Chelsea (Photo by ALASTAIR GRANT/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Chelsea have booked their ticket to the FA Cup final.
On Sunday, Chelsea beat Manchester United 3-1 in the FA Cup semifinals to advance to the final of England’s most famed cup competition, where they will face archrivals Arsenal.
Olivier Giroud and Mason Mount both scored for the Blues, as did Harry Maguire into his own net, while a Bruno Fernandes penalty after a clumsy challenge by substitute Callum Hudson-Odoi gave United a consolation goal.
Against the most in-form team in the country, spoiled with attacking talent, the Chelsea defence stood firm, and they shut down their opponents.
At the same time, the attackers created chance after chance and took advantage, giving manager Frank Lampard a crucial win and a shot at winning a competition he won four times as a Chelsea player.
Here are some thoughts on this very significant game.
1. Lampard gets it spot-on this time
After successfully beating Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool, Pep Guardiola and Manchester City, Jose Mourinho and Tottenham, etc. the Blues boss received criticism for his inability to best Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who he lost to three times this season.
After this game, though, there will be no such judgment. Every decision he made, he was rewarded for on the night.
The first and most obvious decision was playing with a back three, which worked to perfection. Against a side who would challenge Chelsea head-on, Lampard fortified his defence, and through that fortified his attack.
The defensive trio of Antonio Rudiger, Kurt Zouma and Cesar Azpilicueta, with Reece James and Marcos Alonso as wingbacks, worked to perfection. James, in particular, had a stormer of a game, both at the back and going forward.
One of the best parts about playing Azpilicueta, a natural fullback, in a back three is that he likes to go forward and create an overload on the right flank, which means more crosses going in and more accurate ones as well.
This happened for Giroud’s goal, as Azpilicueta, playing centre-back, got in behind the backline and played an excellent ball for the Frenchman, who put it in the back of the net.
Another important call was sticking with Jorginho, who was very poor in the previous match against Norwich, being slow and careless in possession. Today, though, he was reminiscent of his early-season form, patrolling the midfield excellently.
He not only distributed the ball effectively but looked solid defensively and made some key passes in forward areas too. With this type of performance, Lampard may think twice about selling him in the summer.
Lampard got the better of Ole in every way on Sunday, which will be a psychological blow for United as well as a massive boost for Chelsea, with a comprehensive victory over top-four rivals.
Olivier Giroud</a> and <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/07/21/chelsea-5-takeaways-manchester-united/"https://fbref.com/en/players/9674002f/Mason-Mount">Mason Mount</a> both scored for the Blues, as did <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/07/21/chelsea-5-takeaways-manchester-united/"https://fbref.com/en/players/d8931174/Harry-Maguire">Harry Maguire</a> into his own net, while a <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/07/21/chelsea-5-takeaways-manchester-united/"https://fbref.com/en/players/507c7bdf/Bruno-Fernandes">Bruno Fernandes</a> penalty after a clumsy challenge by substitute Callum Hudson-Odoi gave United a consolation goal.</p>
<p>Against the most in-form team in the country, spoiled with attacking talent, the Chelsea defence stood firm, and they shut down their opponents.</p>
<p>At the same time, the attackers created chance after chance and took advantage, giving manager <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/07/21/chelsea-5-takeaways-manchester-united/"https://fbref.com/en/players/268df6b1/Frank-Lampard">Frank Lampard</a> a crucial win and a shot at winning a competition he won four times as a Chelsea player.</p>
<p>Here are some thoughts on this very significant game.</p>
<h3>1. Lampard gets it spot-on this time</h3>
<p>After successfully beating Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool, Pep Guardiola and Manchester City, Jose Mourinho and Tottenham, etc. the Blues boss received criticism for his inability to best Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who he lost to three times this season.</p>
<p>After this game, though, there will be no such judgment. Every decision he made, he was rewarded for on the night.</p>
<p>The first and most obvious decision was playing with a back three, which worked to perfection. Against a side who would challenge Chelsea head-on, Lampard fortified his defence, and through that fortified his attack.</p>
<p>The defensive trio of <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/07/21/chelsea-5-takeaways-manchester-united/"https://fbref.com/en/players/18b896d6/Antonio-Rudiger">Antonio Rudiger</a>, <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/07/21/chelsea-5-takeaways-manchester-united/"https://fbref.com/en/players/ce4246f5/Kurt-Zouma">Kurt Zouma</a> and <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/07/21/chelsea-5-takeaways-manchester-united/"https://fbref.com/en/players/53cad200/Cesar-Azpilicueta">Cesar Azpilicueta</a>, with <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/07/21/chelsea-5-takeaways-manchester-united/"https://fbref.com/en/players/1265a93a/Reece-James">Reece James</a> and <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/07/21/chelsea-5-takeaways-manchester-united/"https://fbref.com/en/players/f4290206/Marcos-Alonso">Marcos Alonso</a> as wingbacks, worked to perfection. James, in particular, had a stormer of a game, both at the back and going forward.</p>
<p>One of the best parts about playing Azpilicueta, a natural fullback, in a back three is that he likes to go forward and create an overload on the right flank, which means more crosses going in and more accurate ones as well.</p>
<p>This happened for Giroud’s goal, as Azpilicueta, playing centre-back, got in behind the backline and played an excellent ball for the Frenchman, who put it in the back of the net.</p>
<p>Another important call was sticking with <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/07/21/chelsea-5-takeaways-manchester-united/"https://fbref.com/en/players/45db685d/Jorginho">Jorginho, who was very poor in the previous match against Norwich, being slow and careless in possession. Today, though, he was reminiscent of his early-season form, patrolling the midfield excellently.</p>
<p>He not only distributed the ball effectively but looked solid defensively and made some key passes in forward areas too. With this type of performance, Lampard may think twice about selling him in the summer.</p>
<p>Lampard got the better of Ole in every way on Sunday, which will be a psychological blow for United as well as a massive boost for Chelsea, with a comprehensive victory over top-four rivals.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #0" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/07/21/chelsea-5-takeaways-manchester-united/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> 2. They did everything without one of their best players </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-483225" src=https://playingfor90.com/2020/07/21/chelsea-5-takeaways-manchester-united/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/https%3A%2F%2Fplayingfor90.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2020%2F07%2F1227407174.jpeg" alt="Chelsea" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2020/07/1227407174.jpeg 3200w, https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2020/07/1227407174-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Christian Pulisic- Chelsea (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)</p>
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<h3>2. Pulisic didn’t even play!</h3>
<p>This result is even more impressive when you consider that Chelsea’s best player since the restart by far, <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/07/21/chelsea-5-takeaways-manchester-united/"https://fbref.com/en/players/1bf33a9a/Christian-Pulisic">Christian Pulisic</a>, didn’t play a single minute.</p>
<p>With a very important game against Liverpool coming up midweek, Lampard rested the young American, who had started every league game but one since the resumption of the Premier League.</p>
<p>Lampard likely expected to have to use him off the bench to bring creativity and pace, but in fact, he wasn’t needed at all. In recent games Pulisic has been electric for Chelsea, providing several match-winning moments and quickly becoming a crucial player for his team.</p>
<p>Instead, Mount played on the left-wing, and he was a creative force, harassing the defence and scoring the second goal for his team to cap off another energetic, influential performance.</p>
<p>The fact that his side were able to pull off such a resounding win without the help of their most in-form player shows how good of a team Chelsea really is.</p>
<p>Not to mention star midfielder <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/07/21/chelsea-5-takeaways-manchester-united/"https://fbref.com/en/players/b9fbae28/NGolo-Kante">N’Golo Kante</a> is out injured, as is Fikayo Tomori. Ruben Loftus-Cheek is not back to full fitness yet, and new signings <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/07/21/chelsea-5-takeaways-manchester-united/"https://fbref.com/en/players/6622454d/Hakim-Ziyech">Hakim Ziyech</a> and <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/07/21/chelsea-5-takeaways-manchester-united/"https://fbref.com/en/players/49fe9070/Timo-Werner">Timo Werner</a>, <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/07/21/chelsea-5-takeaways-manchester-united/"https://playingfor90.com/2020/07/18/4-signings-chelsea-seasons-title-race/">potentially among others</a>, are arriving in the summer.</p>
<p>Factor all this into the current Chelsea team, who beat a star-studded United in the form of their lives, and you see a very, very exciting future ahead.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #0" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/07/21/chelsea-5-takeaways-manchester-united/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> 3. Kovacic can truly be unstoppable </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-483226" src=https://playingfor90.com/2020/07/21/chelsea-5-takeaways-manchester-united/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/https%3A%2F%2Fplayingfor90.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2020%2F07%2F1227128833.jpeg" alt="Chelsea" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2020/07/1227128833.jpeg 3200w, https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2020/07/1227128833-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Mateo Kovacic- Chelsea (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)</p>
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<h3>3. Kovacic is excellent on average, unstoppable on his day</h3>
<p>As has been the case many times this season, <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/07/21/chelsea-5-takeaways-manchester-united/"https://fbref.com/en/players/79c0821a/Mateo-Kovacic">Mateo Kovacic</a> dominated the midfield and made his case for Man of the Match. There was truly nothing the United midfielders could do to stop him.</p>
<p>It’s not like he was playing against relegation candidates, either. He went up against <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/07/21/chelsea-5-takeaways-manchester-united/"https://fbref.com/en/players/867239d3/Paul-Pogba">Paul Pogba</a> and Fernandes, two of the league’s best midfielders, and simply outplayed them. But he didn’t only outplay them, he humiliated them.</p>
<p>When Kovacic is running with the ball, he keeps it on a string, reminiscent of Eden Hazard, and he runs at pace, breaking lines and creating space. He is not one to score a lot, or even assist regularly, but he affects the game so much regardless.</p>
<p>His ability can unlock games and create attacks out of nothing, which is important both against top teams who press and against deep defences who leave little space to work with.</p>
<p>Kovacic deserves to be Chelsea’s player of the season, and he very likely will be with the level he has reached this year. Beyond Kevin De Bruyne, who is in a league of his own, there is certainly a strong argument to say the Croatian is the best in the league.</p>
<p>He is sorely missed when he doesn’t play and will be critical in the team’s next match against Liverpool on Wednesday.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #0" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/07/21/chelsea-5-takeaways-manchester-united/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> 4. Giroud steps up again </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-483223" src=https://playingfor90.com/2020/07/21/chelsea-5-takeaways-manchester-united/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1067,w_1600/https%3A%2F%2Fplayingfor90.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2020%2F07%2F1227693759.jpeg" alt="Chelsea" width="1600" height="1067" srcset="https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2020/07/1227693759.jpeg 1600w, https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2020/07/1227693759-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Olivier Giroud- Chelsea (Photo by ANDY RAIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)</p>
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<h3>4. Giroud owns Wembley and has owned this restart</h3>
<p>Having won the FA Cup four times with Chelsea and Arsenal, it was clear Giroud would have something to say about this semifinal.</p>
<p>He scored the opening goal with a nice flick off an Azpilicueta cross, and engaged in a compelling battle with Maguire all game, coming out on top against the world’s most expensive centre-back.</p>
<p>The Frenchman linked up very well with Mount, with both creating chances for each other, and as he has always done, he stepped up in a big game to help his team win.</p>
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<p>Ever since the restart, Giroud has been Chelsea’s most important player after Pulisic, scoring five goals in six starts, all either go-ahead or match-winning goals.</p>
