely the cue for them to fall apart yet again.
But just 22 SECONDS after kicking off again, FA Cup specialist Aaron Ramsey added another final winner to his collection.
Wenger has coached the Invincibles but this team are the Inconceivables, winners of a game that defied all logic.
Wenger’s rabble had been written off and with good reason too by just looking at the team-sheets.
Picking David Ospina ahead of Petr Cech looked plain bonkers as Wenger’s No 2 had not played for over a month – by the end it looked like a masterstroke.
In front of him was Per Mertesacker who had not played ALL SEASON, it was the first time in a back-three during his career and he was going toe-to-toe with Costa.
The rest of the back three? There was full-back Nacho Monreal playing out of position and Rob Holding, a £2million signing from Bolton.
It was meant to be a case of how many Chelsea could rack up.
Nobody gave Arsenal a prayer, yet they could have been four goals up by half-time.
Somehow it all came together for them and it was a match the Gunners boss could point to when the Wenger out brigade pipe up.
There will probably be planes flying over stadiums again next season, demanding the Frenchman’s head, yet here was the very best of his management on display.
They ripped through Chelsea in the first half but only managed one goal and that actually was thanks to a helping hand from ref Anthony Taylor.
Sanchez has looked disinterested at times this season but his goal after four minutes was all about dogged determination – and a touch of good fortune in the build-up.
It started with him nipping ahead of N’Golo Kante and charging down a clearance, although the Chilean used his hand to nick the ball.
The ball fell in front of Ramsey in an offside position but, as Chelsea defenders stood still, Sanchez took charge and collected his own through-ball.
Ramsey looked like he was interfering with Thibaut Courtois’ sight before Sanchez slotted home and the assistant flagged. But, after a short debate, ref Taylor gave the goal.
They may have been lucky there, but after that Arsenal were a completely different team to what we saw during the season.
The display at West Brom in March was one of the most gutless, spineless performances from a Wenger team. But this was the total opposite.
The passion was seen with Holding crashing into challenges, or Mertesacker pulling off sliding tackles on Costa.
Danny Welbeck was stretching his opponents’ back line, while Sanchez and Mesut Ozil finally looked bang up for it.
For a second it looked like Wenger of 15 years ago, with his blazer off and a spring in his step on the touchline.
But his side were guilty of not putting the match out of Chelsea’s sight before the break.
Gary Cahill was needed to clear off the line when Sanchez split Conte’s backline and Ozil had prodded the ball towards goal.
Cesar Azpilicueta also needed to perform a rescue act on another counter-attack that saw Welbeck through on goal.
Welbeck also hit the post with a header, then Ramsey’s follow up saw the ball hit his chest and also cannon off the woodwork.
They were helped by Chelsea looking like a team that won the Premier League two weeks ago and have been partying since.
Costa had their only sniff before the break but Ospina bravely blocked, making Wenger look like a genius again with his stunning keeper selection.
Chelsea had to pick up the pace after the break.
The way they started suggested Conte gave them a rollicking at half-time, which they deserved.
They came out all guns blazing and it was a case Arsenal soaking up the pressure.
Costa sent Victor Moses through and Ospina was at it again, saving superbly when it looked like Chelsea would equalise.
Moses, who was booked for a foul on Welbeck, then got his marching orders to make it a bigger struggle for Chelsea.
The wing-back’s second yellow was for a dive after racing into the box and going over Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s tackle.
The leveller came from Costa as Arsenal were within sight of triumph, with Costa sneaking one in off the post after turning Holding.
But Arsenal were not to be denied, with Ramsey adding another winner to his collection after scoring the decider in the 2014 final against Hull.
This time it was a perfect diving header, steering the ball home from Olivier Giroud’s cross.
There was still time for Ospina to pull off another incredible stop to deny Costa, leaping to his left.
It really was Wenger’s day.
ARSENAL: Ospina 7, Holding 6, Mertesacker 7, Monreal 7, Bellerin 6, Ramsey 7, Xhaka 6, Oxlade-Chamberlain 6 (Coquelin 82, 6), Ozil 7, Sanchez 7 (Elneny 90+3, 5), Welbeck 7 (Giroud 78, 6)
Subs not used: Perez, Walcott, Iwobi, Cech
CHELSEA: Courtois 6, Azpilicueta 6, David Luiz 6, Cahill 7, Moses 5, Kante 6, Matic 6 (Fabregas 61, 6), Alonso 7, Pedro 7 (Willian 72, 7), Diego Costa 7 (Batshuayi 88, 5), Hazard 7
Subs not used: Begovic, Zouma, Ake, Terry
Referee: Anthony Taylor
DREAM TEAM STAR MAN: Aaron Ramsey
Arsenal's Danny Welbeck: "It was a great team performance.
"We stuck in there when it looks like things were against us. You always worry when you are a goal down and it was a game full of surprises.
"The manager is his own man and he makes his own decision and the board will make the right decision so I can't comment on that."