FA CUP FINAL REPORT Chelsea 2 Everton 1: SILVERWARE WAS the least of it. The real prize borne away from Wembley by Chelsea was the belief that a lull has ended.
These victors conducted themselves in a way that promised trophies to come of even greater value than the FA Cup. It was a week for widespread reappraisal, with Manchester United’s suffering at the hands of Barcelona in the Champions League final showing that they are far from unassailable.
Chelsea would have knocked out Barcelona in the semi-final had it not been for Andres Iniesta’s wonderful strike in the last, fevered moments at Stamford Bridge. The club has regrouped. Guus Hiddink will deservedly receive much of the credit but even he would have been powerless if he had not inherited capable players.
The Dutchman’s achievement has been to regenerate the confidence and hunger that had decayed since Jose Mourinho left in 2007. Even Hiddink, however, can only thrive if there are useful materials. There is no reason to suppose, for instance, that Florent Malouda must suffer a relapse now that the interim manager is going back to his job with Russia.
The winger has some good excuses for his quiescence at Stamford Bridge before the Hiddink period. Mourinho, having signed Malouda, soon departed and Avram Grant always had the air of a stopgap. Injuries, too, broke his rhythm and there was surgery in Paris at the start of this year to remove wisdom teeth that had become a nagging problem.
Chelsea themselves have been generally healthy but distracted by persistent aches. Here the pain was all Everton’s. While David Moyes is obliged to piece together a line-up from a very modest budget, that did not stop him knocking out Liverpool and Manchester United in earlier rounds. Saturday’s victors deserve credit for making their abilities tell against Everton.
There were echoes of last week’s Champions League final as Chelsea completed far more passes and made their opponents chase the ball. In the fierce heat this was an approach that drained Everton of energy and hope.
The opener from Moyes’s team after 25 seconds did not serve to break their opponents’ concentration. Chelsea avoided dwelling on the poor clearance of a Steven Pienaar cross by Mikel John Obi that let Louis Saha score with a superb, first-time drive.
Mikel (22) came on to a rather good game in midfield and it may be that the dependence on senior players will gradually be less pronounced. Michael Essien, the sole person to be substituted by Hiddink, did disappoint badly but the Ghanaian has already shown what he is capable of and, at 26, can go on to make a greater contribution in seasons to come.
Everton felt the force of Ashley Cole and Malouda most of all. They blazed their way down the left flank and the confidence of the opposing full back, Tony Hibbert, was burnt to a crisp long before his replacement at the interval. He had not received much help either from the right midfielder, Leon Osman, who escaped blame by hardly being noticed at all.
The excellent Frank Lampard kept the tempo of the attack high with a sharp pass to Malouda, and his telling cross invited Didier Drogba to get in front of Joleon Lescott and equalise with a firm header beyond the left hand of Tim Howard. The Ivorian may disturb the next Chelsea manager as much as he reassures him, assuming the attacker is not offloaded shortly.
Chelsea were wasteful against a determined yet limited Everton.
As so often, Lampard rectified the problem, with the winner in the 72nd minute. He appeared to be losing his balance as he swerved inside Phil Neville, but still scored from the fringes of the penalty area with a left-footed drive. It seemed odder than ever that Lampard’s technique is so under-appreciated, particularly now he has again reached 20 goals for the season.
Chelsea must locate others who can make openings or finish emphatically. It does appear that the owner, Roman Abramovich, is in the right frame of mind and the correct financial condition to spend heavily. In reviving Chelsea, Hiddink’s even greater effect may have been to inflame Abramovich’s ambitions all over again. Opponents could have cause to rue the impact of an interim manager for years to come.
Guardian Service
