Arsenal vs. Chelsea: Final score 2-1, Gunners lift the FA Cup

This season was a bad one by any measure for Arsenal, finishing outside the top four for the first time in 21 years, but on Saturday they did get something to celebrate. That came in the form of a huge 2-1 upset win over Chelsea in the FA Cup final, salvaging a bitter season by raising one of the most prestigious domestic cups in Europe in celebration.

The game started controversially, with Arsenal scoring in the fourth minute when Alexis Sanchez got onto a high-looped ball sent over the top of Chelsea’s defense into the box and tapped it in past Thibaut Courtois. But Aaron Ramsey had been sitting offside for a long time and made as though he was going to play the ball before Sanchez called him off it, and then Sanchez appeared to handle the ball as it bounced up before his shot. The side judge had waved the goal off at first, but head referee Anthony Taylor disagreed after a brief conversation and awarded the goal.

That early goal gave Arsenal a lot of confidence, and they followed it up with a dominating run of play that saw them hold the vast majority of possession and get several very good scoring chances as Chelsea tried to sort themselves out. It took several heroic stands from Gary Cahill to keep Arsenal from scoring again, and Chelsea only barely started to seem to be waking up by the time the halftime whistle blew.

Chelsea started the second half much better, finally starting to take the game to Arsenal with more of their trademark aggression, but struggled to break down Arsenal’s defense without giving up space for the Gunners to launch dangerous counter-attacks through.

Just as Chelsea were starting to look like they were really threatening to score, though, the wheels threatened to come off in the form of Victor Moses getting sent off. He picked up his second yellow card in the match in the 68th minute, just eleven minutes after picking up his first booking, and not for making some desperate gamble of a defensive challenge either. No, Moses’ second yellow card was earned for diving in the penalty area — and frankly, it wasn’t even a particularly good dive.

Chelsea did give themselves some hope, though, with Diego Costa capitalizing on a bit of a defensive breakdown from Arsenal to score a huge equalizer for Chelsea despite being down a man in the 76th minute. That hope lasted only a few minutes, though, as Olivier Giroud’s first pass in the match after coming on as a substitute was the assist on a goal from Aaron Ramsey, restoring Arsenal’s lead and instantly demoralizing Chelsea again.

That 2-1 score persisted through the final whistle, and the game ended with Arsenal lifting the FA Cup trophy high above their heads despite few giving them any chance at winning before the match. They performed brilliantly all game long, knowing that this was their big chance to get something out of a season that was otherwise full of frustration. Congratulations to them for winning their record 13th FA Cup title, a huge mark and one to be celebrated by players and fans alike.

Arsenal: David Ospina; Rob Holding, Per Mertesacker, Nacho Monreal; Hector Bellerin, Aaron Ramsey, Granit Xhaka, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Francis Coquelin 82’); Mesut Özil, Alexis Sanchez (Mohamed Elneny 90’+3), Danny Welbeck (Olivier Giroud 78’)

Goals: Sanchez (4’), Ramsey (79’)

Chelsea: Thibaut Coutrois, Cesar Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Gary Cahill; Victor Moses (red 68’), N’Golo Kante, Nemanja Matic (Cesc Fabregas 61’), Marcos Alonso; Pedro (Willian 72’), Diego Costa (Michy Batshuayi 88’), Eden Hazard

Goals: Costa (76’)

After winning the Premier League title with relative ease, Chelsea probably couldn’t be blamed for spending part of their week celebrating. Apparently, though, they spent too much of it celebrating, because they looked far less prepared than normal, lacking their typical sharpness and aggression on the pitch in the early stages of the match.

It’s unusual for a team lead by Antonio Conte to look so ill-prepared for a match, and they definitely paid for it, giving up that early goal and then getting overwhelmed for much of the first half.

While the rest of the Chelsea side were struggling early in the match, Gary Cahill was having himself and incredible day. He had two goal-line clearances in the first half to keep Chelsea from going down further, and was far and away their best player on the pitch during the first half.

Cahill has been a lightning rod of criticism at times in his Chelsea career, especially this season when he had several long stretches of abysmal form, but in this match and on a huge occasion, Cahill played magnificently. This performance doesn’t chance that Chelsea still should probably look to improve on him in central defense this summer — especially with John Terry retiring — but he certainly proved his worth on Saturday.

Arsene Wenger was forced to start 21 year old Rob Holding in this match, a reserve-team defender for Arsenal who only saw limited playing time with the senior team this season on an emergency basis. The Gunners’ injury situation certainly warranted being called an emergency, though, with almost all of their regulars on the back line out injured. Many observers expected Holding to be the weak link in Arsenal’s patchwork defense, but instead the young Englishman rose to the occasion and then some.

In fact, Holding was arguably one of Arsenal’s best players on the day, even standing up brilliantly to Diego Costa’s attempts to rattle the youngster early in the match. A camera closeup of Holding after one clash between the two showed him pointing at his own head and telling Costa “you’re not getting me like that,” a degree of bravery and resilience that few defenders have shown with Costa over the years.

If Saturday was any indication, Holding might just have himself a solid future as a Premier League defender. He might not be a star, but he could be a solid and valuable player.