Where do I begin?
Should I start by mentioning the many people who helped to make this possible?
Or should I mention how funny Avram Grant's reaction was?
Here it goes:
The long nine-year wait for a trophy has finally ended as a result of Juande's tactical genius and crash diets, but more importantly, because of the Spurs fans' constant support throughout the entire campaign and of course Jonathan Woodgate's lucky goal.
For the majority of the first half, spurs kept calm and collected. Skipper Ledley King reminded the fans of how much he missed playing and how much they missed him by defending so well. Drogba managed to earn three free kicks in the space of 20 minutes, from the same area thanks to some dodgy refereeing (believe me, the referee was terrible).
The first free kick was no threat. Frank Lampard's 25-yard shot sailed over the bar; the second was more of a threat. Drogba struck a good shot which curled well, but not enough to direct the ball past Paul Robinson. But the third one, also taken by Didier Drogba, went past a frozen Spurs goalkeeper to put Chelsea 1-0 up at 39 minutes.
At half time, Spurs looked a bit down after that goal, but certainly not out.
The second half started a bit bland with neither side desperate to push forward.
At the 58th minute, Chelsea livened things up a little bit with an attack on the break. However, a soft header by Anelka was easily caught by Robinson, who was having a great game.
Ledley King continued his great defending without any injury and stopped Frank Lampard's link-up attempt with Anelka on the left hand side of the box.
After 68 minutes, the linesman spotted a handball from Wayne Bridge which forced a penalty. Berbatov's nerves were replicated by the fans as he took a penalty against Peter Cech, admittedly one of the best goalkeepers in the world.
Berbatov scored.
1-1
Both teams held their ground throughout the rest of the second half, both defensively and offensively. Chances were made at both ends, but all were unrewarded. Didier Zokora made an unexpected run across most of the pitch and had the best scoring chance of the whole match. He shot once; saved Cech; Zokora regained the ball and shot again, but the ball hit the side netting. Zokora did have Berbatov and Lennon for support on either side, but went it alone.
Chelsea had one of their best equalising chances too after a beautiful distant pass from Anelka found Drogba who only had to get one touch on the ball, but it bounced over his foot and out for a goal kick.
A spontaneous overhead kick from Robbie Keane also went too high. Extra time looked imminent.
EXTRA TIME:
Only four minutes had passed in extra time before the Spurs fans really started celebrating. A curling free kick from Jermaine Jenas was complimented by the most important header that Jonathan Woodgate had made in that match. The ball hit Woodgate's head, then bounced off of Cech's hand, then off Woodgate's face and crept across the line to send the Spurs flags waving.
Chelsea weren’t finished yet. Lampard had an opportunity to make amense. His free kick was on target, but Robinson was there to tip it over the bar with a good save.Spurs got a scare when Drogba went down in the penalty box after Woodgate blatently wrapped his arms around him, but an offside had already been called.
A strike from Solomon Kalou was obstructed by a world-class save from Robinson.
Chelsea just couldn't get that vital equaliser. After many glances at his watch, the referee blew the long awaited final whistle, but controversially during an attack by Chelsea, but the shot hit the post anyway.
The Ramos Revolution had begun with a bang, after just four months in Tottenham.
The Spurs go marching on!
3 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Brad Simkulet about 1 year ago
Congrats Spurs fans (damn that hurts to say). Juande is one of the top managers in the world, let alone the Premiership. Just remember that these are the words of an Arsenal fan.
I'm going to hell now.
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Ryan Mays about 1 year ago
Cant believe that Spurs actually pulled it off against the mighty Blues, but as much as i hate to admit it, they definitley deserved it, having to beat the Arse to get to Wembley
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Andrew McNair about 1 year ago
Congrats to Spurs. What a turn around...well done Juande Ramos.
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