Arsenal vs Chelsea, Live Score and Commentary, FA Cup Final 2016-17

PEEEEP! PEEEEEEEEEEP! PEEEEEEEEEEEP!

ARSENAL ARE FA CUP VICTORS FOR A RECORD THIRTEENTH TIME.

Wenger has had far greater triumphs in his time. but none more sweet. This was his Cup, his triumph, as he out thought and out manouvered the much vaunted Antonio Conte. Arsenal were better on the day, and Chelsea simply looked dazed all day - horrendously poor from them, but supremely intense from Arsenal.

Lovely stuff.

Thank you for reading, and for your mails.

Anirudh Menon signing out.

Toodle-ooo

94' Ozil loses possession and Willian motors forward before Rob Holding gets a solid thump on the ball.....

93' Giroud does well against Kante to keep ahold of the ball and Arsenal make a time-wasting substitution to take off the excellent Alexis Sanchez and give Mo Elneny his first taste of the FA Cup Final. Ramadan Kareem, Mohammed.

92' FOUR MINUTES OF ADDED TIME, and Sanchez welcomes that by winning a foul of Batshuayi. From the freekick, Chelsea go to sleep and OZIL ALMOST GHOSTS IN ON GOAL

91' Chelsea counter at pace but Monreal's supreme tackle on Kante puts an end to that. Luiz then goes on the rampage down the right but his cross into the box is easily saved by Ospina.

90' Ozil almost picks out a rampaging Bellerin as Arsenal counter yet again from a Chelsea set-piece... and he wins a throw in.

89' Conte makes the weirdest FA CUP FINAL sub of all time as he takes off Costa for Batshuayi

88' OH MY WORD OZIL! Another horrible pass from Kante gifts possession to Ozil who runs at Chelsea, draws Azpilicueta in, sits him on the ground with a feint of supreme elegance before smashing a ball off the inside of the post - that Courtois smothers away for a corner. WOOF! OZIL!

87' Chelsea move forward in numbers and DIEGO COSTA ALMOST EQUALISES!!! Ospina bats away Hazard's initial effort before Costa smashes it straight at Ospina!!!

86' Francis Coquelin channels his inner Cristiano Ronaldo to throw in a couple of stepoivers while running at Azpilicueta - but the Spaniard is wise to the way of the world and stands his ground.

85' Hector Bellerin, though, has no problems with pace. He outstrips three men in Blue before finding himself inside the Chelsea box. He takes a snapshot that sails narrowly wide - Chelsea have looked vulnerable on the break all day long.

84' Sanchez sweeps a ball forward, but Giroud is no Welbeck and the pace (or lack thereof) of the Frenchman saves Chelsea's blushes

83' He's not been on a minute, and he's into the book. Francis Coquelin, ladies and gentlemen.

82' Samyak cracks wise "Arsenal need special allowances for 4 substitutions, one specifically saved to bring Giroud on. ". Wenger, meanwhile, uses his second sub to bring on Coquelin for Chamberlain. The Frenchman is going to reprise a role he played for Freiburg - LWB

81' Willian has way too much guile for Xhaka and the Swiss goes into the book. From the freekick taken by Willian himself, Luiz heads it narrowly wide after making a nice little run to the near post.

80' Chelsea motor forward again, Azpilicueta swings it in and Alonso is just beaten to it by Holding. This match is not over by any means

WHAT A SUBSTITUTION! Olivier Giroud is slipped in by Sanchez and the Frenchman lifts in a lovely little ball that Aaron Ramsey thumps in off his noggin' Superb run and clinical header from my man of the match so far - the Welshman deserves that goal.

79' GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL! RAMSEY!

78' Wenger responds by taking off the excellent Danny Welbeck for Olivier Giroud.

Of course it had to be him. Of course. Chelsea stream forward and Willian swings it into Costa. He drags Holding to one side, chests it down and volleys a goal that bounces in off a weak Ospina hand and into the back of the net.

76' GOOOOOOOOOOOAL!! DIEGO COSTA

75' Chelsea are pressing high up the pitch and are winning the ball back much better but Luiz tries to do too much all by himself - but Ramsey holds his ground.

74' Hazard wins a corner off Monreal... the Belgian's presence on the pitch means that Chelsea are still in with a chance.

73' Bellerin tries to slip in Ozil down the Arsenal right, but Alonso does just about enough to keep the marauding German at bay. Ozil has been brilliant today, it has to be said

71' Arsenal are passing the ball around with ease in the Chelsea third. Sanchez and Chamberlain work their way down that vacant right-back slot but the Chileans's ball across the box doesn't trouble the Blues. The Ox then puts an end to that move by smashing a ball into row Z. Conte hooks Pedro (arguably his best player on the day) for the directness of Willian.

