Chelsea vs Tottenham - as it happened! Antonio Conte's men reach the FA Cup final
Follow all the live action from the national stadium
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Chelsea have not lost back-to-back matches for over a year, but a defeat to Spurs could prove to be far more damaging than just crashing of the FA Cup. A win for Tottenham would ramp up the pressure ahead of difficult fixtures against Southampton and Everton in the league next week and could well impact the eventual outcome of the Premier League.
The Blues were thoroughly outplayed by a weakened Manchester United team on the weekend and Antonio Conte will be desperate to turn around his team’s fortunes against their North London rivals.
Tottenham Hotspur’s season in recent weeks has been one of improvement and pure optimism. Spurs have not won a noteworthy prize since the Carling Cup in 2008, but Mauricio Pochettino’s men have their eyes on the realistic chance of winning both the FA Cup and the Premier League this season.
Follow the action below...
Please allow a moment for the blog to load.
What time is kick-off?
The match will start at 5.15pm on Saturday.
Where can I watch it?
BBC One. Coverage starts at 4.50pm.
It’s a big match for…
Asmir Begovic: The Chelsea second choice keeper has missed three Wembley FA cup ties in his career (twice at Portsmouth and once at Stoke) and it looks as if he will finally get his chance despite it being mostly due to the injury of Thibaut Courtois. Begovic will be hoping for a dream Wembley FA Cup debut as well as a chance to make up for the Manchester United nightmare.
Remember when…
The Chelsea dressing room celebrated a dramatic 2-1 win over Liverpool at a packed out Wembley stadium in 2012.
Player to watch…
Dele Alli. The 21-year-old has scored 16 Premier League goals for Tottenham this season, and just 12 months after picking up the PFA young player of the year award, Alli is once again the favourite to win the prize this year. Alli has a knack of scoring in big games and with the likely absence of Son Heung-Min it will be down to him and Harry Kane to take up the primary goal scoring roles.
Form…
Chelsea: LWWLWW
Tottenham: WWWWWW
Odds…
Chelsea to win: 17/10
Draw: 11/5
Tottenham to win: 9/5
86 MINS
Hazard finds Fabregas, who sends a first-time ball into the box. Costa leaps up, but fails to make a clean connection with the header and his attempt dribbles wide.
89 MINS
Nkoudou sends an imposing ball into the box, but Eriksen's headed attempt is easily caught by Courtois. Tottenham continue to relentlessly attack, in an attempt to redeem the two goal deficit in the dying stages of the fixture.
90(+2) MINS
Yellow card: Kante trips Alli just outside of the Chelsea penalty area. Spurs have a free kick in a dangerous position.
90(+3) MINS
Kane's free kick beats the wall and very nearly beats Courtois. The strike flies through the hands of the keeper, but the backspin on the ball stops the ball crossing the line.
FULL TIME
CHELSEA 4 - 2 TOTTENHAM
Speculation surrounded Conte's decisions prior to kick-off, but his courageous decisions paid off and Chelsea continue their quest for the double.
Willian opened the scoring, closely followed by a headed equaliser from Kane. Just before the interval, Willian doubled his tally from the spot following a clumsy sliding from Son. Alli levelled the scoring just after half-time, but this was quickly cancelled out by the quality of The Blues. Hazard scored following a corner kick and Matic capped off the scoring with a moment of magic from distance.
The scoreline does not reflect the quality of Pochettino's men throughout, but it's the final score that counts after all. Chelsea have proved dominant over their North-London rivals and secured their position in the 2017 FA Cup final.
That is all from us today here at The Independent. Thank you for tuning in.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments