Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea: Aaron Ramsey is the FA Cup final hero once again as Welshman scores memorable late winner at Wembley Stadium
- Arsene Wenger's Arsenal faced Antonio Conte's Chelsea in the FA Cup final at Wembley on Saturday evening
- Chilean star Alexis Sanchez put the Gunners ahead in the fourth minute, with the Blues left dismayed
- Chelsea's players were convinced that Aaron Ramsey was offside and that Sanchez handled in the build up
- Arsenal dominated in the first period and had two good chances to go further ahead through Danny Welbeck
- Victor Moses was sent off in the 68th minute, picking up his second yellow in 13 minutes for a dive in the box
- Diego Costa's shot crept past Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina as Chelsea drew level in the 76th minute
- Three minutes later, though, Arsenal were back in front as Ramsey headed home an Olivier Giroud cut-back
- Read: Arsene Wenger adds another masterpiece to his collection at Arsenal
He saved the best for last, Arsene Wenger. Or, at least, his team saved their very best performance of the season for their last game.
And if it were to be Wenger’s finale after 21 years, if Tuesday’s board meeting were to result in something cataclysmic in football terms and wholly unexpected at this late stage, at least he will always have this on which to reflect in his dotage.
A mesmerising Arsenal side outplayed the Premier League champions. They should have won be a far greater margin, hitting the woodwork three times. In fact they played like a Wenger side, but one from 13 years ago, with panache, obduracy, commitment and zeal.
Arsenal's 26-year-old No 8 Aaron Ramsey celebrates making it 2-1 after heading home in the 79th minute
A jubilant Hector Bellerin slides on his knees to celebrate Ramsey's crucial goal at Wembley Stadium on Saturday evening
Ramsey meets the ball before running away to celebrate his winning goal with the Arsenal supporters
Chelsea, down to 10 men, equalise through Diego Costa, as his shot creeps past Arsenal's goalkeeper David Ospina
Costa grabs the Chelsea badge as he celebrates his 76th-minute goal with the west London club's supporters
Victor Moses is sent off in the 68th minute, picking up his second yellow in 13 minutes for a dive in the box
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain runs over to congratulate Alexis Sanchez (left) on his early goal for Arsenal in the FA Cup final
Chilean star Sanchez put the Gunners ahead in the fourth minute, with the Blues dismayed at the decision to award the goal
Aaron Ramsey (left), who was deemed not to be interfering with play, watches on as Sanchez finishes past Thibaut Courtois
Sanchez wheels away to celebrate his goal, as both he, and Welshman Ramsey, look at the linesman for confirmation
Chelsea's Pedro, Gary Cahill and Marcos Alonso question referee Anthony Taylor on his decision to award Sanchez's goal
Arsenal's players walk away after congratulating No 7 Sanchez on his precise finish with the outside of his right boot
Arsene Wenger smiles as he lifts the FA Cup above his head; he has now won the trophy seven times for the Gunners
German centre half Per Mertesacker raises the FA Cup above his head as Arsenal's triumphant players celebrate
The Arsenal squad and staff cheers and spray champagne as they savour victory in the last game of the season
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MATCH FACTS AND MATCH ZONE
ARSENAL: Ospina, Holding, Mertesacker, Monreal, Bellerin, Ramsey, Xhaka, Oxlade-Chamberlain (Coquelin 82), Sanchez (Elneny 90+3), Ozil, Welbeck (Giroud 78).
Subs not used: Cech, Iwobi, Perez, Walcott.
Booked: Holding, Ramsey, Xhaka, Coquelin.
Scorers: Sanchez 4, Ramsey 79.
CHELSEA: Courtois, Azpilicueta, Luiz, Cahill, Moses, Kante, Matic (Fabregas 61), Alonso, Pedro (Willian 72), Costa (Batshuayi 88), Hazard.
Subs not used: Begovic, Zouma, Ake, Terry.
Booked: Kante.
Sent off: Moses.
