United down and out
Goalkeeping blunders costly as Chelsea knock Manchester United out of the FA Cup
At least David De Gea was spared having a crowd inside Wembley to witness his latest mistakes in the Manchester United goal. Gifted goals to beat United 3-1 yesterday morning, Chelsea will be returning to the national stadium on August 1 to face Arsenal in an allLondon FA Cup final.
De Gea’s first mistake came in the 11th minute of first-half stoppage time. Olivier Giroud’s close-range deft touch from Cesar Azpilicueta’s cross was pushed into his own goal by De Gea.
United, rocked by Eric Bailly being hospitalised with a first-half head injury, returned to the field early for the start of the second but were just as sloppy.
Diving to his left, De Gea let Mason Mount’s long-range strike go through his gloves. There was shared United culpability for the 46th-minute goal since Brandon Williams gave the ball away on halfway with a misplaced pass that Mount seized on.
“David knows he should have saved the second goal but that’s done now,” United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said. “It’s hard for a keeper to make amends, apart from David making two or three fantastic saves after.
“Brandon probably feels a bit responsible, and the rest of the half, he was absolutely outstanding.”
It summed up United’s misfortune that the third goal in the 74th minute came from captain Harry Maguire accidentally turning the ball past De Gea at the near post when under pressure from Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger.
Usually Sergio Romero plays in goal for United in the FA Cup. De Gea hadn’t played in the competition since the 2018 final when Chelsea beat United.
With three years remaining on De Gea’s contract, United has a quandary over the future of one of their highestpaid players once considered one of the world’s top keepers.
United can so often rely on winning a penalty. But even earning a 19th spot kick of the season — converted by Bruno Fernandes in the 85th minute after Anthony Martial was fouled by Callum Hudson-Odoi — could not spark a late comeback.
It means Frank Lampard’s first season as Chelsea manager will end with a cup final. It will be a harder route to a second final in August, with Chelsea trailing 3-0 to Bayern Munich in the Champions League round of 16.
“We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves,” said Lampard, who won the FA Cup four times as a Chelsea player. “But we can certainly enjoy the performance and result.”
In this pandemic-delayed conclusion to the season, which prevents fans attending games, Solskjaer is also chasing continental glory through the Europa League with United.
Chelsea and United will be hoping to secure Champions League spots in the final week of the Premier League season — and not be relying on winning continental competitions to qualify.
Leicester collapse
Leicester’s 3-0 loss at Tottenham in the Premier League yesterday means the 2016 champions risk dropping out of the top four after being there since September.
Fifth-placed United remain behind Leicester only on goal average and have a game in hand against West Ham on Thursday before playing Brendan Rodgers’ side on Monday.
Chelsea are a point ahead of Leicester going into Thursday’s game away to champions Liverpool and Monday’s finale against Wolverhampton.
Tottenham’s victory over Leicester was secured by Harry Kane setting up the opener before netting twice to take his tally to 23 goals in this injury-restricted season.
Tottenham, who moved up to sixth in their pursuit of a Europa League place, took the lead in the sixth minute after Son Heung-min ran on to Kane’s pass before sending in a shot deflected in by Leicester’s James Justin.
Lucas Moura played in Kane for a low finish in the 37th minute and then the England captain curled in another from wide on the left three minutes later.
Relegation strife
Bournemouth are in relegation trouble after being beaten 2-0 by Southampton, remaining in secondto-last place.
Bournemouth are three points below 17th-placed Watford, with an inferior goal difference and having played a game more ahead of Monday’s season finale at Everton.
Trailing to Danny Ings’ opener, Bournemouth thought they had secured a point in second-half stoppage time. But Sam Surridge’s goal was ruled out by VAR for offside against Callum Wilson.
And Bournemouth’s frustration was compounded in the ninth minute of stoppage time by Southampton substitute Che Adams scoring a second.