69' Arsenal look to make the ten men of Chelsea pay,but some smart work from Luiz ensures that Welbeck doesn't get up to anything.

68' Second yellow for Moses as he dives over Chamberlain's foot. MOSES HAS BEEN EXILED wisecracks Sunny. It was a ludicrous decision by the Nigerian - who has been poor all day - Conte'll probably kill him if he walks too close to him on the way down the tunnel.

67' Samyak is all too pleased at the moment - "Arsenal physically dominating and outpacing Chelsea. This is the most pleasing thing I've watched as a gooner all season. Driving Chelsea into frustration and making them show a little bit of their manager's face on the pitch. "

66' Fabregas picks out Costa with a sumptous ball, but the Spaniard just can't get his head to it. The former Arsenal darling holds the key for Chelsea here

63' OH MY! WOW! Welbeck's running has created endless trouble all day - and he draws in three defenders before laying it out to the onrushing Bellerin. The Spaniard opts for placement rather than power - and it's stopped by an excellent Courtois save!

62' Ozil produces the touch (or non-touch) of the match to feint and ghost away from a hapless Gary Cahill before swinging an exquisite outside-of-the-boot ball just inches away from Welbeck's boot.

61' Ozil slides in Bellerin down the line, but the right wing-back's cross is hopeless. Chelsea break forward at pace before Hazard tries to be cut with his through ball to Costa - it's read like a book of German nursery rhymes by Mertesacker.

60' Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has been all over Moses when he's moved forward and he makes Moses dizzy before embarking on a power run that is well cut off by Gary Cahill. Conte has seen enough and throws on Fabregas for Matic. The Arsenal fans in the crowd just love that.

59' Kante goes into the book - a rare enough occurence - as he's forced to pull the excellent Ramsey down. Arsenal move forward and win another corner. Which is rubbish.

58' OOOOOOOOO!!! Pedro tries to curl one in from the edge of the box - very much the former Barca man's territory - but the curl takes the ball just wide of the far post

57' Yellow for Moses as he cynically trips up the dangerous Danny Welbeck and prevents him from breaking into the Chelsea half.

56' Azpilicueta moves forward this time and plays in a dangerous ball that Monreal does really well to head out of play from just under the bar. The corner is frantically cleared.

55' The ball pinaballs around the area before Sanchez releases Hector Bellerin with a through ball of immense quality. Just wow. The speedy Spaniard runs through and tries to pull it back for a completely free Welbeck - but Azpilicueta gets a leg to it with a despairing slide. Great defending, that... what a pass, though.

54' Hazard swings in, Mertesacker heads it out. Still, corner, for Chelsea

53' Yellow for Holding as Diego Costa trips over his inviting, outstretched, leg. That was just clever centre-forward play, and Chelsea have a freekick on the edge of the box.

52' Costa drags Monreal hither and thither before he fouls Xhaka and the ref pulls him up - much to his great chagrin. The Chelsea striker throws a tantrum that my 4-year old niece would be proud of... *sigh*

51' WOOOOOFFF! CHELSEA! Costa outmuscles Mertesacker for once and lays the ball off to Moses who comes flying in off the right before smashing a shot that takes some save from Ospina to stop.

49' Hazard draws in Monreal and races around the outside before pulling a ball back to Costa - who is blocked, yet again, by Per Mertesacker. Wow.

48' Pedro injects some pace into the situation by accelerating past Bellerin and smashing a shot that Mertesacker stops with an outstretched leg. Hazard then does his bit by going one-two with Costa, but guess who's there to block off the return ball? The Big F******** German has been impeccable today. Kante has a pop - that goes straight at Ospina

47' Sitting opposite me, Sunny Sagar - a lifelong Arsenal fan - can't quite believe how cool Arsenal are at the back as they calmly pass it around Chelsea's high press.

46' Holding resumes his running battle with Costa, and gets the better off the Chelsea striker for once. The Blues are passing the ball around a lot calmer than they ever did in the first period - their manager's every word echoing across the ranks, I presume

PEEEP! WE'RE OFF! No changes from either side

PEEP! PEEEEP! HALFTIME and Arsenal move into the break deservedly ahead in a wonderfully edge-of-the-seat entertainer.

Yes, the goal itself was controversial, but there was nothing questionable about the dominance Arsenal displayed - a natural result of their much greater intensity. Wenger looks immensely pleased, as he should.

I fear for the Chelsea player's physical and mental health, though, Antonio Conte looks like he's about to spontaneously combust. It's not a pretty sight.

Back in fifteen!