Arsenal v Chelsea, 27 May 2017

Score2-1 to Arsenal
RefereeAnthony Taylor
CompetitionFA Cup Final
VenueWembley Stadium
Attendance89,472
Kick-off: 5.30pm A minute's silence was observed before kick-off following the terror attack which took place five days earlier at the Manchester Arena that claimed 22 lives. This was the 136th FA Cup Final but only the sixth to be contested by two London clubs, and the most recent since Arsenal beat Chelsea at Cardiff in 2002. Arsenal or Chelsea had now won the FA Cup in seven of the last 11 seasons. This was the first FA Cup Final when it was possible for a team to use a fourth substitute in the extra-time period.

2 Arsenal

Manager: Arsène Wenger

1 Chelsea

Manager: Antonio Conte

Goals:

Alexis Sánchez 5 G
Aaron Ramsey 79 G

Goals:

Diego Costa 76 G

Starting lineup:

Goalkeeper David Ospina
Defender Rob Holding
Defender Per Mertesacker (captain)
Defender Nacho Monreal
Defender/Midfielder Granit Xhaka
Midfielder Mesut Özil
Midfielder Aaron Ramsey
Midfielder/Forward Alexis Sánchez
Forward Danny Welbeck

Starting lineup:

Thibaut Courtois Goalkeeper
Gary Cahill Defender (captain)
César Azpilicueta Defender/Midfielder
David Luiz Defender/Midfielder
Marcos Alonso Defender/Midfielder
Nemanja Matić Defender/Midfielder
N'Golo Kanté Midfielder
Pedro Midfielder
Eden Hazard Midfielder/Forward
Victor Moses Midfielder/Forward
Diego Costa Forward

Substitutions:

Olivier Giroud for Danny Welbeck 78
Francis Coquelin for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 83
Mohamed El Neny for Alexis Sánchez 90

Substitutions:

Cesc Fàbregas for Nemanja Matić 61
Willian for Pedro 72
Michy Batshuayi for Diego Costa 88

Cards:

Aaron Ramsey 9 Y
Rob Holding 54 Y
Granit Xhaka 81 Y
Francis Coquelin 83 Y

Cards:

Victor Moses 57 Y
N'Golo Kanté 59 Y
Victor Moses 68 Y
Victor Moses 68 R

On the bench:

Goalkeeper Petr Čech
Midfielder Francis Coquelin
Midfielder Mohamed El Neny
Midfielder/Forward Alex Iwobi
Midfielder/Forward Theo Walcott
Forward Olivier Giroud
Forward Lucas Pérez

On the bench:

Goalkeeper Asmir Begović
Defender Nathan Aké
Defender John Terry
Defender Kurt Zouma
Midfielder Cesc Fàbregas
Midfielder Willian
Forward Michy Batshuayi

Comments:

Arsenal became the first club to appear in 20 FA Cup Finals and the first to win the FA Cup 13 times (Manchester United had 12 wins). Arsène Wenger became the first manager to win the FA Cup seven times. George Ramsay won the competition six times with Aston Villa between 1887 and 1920. The Gunners had now won the FA Cup three times in the last four seasons. Alexis Sánchez became the first player to score 30 goals in a season for Arsenal since Robin Van Persie (37) in 2011-12. This was second time that Aaron Ramsey had scored the winning goal in a FA Cup Final (also versus Hull City in 2014). Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger said of his future: "There's no perfect way. I just want to do well for this club and apart from that it’s down to board members. I've tried to serve this club with the same commitment. This season we had some difficult moments but I spent every day of my season with full commitment. I refused to give up and my team refused to give up. We’ll see what happens. We are adults and have to accept what happens."

Comments:

This was Chelsea's first defeat in their last five FA Cup Final appearances. Having secured the 2016-17 Premier League title, the Blues failed in their attempt to become the third club after Arsenal and Manchester United to complete the Double on more than one occasion. Victor Moses became the fifth player to be sent off in a FA Cup Final after Kevin Moran (Manchester United in 1985), Jose Antonio Reyes (Arsenal in 2005), Pablo Zabaleta (Manchester City in 2013) and Chris Smalling (Manchester United in 2016). This was the last game when John Terry was a member of Chelsea's matchday squad. He was a half-time substitute and only survivor on both teams from the FA Cup Final defeat to Arsenal in 2002. Chelsea manager Antonio Conte said: "Our start wasn’t good enough. They started the game better than us. Honestly the goal after three minutes in this way, I think this goal was disallowed because there was a clear handball. Our start wasn’t good, then we started to play in the second-half, we created chances to equalise. The second yellow card for Moses was one of the two key moments, but despite this we were able to equalise. Then we let in after one moment and it was the key moment for our loss. We created another chance with Diego, but Ospina made a good save."

