FA Cup 2009 Semi's: Chelsea Edges Past Arsenal
Clearly a dramatic match as Chelsea came back from one goal down to win the semi-final against Arsenal, 2-1.
The first half looked out of sorts—Arsenal showed better passing at times, whereas Chelsea's defending looked troubled.
Chelsea's attacking intent began to grow and was effective thanks to Frank Lampard who looked instrumental along with Essien and Drogba. I was rather amazed at why Wenger did not use Arshavin from the start.
Adebayor did not look dangerous at all. Theo's crossing was not so impressive. However some good passing within Adebayor, Gibbs and Theo ended in Theo Walcott scoring a goal, which made contact with Ashley Cole's hand en route to goal.
Chelsea fans would call that "Hand of Devil" I guess, just kidding.
Slowly but steadily the Gunners' custodian Fabianski was looking rather nervous and this was evident as he made a few unnecessary moves right in the first half that nearly gave Chelsea an early equalizer.
It was Lampard who passed the ball to Malouda that resulted in the equalizer for the Blues. The goal comes from a man who has been a favorite for critics off late.
The second half clearly belonged to the boys of Stamford Bridge. Throughout the match we had plenty of dubious referee decisions and some good ones. A few probable penalties and yellow cards were not allowed.
Arsenal showed some poor defending and Chelsea just continued with their attacking mode. Once again Lampard found Drogba in dying minutes of the match for the winner that came once again as Fabiansky came too forward.
Earlier the post denied an attempt at goal by Anelka. Fabregas nearly earned a penalty for the Gunners and Arshavin nearly scored.
Wenger made quite a few substitutions in the second half by bring in Bendtner, Nasri and Arshavin, but it all looked late as Chelsea kept working towards scoring a goal and Arsenal was getting out of ideas.
Chelsea will meet the winners of the other match at the Wembley: Everton versus Manchester United—who could it be?