Scorer: Costa 76.
Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)
Here's how Alexis Sanchez's fourth-minute goal played out. For more from our terrific MATCH ZONE, click HERE .
Forget for the moment that Chelsea failed to show. You could almost forgive them that after their enormous achievement of winning the league. This was Arsenal’s day and Wenger’s moment. Since the depths of the winter he has endured abuse, been pilloried by his own and it has hurt his pride. Truth to be told, performances at Bayern, West Brom and Crystal Palace have stretched the patience of even loyal lieutenants.
Yet here he is, with his third FA Cup in four years, surpassing Aston Villa’s George Ramsey, who won his first in 1887, as the most-successful manager of all time in this competition. And with 13 victories in the competition, he has guided his team to being the greatest club of all time in the FA Cup. If this is failure, it’s a specialism many would love to have.
Does it rescue the season? To some extent. The bigger question, perhaps for another day, was where had this team and this strength of mind been hiding when it was required in February and March?
But given the magnitude of his achievements, it was telling to hear him answer the question as to whether this was one of the proudest moments of his career. ‘It is,’ he said. ‘Because nobody gave us a chance. And we responded with attitude and class. I spent every minute of the season with full commitment and refused to give up. That’s why today I am maybe more proud than usual. Because the team and myself have refused to give up.’
Sanchez sprays champagne at the photographers as his team-mates jump around behind him on the pitch
He was correct that this was a wholly unexpected victory. Even with Laurent Koscielny and Shkodran Mustafi, Arsenal are inferior to Chelsea. Without them, you feared for Wenger that it might be one of those days when Chelsea simply swat Arsenal aside.
Yet Chelsea looked what they were; a team who had achieved their season’s goal two weeks ago. And Arsenal were a side transformed, more akin to the real Barcelona than the horribly lightweight version they usually resemble. The back three, a mere work in progress, suddenly afforded them space and angles hitherto unimagined.
Per Mertesacker, on the back of the 37 minutes played all season, was simply refusing to be bamboozled by Hazard despite the Belgian being half his height and twice his speed; Rob Holding, despite at times being out-battled by Costa, looked composed and assured for much of the game; Hector Bellerin constantly exposed Marcos Alonso.
A 'WENGER IN' sign is spotted as Arsenal fans celebrate their FA Cup success beneath a 'WINNERS 2017' sign
Chiefly though it was about Alexis Sanchez, ably assisted by Mesut Ozil. The Chilean was everywhere: at left back to tidy up; at centre forward to press the goalkeeper; at inside left, where he was actually meant to be, giving Cesar Azpilicueta a hard time.
And, yes, he was there with his hands up, punching the ball on to assist his own goal which was conceived and delivered by him alone, with a touch of Diego Maradona. Only four minutes had gone. Ramsey had harried Chelsea to win back possession, which would be a constant feature of that first half. But Sanchez it was who chipped it into the box. David Luiz headed away and up leapt Sanchez, pushing the ball with his hands into the box towards Ramsey, who had strayed into an offside position.
Ramsey feinted, Chelsea hesitated and Sanchez, a bundle of energy, just kept on running, pushed his the Welsh team-mate aside and struck deftly past Courtois. The flag was raised by the assistant referee but after a short pause Anthony Taylor overruled him. Antonio Conte was understandably baffled why it hadn’t been disallowed.
But it wasn’t an anomaly. Wave after wave came, the Arsenal attacks. On 16 minutes, a flowing move saw Ozil find Sanchez, who delivered just an exquisite pass back to Ozil whose chip was scrambled off the line by Cahill
Theo Walcott - who did not play in the FA Cup final - wears his full kit as he runs around the pitch with the trophy
On 19 minutes, Ozil’s corner was wonderfully met by the head of Danny Welbeck. Courtois was beaten, the ball headed goal-wards yet bounced off the post. Ramsey, shocked, should have scored but couldn’t adapt his body shape and saw the ball bounce of his chest back on to the post and out. Cahill it was again who had to hoist the ball off the line from Wellbeck’s shot and Courtois who pushed Granit Xhaka’s 30-yard strike away on 32 minutes.