2 Arsenal

Manager: Arsène Wenger

Goals:

Alexis Sánchez 5 G
Aaron Ramsey 79 G

Starting lineup:

Goalkeeper David Ospina
Defender Rob Holding
Defender Per Mertesacker (captain)
Defender Nacho Monreal
Defender/Midfielder Granit Xhaka
Midfielder Mesut Özil
Midfielder Aaron Ramsey
Midfielder/Forward Alexis Sánchez
Forward Danny Welbeck

Substitutions:

Olivier Giroud for Danny Welbeck 78
Francis Coquelin for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 83
Mohamed El Neny for Alexis Sánchez 90

Cards:

Aaron Ramsey 9 Y
Rob Holding 54 Y
Granit Xhaka 81 Y
Francis Coquelin 83 Y

On the bench:

Goalkeeper Petr Čech
Midfielder Francis Coquelin
Midfielder Mohamed El Neny
Midfielder/Forward Alex Iwobi
Midfielder/Forward Theo Walcott
Forward Olivier Giroud
Forward Lucas Pérez

Comments:

Arsenal became the first club to appear in 20 FA Cup Finals and the first to win the FA Cup 13 times (Manchester United had 12 wins). Arsène Wenger became the first manager to win the FA Cup seven times. George Ramsay won the competition six times with Aston Villa between 1887 and 1920. The Gunners had now won the FA Cup three times in the last four seasons. Alexis Sánchez became the first player to score 30 goals in a season for Arsenal since Robin Van Persie (37) in 2011-12. This was second time that Aaron Ramsey had scored the winning goal in a FA Cup Final (also versus Hull City in 2014). Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger said of his future: "There's no perfect way. I just want to do well for this club and apart from that it’s down to board members. I've tried to serve this club with the same commitment. This season we had some difficult moments but I spent every day of my season with full commitment. I refused to give up and my team refused to give up. We’ll see what happens. We are adults and have to accept what happens."

1 Chelsea

Manager: Antonio Conte

Goals:

Diego Costa 76 G

Starting lineup:

Thibaut Courtois Goalkeeper
Gary Cahill Defender (captain)
César Azpilicueta Defender/Midfielder
David Luiz Defender/Midfielder
Marcos Alonso Defender/Midfielder
Nemanja Matić Defender/Midfielder
N'Golo Kanté Midfielder
Pedro Midfielder
Eden Hazard Midfielder/Forward
Victor Moses Midfielder/Forward
Diego Costa Forward

Substitutions:

Cesc Fàbregas for Nemanja Matić 61
Willian for Pedro 72
Michy Batshuayi for Diego Costa 88

Cards:

Victor Moses 57 Y
N'Golo Kanté 59 Y
Victor Moses 68 Y
Victor Moses 68 R

On the bench:

Goalkeeper Asmir Begović
Defender Nathan Aké
Defender John Terry
Defender Kurt Zouma
Midfielder Cesc Fàbregas
Midfielder Willian
Forward Michy Batshuayi

Comments:

This was Chelsea's first defeat in their last five FA Cup Final appearances. Having secured the 2016-17 Premier League title, the Blues failed in their attempt to become the third club after Arsenal and Manchester United to complete the Double on more than one occasion. Victor Moses became the fifth player to be sent off in a FA Cup Final after Kevin Moran (Manchester United in 1985), Jose Antonio Reyes (Arsenal in 2005), Pablo Zabaleta (Manchester City in 2013) and Chris Smalling (Manchester United in 2016). This was the last game when John Terry was a member of Chelsea's matchday squad. He was a half-time substitute and only survivor on both teams from the FA Cup Final defeat to Arsenal in 2002. Chelsea manager Antonio Conte said: "Our start wasn’t good enough. They started the game better than us. Honestly the goal after three minutes in this way, I think this goal was disallowed because there was a clear handball. Our start wasn’t good, then we started to play in the second-half, we created chances to equalise. The second yellow card for Moses was one of the two key moments, but despite this we were able to equalise. Then we let in after one moment and it was the key moment for our loss. We created another chance with Diego, but Ospina made a good save."