FA CUP FINAL
ARSENAL 2 CHELSEA 1

WE’VE heard about the crisis, so maybe it is a measure of the high standards Arsenal and Arsene Wenger have set for themselves that in the middle of this apparent downturn they have claimed a third FA Cup trophy in four seasons.

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Wenger now stands alone as the famous competition’s greatest ever manager with seven triumphs, while Arsenal nudge ahead of Manchester United as its most regular winner. Not bad for a team apparently on the slide.

And they did it hard, fighting tooth and nail to be here with a semi-final victory against Manchester City and then beating the league champions, Chelsea, today with a measured, thoughtful performance which made them more than worthy winners.

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Of course, Chelsea will point to the flailing arm and the offside confusion from which Arsenal benefited from to score the opener inside five minutes.

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Sanchez charged down a clearance and it did touch his hand. Aaron Ramsey would also do a good job of trying to explain how he was not interfering with play as the Chilean forward raced through to score.

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The linesman held up his flag but was overruled by the referee who pointed to the centre circle for 1-0 Arsenal. In truth, Chelsea never really recovered.

And here’s that magic moment again pic.twitter.com/Rl8ez6yTOz

— Camden New Journal (@CNJArsenalFC) May 27, 2017

Arsenal pummeled them with chance after chance. A stranger from another planet would be confused by the final league placings on this evidence.

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Danny Welbeck, sensational today, hit the post with a glancing header. He and Mesut Ozil had chances cleared off the line by Chelsea centre half Gary Cahill.

Wenger, playing with a defence that has never lined up together before with Nacho Monreal, Rob Holding and Per Mertesacker, in his first 90 minutes of the season, making an unlikely rearguard, then set about taking the sting out of Chelsea’s attempts to forge a way back into the game.

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There were sensible periods of possession and attempts to score a second, using attack as a form of defence. It looked like they may even finish the match without conceding when Victor Moses was sent off for a second yellow card. He was given his marching orders in the most embarrassing fashion: a clear dive as he tried to steal a penalty kick.

Nevertheless, Chelsea did score. Diego Costa – who else? – turned on his heels and fired a shot past Ospina, which took a diverting clip of Mertesacker’s foot.

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But in 90 seconds of FA Cup magic, Arsenal were back ahead almost from the restart. Olivier Giroud with his first contribution for the withdrawn Welbeck, who had run out of gas, got to the byline and crossed for Aaron Ramsey to score with a bullet header. Pandemonium. Imagine twice scoring the winning goal in the FA Cup final. That honour is Ramsey’s.

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The speed of Arsenal’s response to the Chelsea goal stunned their opponents. And while the fans were obviously nervous, the calmness remained. Granit Xhaka and Sanchez held possession well and on more than once occasion Arsenal might have claimed a killer third. Mesut Ozil hit the post. Costa had one more chance to ruin Arsenal’s day but when well placed he fired into Ospina’s body, and soon time ran out on Antonio Conte’s men.

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Wenger, beaming, said afterwards it was one of his proudest days as manager because “nobody had given us a chance”. He was right. “We showed great spirit to win,” he added before fielding eight separate questions on his own future from the national press. “Let’s just enjoy tonight,” he smiled.

ARSENAL: Ospina – Bellerin, Oxlade-Chamberlain (Coquelin, 82), Mertesacker (capt), Monreal, Holding – Xhaka, Ramsey, Ozil, Sanchez (Elneny) – Welbeck (Giroud, 78).
SUBS NOT USED: Cech, Lucas Perez, Walcott, Iwobi.
Attendance: 89,472.

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