David Ospina, preferred over Petr Cech, thwarted Costa on 29 minutes but otherwise Chelsea barely contributed. That couldn’t last. Intent replaced lethargy at re-start. Kante gave early warning with his 48th minute strike and on 52 minutes Ospina saved well from Victor Moses.
But Chelsea became the authors of their own downfall on 68 minutes. Moses, already booked on 57 minutes, drifted into the penalty area, sensed Oxlade-Chamberlain closing in and fell to ground, anticipating a challenge. But the Arsenal player had made none and unfortunately for Moses, referee Taylor was standing in direct sight. A yellow card was inevitable, as well the red which followed.
French striker Olivier Giroud roars with delight as he holds the FA Cup while wearing a personalised T-shirt
A chance to make it 2-0 eludes Sanchez and Danny Welbeck (No 23), with Arsenal dominating in the first-half
Ramsey watches the ball spin wickedly back to him off the post during a rampant first-half for the north Londoners
Chelsea's N'Golo Kante (left) goes up for a header with Arsenal's Granit Xhaka (No 29) during the first period
Rob Holding (left) puts Chelsea hitman Diego Costa under pressure as the Spain international attempts a shot on goal
The 28-year-old Costa (left) vies for possession with Arsenal's No 4, and captain on the day, Per Mertesacker
Arsenal's 22-year-old Spanish right wing-back Hector Bellerin gets a cross in from the byline, as Alonso attempts a block
A man down, a goal down and twenty two minutes to play in a game in which they had barely shown, it didn’t look good. Predictably it was Diego Costa who dragged them back into the game.
David Luiz robbed Ozil and Willian lofted a ball towards Costa. Pushing aside Holding, he took it down on his chest, struck it into the ground past Ospina on 76 minutes.
Yet having established a foothold in the game, Chelsea reverted to the slack defending which beset them all match.
Arsene Wenger raises his thumb as the Frenchman looks smart, wearing a white shirt and red tie for the occasion
Arsenal's 69-year-old American owner Stan Kroenke wears a pinstripe suit to watch his team in the London derby
Straight from kick off, Arsenal worked the ball down the left and substitute Olivier Giroud, with his first touch chased it down, beat Gary Cahill and pulled the ball back. N’Golo Kante neglected to pick up Ramsey, who headed home. He won the final in 2014; now he had done so again.
Two minutes and nine seconds had elapsed since Costa had equalised. This was a fatal blow. A frantic few minutes would ensure: Bellerin shooting just wide; Ospina making a vital save from from; and Ozil shimmying before hitting the post. But Arsenal got there.
On Saturday they summoned the spirit of a former age and played like a Wenger team should.
Despite making the FA Cup final, yet again the Gunners' supporters did not miss an opportunity to protest and raise banners
Both of the teams line up around the centre circle to observe a minute's silence for the victims of the Manchester attack
Armed police patrol their way down Wembley Way towards the stadium on a sunny day in north west London
Four Gunners supporters line up for a pre-match photograph in front of two policemen and their horses
(From left) Nathan Ake, Nathaniel Chalobah, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Ola Aina smile for the camera prior to the fixture
Spanish compatriots Santi Cazorla of Arsenal and Chelsea's Cesc Fabregas share a joke on the pitch prior to kick-off
Blue and white Chelsea scarves were placed on their supporters' seats at the home of football prior to kick-off on Saturday
The Blues' departing club captain John Terry looks focused pre-match as he looks to secure an historic double
(From left) Bobby Madley (fourth official), Marc Perry (assistant referee), Taylor (referee), Garry Beswick (assistant referee) and Adam Nunn (reserve assistant referee) stand in their suits prior to the 2017 FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4547786/Arsenal-win-FA-Cup-Aaron-Ramsey-hero.html#ixzz4iMF8pT00