<p>After being widely expected to leave in the winter window having only started two games before mid-February, he kept pushing himself and training hard, and now that he is finally getting the chances he deserves, he is taking advantage.</p>
<p>Whenever Chelsea need him, he has always delivered, and he will definitely have an important impact in the final against former club Arsenal.</p>
<p>He has already dismantled them in a final before, with a goal and two assists in last season’s Europa League final, and he looks set to do it again come August 1st.</p>
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<h3>5. Does 3-4-3 suit Chelsea better than 4-3-3?</h3>
<p>Having lost to Ole and United three times already this season, each time falling victim to their counterattacks, Lampard opted to play with three centre-backs to nullify that threat, and it worked.</p><div class="widget fs_ads"> <div class="fs_ad_widget-ad" style="margin:0 auto; width: 300px;"> <div class="fs-ll-ad" data-ad-type="minutemedia_slideshow_inline_300x250__desktop__tablet" data-vendor="minutemedia">
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<p>Azpilicueta completely locked down <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/07/21/chelsea-5-takeaways-manchester-united/"https://fbref.com/en/players/a1d5bd30/Marcus-Rashford">Marcus Rashford</a>, while on the other side Rudiger and Alonso made light work of Daniel James. Jorginho and Kovacic took care of Fernandes, and that freed up Mount, Giroud and <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/07/21/chelsea-5-takeaways-manchester-united/"https://fbref.com/en/players/8b9ebd03/Willian">Willian to conjure up attack after attack.</p>
<p>In each previous game against United, the Blues played a 4-3-3, and it worked against them, but the 3-4-3 led Chelsea to a comfortable win, which begs the question: which is better in the long term?</p>
<p>The answer is that they work differently against different types of opponents. For example, after successfully using the 3-4-3 against Spurs in December, Lampard assumed it would also work against Southampton, but they lost 2-0.</p>
<p>This is because Southampton is a more defensive team, and they are not a significant threat to Chelsea’s defence, so the extra centre-back is not required and leaves Chelsea with far less creativity to break down a team.</p>
<p>However, against other top teams where the games are more open, the wingbacks help Chelsea take advantage of spaces out wide, while the additional centre-back comes in handy to deal with talented attackers, as it did for Rashford and Anthony Martial.</p>
<p>Against English and European champions Liverpool, it would not be a surprise if Lampard opts for the back three again, especially since their biggest threat is out wide, with <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/07/21/chelsea-5-takeaways-manchester-united/"https://fbref.com/en/players/e342ad68/Mohamed-Salah">Mohamed Salah</a> and <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/07/21/chelsea-5-takeaways-manchester-united/"https://fbref.com/en/players/c691bfe2/Sadio-Mane">Sadio Mane</a>, as well as the fullbacks.</p>
<p>Alonso and James could deal with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson, while Rudiger and Azpilicueta would man-mark Salah and Mane, with Zouma behind them to provide additional cover.</p>
<p>The 3-4-3 is a useful weapon for Chelsea to use at times, but the 4-3-3 still appears to be Lampard’s preferred formation, as it should be.</p>
<div class="fs-shortcode" data-type="StoryLink" data-theme="dark" data-text="4 SIGNINGS THAT PUT CHELSEA IN NEXT SEASON'S TITLE RACE" data-url="https://playingfor90.com/2020/07/18/4-signings-chelsea-seasons-title-race/" data-call-to-action="Next"> <div class="story-link-next"> <a class="story-link-next-btn" style="background: #0" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="story-link-next-shortcode" href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/07/21/chelsea-5-takeaways-manchester-united/"https://playingfor90.com/2020/07/18/4-signings-chelsea-seasons-title-race/"> <span class="call_to_action">Next:</span> 4 SIGNINGS THAT PUT CHELSEA IN NEXT SEASON'S TITLE RACE </a> </div>
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<p>Lampard and Chelsea pulled off a very impressive victory over United, and now they have three more critical games to finish off the season on a high note. One win against Liverpool or Wolves clinches Champions League qualification.</p>
<p>Lampard <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/07/21/chelsea-5-takeaways-manchester-united/"https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/jul/19/frank-lampard-chelsea-three-finals-fa-cup-champions-league">said it himself</a>, there are three more finals for Chelsea to navigate. Win and the Blues are third and FA Cup winners, but lose and they have nothing. It’s all down to what happens in the next ten days.</p><!—pageview_candidate—></p>">