Chelsea vs Crystal Palace LIVE: FA Cup result, final score and reaction today
Relive all the action from the semi-final at Wembley
Ruben Loftus-Cheek capped his impressive comeback with a first Chelsea goal since May 2019 as the Blues defeated Crystal Palace 2-0 to reach their third successive FA Cup final.
Loftus-Cheek’s thunderbolt finish dragged the Blues out of a sluggish performance and into a 16th FA Cup final, with Mason Mount’s angled effort sealing the deal.
England midfielder Loftus-Cheek spent the 2017-18 season on loan with the Eagles, even forcing his way to the World Cup after his campaign at Selhurst Park.
But the 26-year-old showed no split loyalty in dumping his former side out of England’s premier cup competition.
Loftus-Cheek’s first Chelsea goal since the 1-1 Europa League draw with Eintracht Frankfurt on May 9, 2019 spurred the Blues on past their clear fatigue and into yet another final. Relive all the action below:
Chelsea 0-0 Crystal Palace
25 mins: Rudiger clips a ball in towards Havertz and the German gets his head to the ball first but it’s tamely into the arms of Butland.
Kovacic has gone down now and is about to be replaced.
Chelsea 0-0 Crystal Palace
24 mins: This is an interesting one. Ruben Loftus-Cheek is getting ready to come on. May well be for Kovacic who isn’t moving particularly freely.
Meanwhile, Chelsea enjoy another lengthy spell of possession but fail to make any real inroads into the Palace half.
Chelsea 0-0 Crystal Palace
22 mins: Referee Anthony Taylor hops over the ball as Eze looks to start a Palace attack with a pass out wide to Zaha. Mount is in strongly though to send it out for a throw.
Yes, the referee’s dummy is up there with the most exciting moments of this game as we past the halfway mark of the first half.
Chelsea 0-0 Crystal Palace
20 mins: Jorginho tries to clip a deep ball towards Azpilicueta who is charging in from the right-hand side but there’s a little too much on it from the Italy international and Butland watches it drift out for a goal kick.
Patrick Vieira will be pleased with how little joy Chelsea have had in the final third so far.
Chelsea 0-0 Crystal Palace
18 mins: A poor touch from Werner goes out for a Palace throw as some cautious build-up play from Chelsea comes to a disappointing end.
A tentative opening 18 minutes from both sides. Looks like their hoping the other one commits and they can punish them on the break. But neither are doing so and it’s causing a bit of a stalemate.
Chelsea 0-0 Crystal Palace
16 mins: McArthur heads the corner clear and Alonso’s follow-up drifts tamely out of play for a goal kick.
Still waiting for a real sight of goal for either side.
Chelsea 0-0 Crystal Palace
14 mins: James slides a dangerous ball into Werner but Andersen nips the ball off his heels and receives a warm round of applause from the Palace supporters.
Havertz then does find Werner in behind and the German’s cut back is put behind for the first corner kick of the semi-final.
Chelsea 0-0 Crystal Palace
12 mins: A fierce contest at the start of this game. Kovacic goes down after a collision with Mateta on the edge of the Palace box but Anthony Taylor isn’t interested.
Eze is then shoved over by Jorginho and that one will be a free-kick.
Palace shading proceedings so far.
Chelsea 0-0 Crystal Palace
10 mins: Chelsea look vulnerable to the ball over the top. Mitchell clips one in behind for Zaha but Christensen acts as the sweeper again. It’s been a busy opening 10 minutes for the Dane.
Mount tries to flick a delicate pass into Werner but Kouyate cuts it out. Mount then goes for goal from distance but it’s a routine stop for Butland.
Chelsea 0-0 Crystal Palace
8 mins: Zaha shows his superb footwork to evade a couple of chances before sliding a lovely ball in for Mateta. The Palace forward looks to have got their ahead of Christensen before the Chelsea defender gets back in front of him and snuffs out the danger.
High-energy start but no real chances as yet.
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