FA Cup Semi Final – Great day ruined by a Football match

This weekend, we were fortunate enough to be at Wembley in association with Budweiser and Sabotage Times

Having spent a full day with friends and family singing and having a few drinks before and after the game, I stand by my assertion that this was a great day out ruined by a game of football.

Ultimately, we lost our FA Cup crown but eventually we refused to go out without a fight, pushing Manchester City right to the final whistle in a game, which on another day, may have gone our way.

Build Up

The day started at the Globe Pub opposite Baker street tube station where around 200 Chelsea fans had congregated in one of our traditional pre-Wembley haunts. The pub was full to bursting so fans spread out across the pavement, bringing their own beer.

The next couple of hours consisted of singing songs, drinking beer, throwing celery, enjoying the clear blue skies and talking about the game ahead.

Confidence was high amongst many fans but having endured the reign of “The Interim One” and the inconsistent and abysmal performances that have accompanied his floundering in the dugout, I was pessimistic about our chances.

I was particularly concerned about the absence of both John Terry and Frank Lampard from the starting line up. In the big games you need your experienced players and it came across that Benitez was building for his legacy with a symbolic decision to omit them.

However, in the last decade we have been spoilt and Wembley really feels like a second home and I was hopeful that this would be a good omen.

Knowing that the winner would face Wigan in May, this felt like the Final with both sets of fans confident that they would win the trophy if they could get past the semi-final.

The Game

This game was similar in make-up to the FA Cup Final last season, with one team dominating for 60 minutes until a substitution changed the balance of the game, but not enough to bring the team back onto level terms.

Unfortunately, on this occasion, we were the team that failed to turn up for the first hour.

A few decent results last week cannot paper over the poor performances that have become par for the course under Benitez.

At this point, it pains me to praise Benitez who took decisive action by bringing on Torres for Mikel and a goal materialised moments later, with this uncharacteristic statement of intent the catalyst for a second half fightback that arguably should have led to an equaliser.

Summary

It is always great to visit our impressive second home but hopefully the next time we visit there will be a happier ending.

Despite some positives, it is hard not to be disappointed by the performance that saw us relinquish our FA Cup crown. I refuse to accept tiredness as an excuse particularly given how we finished the game; instead Benitez got it tactically wrong as we were unable to cope with Manchester City’s midfield.

He can also be criticised for the ego driven omission of Frank Lampard and John Terry as this attempt to show the progress in moving the team forward contributed to this defeat.

It’s always difficult refereeing such an important match but it is frustrating when you do not get the decisions that could have changed the game in your favour. That being said, we shot ourselves in the foot by failing to turn up.