FOURTH BRIDGE
Into the last four of the FA Cup, fourth place in the league and into the quarter-finals in Europe, Tuchel’s Chelsea could yet finish the season with a real bang
CHELSEA
Norwood og 24, Ziyech 90 SHEFFIELD UNITED 2
BY
IT was a banker bet that never looked in danger.
Only a Sheffield United fan or a hopeless romantic would have had Blades upsetting the odds against a club for whom a treble is very much on. Sadly, romance in football remains in short supply. Instead, money talks.
When Roman Abramovich sacked Frank Lampard in January, Chelsea’s billionaire owner admitted he could not see where the next win was coming from for a squad on which he had spent more than £200million last summer.
But Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea now have an FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City to look forward to after this win.
They also have a Champions League quarter-final to come against Porto and sit fourth in the Premier League – favourites for that final top-four place which in itself would represent a trophy given the state of things at the end of January.
No wonder Abramovich was larging it in American business magazine Forbes over the weekend, insisting he was right to make Tuchel the 15th manager in his 18-year-reign at Stamford Bridge.
The confidence is still not yet pumping fully through the German’s Chelsea side and yet they have now gone 14 games undefeated, winning 10 of them.
While Chelsea’s defence under Lampard leaked like the Newcastle dressing room, Tuchel’s Blues have not conceded in seven games.
Since his first game in charge – that goalless draw at home to Wolves on January 27 – Chelsea have conceded just twice.
They were always too good here for plucky Sheffield United. Once Oli
Norwood turned Ben Chilwell’s cross into his own net after 24 minutes (below), the game was only ever heading in one direction.
At one stage during the first half Tuchel’s FA Cup side enjoyed more than 70 per cent possession.
Sheffield United, all huff and puff, resembled a whippet yapping at the feet of an elephant.
Adrift at the bottom of the Premier League, defeat here brought the curtain down on their season.
Heads dropped once the opener went in, the body language spoke volumes, and the Blades players might as well have re-emerged for the second half carrying white flags.
To be fair they did rally late on but it was always going to be a bridge too far. If they really do want Slavisa Jokanovic, the Serb with two promotions under his belt, to replace the recently sacked Chris Wilder then perhaps they will regroup. If not, it may well be some time before the ship is steadied.
Defeat here was their sixth from their last seven in all competitions.
Caretaker Paul Heckingbottom had urged his under-achievers to summon up the spirit of their shock Premier League win at Manchester United in January.
Trouble was, Chelsea are far better defensively now than the Reds and were always capable of stepping up a level. In fact, they should have scored more.
Blades keeper Aaron Ramsdale did superbly, either side of the break, to keep out Christian Pulisic and Olivier Giroud.
When Sheffield United did finally catch a break, after 65 minutes, David McGoldrick somehow sent a free header wide from John Lundstram’s cross.
Kepa then parried Oli McBurnie’s fierce drive moments later.
Hakim Ziyech came off the bench to finally end it in injury time from Chilwell’s assist, volleying left-footed into the Blades net. But the game had been won long before that.