An unbelievable and well thought volley by Senegalese and Chelsea player; Demba Ba ensured that the European champions book a place in the FA Cup semi-final clash at the expense of rated almighty unbeatable Red Devils- Manchester United today as the game ended 1-0.
In a replay of the quarter final game between the heavyweights and one which bets favoured the Red devils, Ba’s strike made the difference in what would have gone either way going by the potential on both sides.
In what looked like a drab match in the first half, was kick-started which so much determination from both sides.
A save by Chelsea No.1 goalkeeper Petr Cech which will stand as one of the classic save of this season got everyone thinking a comeback from Ba’s effort would actually be cancelled. It was a superb effort by Javier Hernandez midway through the second half but Cech denied him that glorious moment.
The FA Cup holders will now lock horns with Manchester City for the semi-final, even though they finished today’s game with just 1-0 margin despite their dominance which a lot expected would produce more goals for the bridge boys.
Chelsea will be visiting Wembley on April 14 to keep alive their hopes of defending the crown they earned against Liverpool in last season’s final, this time to face City.
In the build-up to the goal that sank United today, Juan Mata who was the architect of Chelsea’s comeback to draw 2-2 in the first game at Old Trafford was again the brain behind Ba’s goal, with his notable contribution with a deliciously chipped pass to Ba.
Ba’s technique in goal sense matched his confidence as he stunned United’s De Gea with his volley as such came unexpected to him and after United cleaned off the shock of the goal, they roared with so much vigour that it almost produced a goal to cancel Chelsea’s goal after Hernandez’s diving header.
Robin van Persie and Ryan Giggs were then sent on in place of Cleverley and Nani to try and save United’s FA Cup campaign.
Chelsea on their were not asleep as they responded to every move made by United and this was evident after Hazard gave United a let-off after 67 minutes when he burst into the penalty area following a mistake from Carrick only to shoot a yard wide of the goal and after Harzard’s effort it was as if United went to sleep because it prompted a flurry of opportunities for Chelsea but due to poor finishing none of the notable efforts could be converted to goal.
