Daily Mail

GIROUD’S SUPER SLALOM

Skiing has always been my second passion jokes FA Cup semi-final goal hero . . .

- IAN LADYMAN Football Editor at Wembley Stadium

TheRe was no doubting the quality of the two goals that settled this game. The first, from Olivier Giroud, came courtesy of dancing feet and a determinat­ion not to fall under pressure. The second, from his late replacemen­t Alvaro Morata, was a classic centre forward’s header, directed down into the ground and up again with power.

But it was one of the scruffiest ‘goals’ Wembley has ever seen that was the talking point from what ultimately became a very good game.

When Chelsea goalkeeper Willy Caballero dropped the ball over his goal-line under pressure from Southampto­n’s Charlie Austin, referee Martin Atkinson blew for a foul.

It was a big call because the score was only 1-0 at the time and Southampto­n were finally coming on strong in the game. Replays suggested it was the wrong call, too. Austin appeared to be more a legitimate inconvenie­nce than anything else to Caballero as the keeper went to catch a dropping ball.

That the goalkeeper spilled it was his fault and his alone. It was shoddy work, the kind of moment that can give you a place in the history of your club for all the wrong reasons.

But when Atkinson blew for the foul, the VAR official chose not to get involved. One can only presume that he looked at the incident and deemed the decision correct. A ‘clear and obvious’ error from the referee? Maybe Atkinson fell just the right side of the line on that one and maybe that is where we find our answer.

But Southampto­n and their manager Mark hughes (below) have a right to be upset, that is for sure.

We can ask questions of hughes’s approach to this game. We can ask why two of his best players, Dusan Tadic and nathan Redmond, began the game on the bench. We can ask why Southampto­n only really showed some ambition once they fell behind in the first minute of the second period.

But the fact is, had Atkinson awarded their goal, they would have been level and well in the game with just over a quarter of an hour left.

Ultimately, it wasn’t to be. Southampto­n’s improvemen­t meant this was a decent game to watch for the final 35 minutes. Chelsea did deserve to win it. They were the more progressiv­e throughout and they created the best chances. Giroud’s goal was certainly very special indeed. The first half had seen Southampto­n appear rather cowed and struggling to cope with the movement and intelligen­ce of eden hazard and the Brazilian Willian. Indeed, one pass from the Belgian to his team-mate early on allowed Willian to cut inside and curl a shot against the bar. hazard was then involved as his team took the lead. his control and lay-off to Giroud just inside the penalty area in the 46th minute were terrific. It was a wonder he stayed on his feet to make the pass. he has such balance. Then Giroud took over, weaving past Mario Lemina, Jan Bednarek and finally Cedric to prod the ball into the goal from close range. Cedric actually caught Giroud’s ankle as he went past him and had the former Arsenal striker gone over he surely would have won a penalty.

But Giroud — still seeking a regular place in Antonio Conte’s Chelsea team — clearly wanted to score a big goal himself and that was admirable. When he rolled the ball over the line, it was impossible not to feel pleased for a player who is never found wanting for attitude and effort.

It was to Southampto­n’s credit that they rallied.

hughes sent on Tadic and Redmond and it changed the feel of the game. Redmond almost scored with a low drive that Caballero saved unconventi­onally. Before that, Shane Long had a great chance but over-ran the ball after racing on to Austin’s dummy. Then came blunder. every time you look at it, it gets harder to spot a genuine foul. Austin was later to strike a post after reaching a low cross at the far post but by then his team were two goals down. Morata had only been on the field for 86 seconds when he rose to meet a deep cross from Cesar Azpilicuet­a. his marker Wesley hoedt appeared to take a hand in the back from the Italian and never got off the ground. Curiously, though, there was no complaint as Morata reeled away to celebrate. Morata could have had two more as the game became ridiculous­ly stretched. One was cleared off the line and the other was saved. It didn’t matter. he had done his bit. So a poor

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