Account
FA Cup 2018: Final Schedule After Semi-Final Results
April 22, 2018
Chelsea will meet Manchester United in the 2018 FA Cup final after beating Southampton 2-0 at Wembley Stadium on Sunday thanks to goals from Olivier Giroud and Alvaro Morata.
The final will take place on May 19 at Wembley, with Chelsea having the chance to make up for losing last season's final to Arsenal. Meanwhile, 2016 winners United will be looking to lift the trophy for a record-equalling 13th time.
United booked their place in the final after coming from a goal down to beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 on Saturday, with Alexis Sanchez and Ander Herrera getting on the scoresheet.
Schedule details for the showpiece match have yet to be released, but Alex Young of the London Evening Standard confirmed BT Sport and the BBC have broadcast rights in the UK. Fox Sports has coverage in the U.S.
Chelsea won after overcoming a drab first-half display. Specifically, the Blues struggled for ideas in front of Southampton's deep defensive wall.
Saints sat back in numbers and kept their discipline, although as BBC Match of the Day pointed out, they didn't show much ambition going forward during the opening 45 minutes:
In fairness to Southampton, their approach stymied the Blues, who despite seeing Willian hit the bar, offered little.
Chelsea needed a spark and got one 27 seconds after the restart, when Giroud produced some terrific footwork before finding the net.
The goal continued Giroud's habit of producing in the cup, as OptaJoe highlighted:
Sky Sports Statto showed where Giroud, who won the trophy three times with Arsenal, ranks for cup goals since moving to the Premier League from Montpellier HSC in 2012:
A quite brilliant save from Chelsea goalkeeper Willy Caballero denied Nathan Redmond as Southampton piled on late pressure.
Chelsea lost some impetus when manager Antonio Conte elected to substitute Willian for destructive central midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko. Goal's Nizaar Kinsella noted the forward wasn't best pleased at being hooked:
Even so, a place in the final was Chelsea's six minutes from time, when Cesar Azpilicueta crossed for Morata to head in. Saints tried a late flurry, but they couldn't find a breakthrough against a resolute Chelsea side determined to make up for a miserable defence of the Premier League title by earning another chance for cup glory.
United will have something to say about that. The Red Devils are armed with a plethora of match-winners in Sanchez, a scorer against the Blues in last year's final, and Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku.
Conte has had his issues with United counterpart Jose Mourinho, while the two split their league encounters this season, with the Blues winning 1-0 at Stamford Bridge in November before losing 2-1 at Old Trafford in February.
Expect another close encounter when these familiar foes renew hostilities with silverware at stake.