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Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool: Drogba fires Blues to FA Cup glory despite dramatic late Reds fightback
Ramires put Di Matteo's men ahead in the first half and they seemed to be cruising to victory before Andy Carroll scored one and almost grabbed a second in a late rally
By George Ankers
Didier Drogba scored a record-breaking fourth FA Cup final goal to seal glory for Chelsea who won 2-1 at Wembley despite an Andy Carroll-inspired Liverpool coming within millimetres of a dramatic comeback.
A quality-starved first half was punctured after only 11 minutes when Ramires capitalised on a series of Liverpool errors to burst down the right and slot into the net.
Drogba’s historic finish soon after half-time looked to have Chelsea comfortable, but Carroll came off the bench to slam home an emphatic finish shortly past the hour.
The striker thought he had pulled off an astonishing comeback in the 82nd minute when he powered a header at the far post, but somehow Petr Cech was able to claw it back before crossing the whole of the line, those few millimetres securing the Blues' triumph as they held off a furious final assault.
Kenny Dalglish opted to leave Carroll on the bench, Luis Suarez playing alone up front with the likes of Steven Gerrard and Craig Bellamy forward in support, while there was no place for stalwart defender Jamie Carragher.
Former Reds star Fernando Torres was named as a substitute for Chelsea, with Drogba chosen to lead the line, while Branislav Ivanovic partnered John Terry at the back and veteran Frank Lampard started.
After both sides spent the first 10 minutes acclimatising, an array of Liverpool errors allowed Chelsea through. Jay Spearing lost the ball in the centre, allowing Juan Mata into possession, who fed Ramires on the right. The Brazilian easily powered outside Jose Enrique before finishing calmly past Pepe Reina, who had committed to his dive far too early.
The Reds sought a quick response, some flowing football resulting in the ball falling for Bellamy just inside the Chelsea box. The Welshman hammered a fearsome snapshot but Ivanovic was on hand with a crucial block.
Both sides looked to attack as the halfway point of the first period passed, Salomon Kalou embarking on a mazy, unchallenged run into the Liverpool area before being caught out by Daniel Agger at the last minute.
The Dane himself then surged forward himself, but as he pushed on into the box, Enrique’s pass was hit slightly too hard, and the spark was snuffed out.
There was little more joy for either side, Suarez only able to stretch enough to tamely make headed contact with an inviting cross from Jordan Henderson five minutes before the break.
Chelsea opened the second period with a testing corner from Lampard, Glen Johnson displaying plenty of muscle to hold off Terry, though the Blues captain still got a desperate touch that flopped onto the top of the net.
They were on target five minutes later, though. Lampard had space to pick his pass with the Liverpool back line ahead of him, electing not to shoot but to play it in for Drogba on the edge of the area. The Ivorian took a touch and aimed through the legs of Martin Skrtel to roll his record fourth FA Cup final goal into the corner.
Dalglish threw caution to the wind by replacing the struggling Spearing with Carroll and the target man made an immediate difference.
Found by Enrique in the box, Carroll juggled and stepped over and seemed to have missed his moment to strike but instead whipped around the beaten Terry and slammed home left-footed to put Liverpool back in it.
The breakthrough woke the Reds up and they streamed forward, the substitute striker at the heart of it. His header down teed up Henderson to shoot wide from 20 yards as the crowd came alive.
Gerrard tried his luck next, attempting to meet a knock-down from over 30 yards out with a trademark howitzer, but he miscontrolled and fired wildly over the top. Carroll then came back into play as he met Enrique’s left-sided cross with a header not far off-target.
Liverpool thought the £35 million man had struck again in the 82nd minute, arriving superbly to blast a thumping header at the far post. Reds players and fans alike celebrated a goal but the referee's assistant made a superb call to point out that Cech had in fact jumped quickly enough with incredible reflex to keep the whole of the ball from crossing the whole of the line.
Dalglish's men hammered away in the final minutes with Chelsea clinging on desperately - although Skrtel had to cover for an exposed Reina at the death - but the final breakthrough just would not come and the Blues celebrated their fourth FA Cup triumph in six years.
Liverpool striker Carroll adamant disallowed FA Cup final goal should have stood against Chelsea
The former Newcastle frontman has expressed disappointment at the refereeing decision that saw his late goal chalked off, claiming it proves a cup triumph wasn't to be for the Reds
May 5, 2012 11:10:00 PM
By Sion Cleaver
Liverpool striker Andy Carroll is adamant his disallowed equaliser in his side's FA Cup final loss to Chelsea crossed the line.
The £35 million man connected with a thumping header at the Blues' far post with just eight minutes remaining, only to see the ball dragged out of the goal by Petr Cech.
However, Carroll and his team-mates' celebrations were cut short as the referee and his assistant quickly deemed that the ball had not crossed the line, with replays being inconclusive as the whether the goal should have stood.
And Carroll believes that the incident just proved it was not his team's day, calling Liverpool "unlucky".
“I thought it was over the line. I thought it hit the underside of the bar which means it did, really, but I haven’t seen it back. I thought it was unlucky. We had a few chances but couldn’t put them away but obviously it’s not to be," the striker told ITV.
“I don’t really know [about goal-line technology] to be honest. All I know is we tried hard."
FA Cup final officials deserve credit over Carroll goal-line decision, says Dalglish
The striker saw his second-half header clawed from underneath the bar by Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech, while replays were unable to confirm whether the ball crossed the line
May 5, 2012 8:36:00 PM
By Chris Davie
Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish maintains the FA Cup match officials should 'get the credit they deserve' after replays were unable to prove that Andy Carroll's header had crossed the line against Chelsea at Wembley.
The England international had provided a lifeline for Liverpool after netting in the second half to cut Chelsea's two-goal advantage but saw his subsequent header from a Luis Suarez cross clawed from underneath the bar by Petr Cech.
Dalglish admits his initial reaction was that the goal should have been awarded but concedes he has not seen the incident again since.
"There's no television in there so I don't know I haven't seen it," Dalglish told ITV.
"I thought it'd gone in but that's not me judging if it's gone over the line or not. If it hasn't gone over the line then I'll give the officials the credit they deserve.
"I've not seen it bounce I've not seen where it landed or whatever. I'm working on the presumption that some people might have given it some wouldn't. If it had of gone in who knows what might have happened, but it didn't.
"It's one of those, it could have been called either way."
Chelsea raced into the lead after 11 minutes through Ramires before doubling their tally after the break through Didier Drogba.
Dalglish claims his players were aware of Chelsea's game plan but admitted Roberto Di Matteo's side were the stronger side for the majority of the tie.
"They were better than us for the first hour," said Dalglish.
"They scored a goal and then suddenly get a great block from a volley from Craig Bellamy immediately after it. We finished fairly strongly after going 2-0 down and if we started the way that we finished we may be a bit happier than we are now.
"Certainly they played the way we expected them to play, just sit, well, take it off us counter attack come at us, and that's what they did."
Despite the defeat, Dalglish was buoyed by his side's response after going two goals behind and feels Liverpool could have secured a different outcome if they started stronger.
"We'll assess the season at the end of the season," he said.
"I think that we finished the game very strongly and had we gone into the game with that pace and commitment then we might have got a better score."
