FA Cup Final 2007 - Winners Chelsea

The 126th FA Cup Final was played on May 19th 2007 and was the first FA Cup to be held at the recently completed Wembley Stadium.  The final this year was between the Premiership giants, Chelsea and Manchester United.

The Lead Up to the FA Cup Final 2007

Manchester United had won the Premier League this season and were aiming for the double by claiming the FA Cup.  Chelsea finished in second place in the league; six points behind Manchester United, Chelsea had also won the League Cup this season making this the first time that the Premiership champions and the League Cup winners from the same season had played each other in the FA Cup Final.

Chelsea

2007 FA Cup FinalThe third round kicked off with a comprehensive 6-1 win against Macclesfield Town, next up were League One team and former European Cup Champions, Nottingham Forest who were quickly seen off with a 3-0 win.  Round five brought Norwich to Stamford Bridge and another clean sheet for Chelsea in a 4-0 win.

The sixth round was an exciting tie against London rivals Tottenham Hotspur ended in a 3-3 draw, the replay ended in a 2-1 win for Chelsea.  The semi final was played at Old Trafford against Blackburn Rovers and ended 2-1 after extra time.

Manager:
Jose Mourinho

  • GK Petr Cech
  • RB Paulo Ferreira
  • CB Michael Essien
  • CB John Terry (Captain)
  • LB Wayne Bridge
  • DM Claude Makelele
  • CM Frank Lampard
  • CM John Obi Mikel
  • RW Shaun Wright-Phillips 93'
  • LW Joe Cole 45'
  • CF Didier Drogba

Substitutes:

  • GK Carlo Cudicini
  • DF Ashley Cole 108'
  • MF Arjen Robben 45'& 108'
  • MF Lassana Diarra
  • FW Salomon Kalou 93'

Manchester United

First off was a 2-1 win against Aston Villa followed by a fourth round tie against Portsmouth which ended 2-1.  The fifth round was against Reading which ended in a 1-1 draw and the replay saw United win 3-2.  Round six brought in another replay as they drew 2-2 against Middlesbrough but won 1-0 in the following fixture.  The semi final at Villa Park was a comfortable 4-1 win against Watford.

Manager:
Sir Alex Ferguson

  • GK Edwin van der Sar
  • RB Wes Brown
  • CB Rio Ferdinand
  • CB Nemanja Vidiæ
  • LB Gabriel Heinze
  • DM Michael Carrick 112'
  • CM Darren Fletcher 92'
  • CM Paul Scholes
  • RW Cristiano Ronaldo
  • LW Ryan Giggs (Captain) 112'
  • CF Wayne Rooney

Substitutes:

  • GK Tomasz Kuszczak
  • DF Patrice Evra
  • DF John O'Shea 112'
  • FW Alan Smith 105' 92'
  • FW Ole Gunnar Solskjær 112'

FA Cup Final 2007 Result

Both teams started off cautiously with neither team producing anything creative. By half team they had only mustered a couple of attempts on goal each. The second half continued in much the same fashion and by the end of the 90 minutes the score was deadlocked at 0-0. The match was taken into extra time and it looked as is both of the managers were happy to go for penalties and we would see a repeat of the 2006 Cup final, but with four minutes to go Drogba managed to get the ball past Van Der Sar and Chelsea had won their fourth FA Cup.

Chelsea 1 – 0 Manchester United (a.e.t.)
Drogba 116'
Wembley, London
Attendance: 89,826
Referee: Steve Bennett (Kent)