3 lessons from FA Cup final Lampard fumes after Chelsea’s FA Cup loss
ARSENAL beat Chelsea 2-1 thanks to PierreEmerick Aubameyang’s brace in the FA Cup final on Saturday.
We look at three things we learned from the Wembley clash:
Irreplacable Aubameyang
In what could be his last game for Arsenal, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang showed why the Gunners must do everything in their power to keep the Gabon forward.
The 31-year-old is out of contract at the end of next season and has been linked with a move amid reports he wants to play for a club in the Champions League.
Coach Mikel Arteta insists Aubameyang wants to stay, but he also conceded winning the FA Cup would be a useful way to show him the club are heading in the right direction.
Arsenal did their part and it was Aubameyang who provided the crucial cutting edge.
The first African player to start an FA Cup final as captain, Aubameyang became the second oldest player to score for Arsenal in the showpiece.
With Arsenal trailing to Christian Pulisic’s early goal, Aubameyang’s blistering break left Cesar Azpilicueta trailing in his wake.
Azpilicueta responded by tugging at Aubameyang’s shoulder and the forward made the most of the contact as he tumbled in the area to win a penalty that he dispatched with a ruthless efficiency.
Aubameyang won the German Cup with Borussia Dortmund in 2017, scoring the winning goal from the penalty spot.
Once again, he would be the star, but this time it was his skill and improvisation that proved decisive as he jinked past Kurt Zouma and clipped a fine finish over Willy Caballero in the
FRANK Lampard accused his Chelsea flops of complacency after they blew the lead in Saturday’s FA Cup final defeat against Arsenal.
Lampard’s side made the perfect start at Wembley as Christian Pulisic fired them ahead.
But Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang equalised from the penalty spot before halftime and made it 2-1 with a fine finish after the interval.
“We started well for 10 or 15 minutes, scored a goal and had other chances. From that point, we can only blame ourselves in football terms,” Chelsea boss Lampard told the BBC.
“We decided to take control as in being complacent, let’s try and play short passes like it is a bit of a stroll. A final can never be a stroll and we allowed them back into the game.”
Lampard had tried to get his players to refocus, but he conceded Chelsea have been hampered by a lack of cutting edge and defensive mistakes all season.
They weren’t helped by the extremely harsh second half dismissal of midfielder Mateo Kovacic and injuries to Pulisic and Cesar Azpilicueta.
Denied his first trophy as Chelsea boss, Lampard
67th minute.
Chelsea hamstrung by Pulisic injury Christian Pulisic had emerged as a key figure for Chelsea since the coronavirus hiatus, but a day that started on a high for the United States winger ended in agony.
It has been that kind of turbulent season for Pulisic, whose first year with Chelsea started slowly amid injuries and poor form before bursting into life. couldn’t hide his frustration.
“All I can do from the sidelines is shout. There are elements in our game that we have worked hard on all year, but that is in you as a group,” he said.
“We were slow, we played back on ourselves, invited pressure, then didn’t really know where to go from that. We didn’t play well enough to win a final.
“It doesn’t help to have two hamstrings (Azpilicueta and Pulisic) and a dislocated shoulder (Pedro), then Willian got injured yesterday and had to pull out.”
Despite their Cup final misery, Chelsea had already achieved their main aim by qualifying for next season’s Champions League via a fourth place finish in the Premier League.
Lampard’s season isn’t over as Chelsea travel to Bayern Munich on August 8 for the second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie.
But the Blues trail 3-0 from the first leg and Lampard did not want to think about that daunting task just yet.
“I’m not even thinking about next week. It’s the end of a long, long season and it was the tipping point for us,” he said. — AFP
He was on the scoresheet after just five minutes, with his 11th goal of the season.
Drifting into central midfield to take possession, Pulisic slipped a precise pass to Mason Mount and carried on his run into the Arsenal penalty area, where he took Olivier Giroud’s flick and slotted past Emiliano Martinez.
Pulisic was the first American to score in the FA Cup final but disaster struck in the 49th minute when he raced away for a shot that was interrupted when he felt his hamstring twang.
Immediately grabbing the injured area, Pulisic was helped off the pitch.
Without the pace of Pulisic to keep Arsenal’s defence on the back foot, Frank Lampard’s side were bereft of a cutting edge in the final third as the trophy slipped from their grasp.
Arteta bolsters growing reputation Mikel Arteta enhanced his reputation as one of the Premier League’s brightest young managers with another tactical masterclass.
Having outwitted his mentor Pep Guardiola in Arsenal’s FA Cup semifinal success against Manchester City, Arteta showed his acumen again to leave Chelsea boss Frank Lampard out of answers.
Arteta’s use of long passes into the channels behind Chelsea’s two attacking full-backs exposed the flaw in Lampard’s defensive system and led directly to Aubameyang’s equaliser.
Leading Arsenal to their 14th FA Cup success — which brings them a place in next season’s Europa League — showed the 38-year-old Spaniard is the man to restore the club’s tattered reputation.
Arsenal may have endured their lowest league finish for a quarter of a century this season as Arteta battled to steady the ship following Unai Emery’s sacking in December.
But he has won over his players with a direct approach to discipline — banishing malcontents Mesut Ozil and Matteo Guendouzi — and his astute game-plans.
Winning the FA Cup will buy Arteta time to continue his rebuild and it was fitting his first trophy as Arsenal manager came in the tournament that brought the last major silverware of Gunners legend Arsene Wenger’s reign. — AFP