Chelsea booked their place in next month’s FA Cup final against Manchester United with a comprehensive 2-0 win against Southampton on Sunday.
A strong first-half showing from Antonio Conte’s men failed to yield any rewards as Willian and Eden Hazard ran proceedings with their incisive running and defence-splitting passes. The aforementioned Brazilian came closest to opening the scoring when his effort cannoned back off the crossbar, but at the break, both sides went in on level terms.
Whatever Conte said during the half-time break it definitely worked because within just 45 seceding of the restart Olivier Giroud had handed Chelsea the lead, rounding Alex McCarthy leaving the Southampton defence on the floor before poking into an open net.
It wasn’t surprising to see the Blues resort to a defensive style after the goal, and as a result, Southampton did have their opportunities to level the scores – with Nathan Redmond testing Willy Caballero before the Argentinian keeper clawed the ball off the line from the resulting corner.
Giroud was replaced by under fire forward Alvaro Morata, and within minutes the former Madrid man had headed Chelsea into a second FA Cup final in two years.
Here is how we rated the players after the game.
Willy Caballero - 6
Made a great stop from Redmond and offered a good option off the ball but his distribution was at times questionable.
Cesar Azpilicueta- 8
Was it any surprise that as soon as Morata came on he grabbed an assist from a right-wing cross, having previously tried with little success to produce the same sort of ball for Giroud? His defending was also impeccable, making eight clearances.
Gary Cahill - 7.5
Commanded the air with great guile and skill, nine aerial duels a superb return for the only player in Chelsea’s squad to have actually won the FA Cup with the Blues.
Antonio Rudiger - 7
Tried unsuccessfully to open up Southampton’s defence with long balls but found far more prosperity in breaking Southampton’s press with his accurate short passing.
Victor Moses - 6.5
Three dribbles and a key pass in another fruitful attacking display. He wasn’t needed too often in a defensive capacity but what he did have to do he did well.
Cesc Fabregas - 6.8
Completed three key passes but was more so a bystander to Hazard and Willian, who were integral in driving Chelsea forward.
N'Golo Kante - 8
As soon as Southampton got on the ball he had closed them down in an instance, preventing them from creating too many meaningful attacks while also allowing Chelsea’s attackers to profit.
Emerson - 6.5
Some good overlaps created space out wide that caused holes to appear in the centre of the park, which the attacking trio of Hazard, Willian and Giroud duly exploited.
Willian - 8
Hit the crossbar early on and came close from a free kick but his five dribbles were the most crucial component the Brazilian brought to Chelsea’s attacking play.
Olivier Giroud - 8
Sat down the whole Southampton defence with his quick feet, showing incredible composure to keep hold of the ball and poke home the opening goal.
He had three shots in total and won four aerial duels to play a huge part in establishing Chelsea’s attacking supremacy.
Eden Hazard - 9
A man of the match display when it was most needed.
Having seemingly been on holiday over the past couple of months the Belgian now seems to be back in full flow as he single-handedly tore apart Southampton’s defence.
He completed nine dribbles, five key passes and had five shot, he couldn’t have done much else other than score. He used his physicality to bully defenders virtually twice his size, one such incident allowing him to calmly play in Giroud – who rounded McCarthy to score the opener.
Subs:
Tiemoue Bakayoko – 6, he didn’t really get on the ball having only 15 touches, but in the air, he was dominant winning three aerial duels. He allowed Chelsea to contain the Southampton attacking threat in the second half.
Pedro – 6, only completed one dribble and was nowhere near as influential in getting forward and playing balls in behind as Willian. Considering Morata’s goal came just seven minutes after the winger’s introduction, his focus was more on seeing the game out than scoring another goal.
Alvaro Morata – 8, could very easily have got himself a hat-trick but of course the forward only scores with his head and in fairness that’s what he did – nodding in Azpilicueta’s whipped cross. Something that he has definitely added to his game is the ability to make runs off the ball, and by getting into the right position he can only add more goals to his game.