Key events
52 min City are playing with greater urgency at the start of the second half. This is what happened at Stamford Bridge last month, when it was goalless at half-time and 3-0 to City after 67 minutes.
50 min “Khusanov was beaten all ends up,” says Justin Madson of the Chelsea penalty appeal just before half-time. “He took the angle to get the ball, realised he couldn’t, then angled to take out Joao Pedro. No attempt to play the ball whatsoever, not even looking at it.
“I am tired of shoulder charges by defenders being called ‘a coming together’ when the defender is beaten. It’s a cop-out of an excuse for swallowing the whistle for something that would ordinarily be a foul because it happens in the box.
“Thank you for your time.”
My instinct is that it was a foul. But the speed with which VAR cleared it, and the certainly with which Darren Cann on the BBC said it wasn’t a penalty, has given me pause. I certainly agree with the broader point. Footballers, not just defenders, have become so good at disguising their cynical urges.
47 min: Big chance for Semenyo!
Cherki gets on the ball straight away. He plays an excellent angled pass out to O’Reilly, who stands up an even better cross to the far post. Semenyo gets up early, six yards from goal, but heads over the bar. Either he jumped too early or the cross was slightly too high.
47 min “I’m on call and missed the MBM,” boasts Alan Terlep, “so I went back to the beginning… and the Millenium Bug.
“I was a technician in 1999 and ran patches for the Millennium Bug on hundreds of computers. First business day of 2000, I got a frantic call from a factory that was completely shut down. I went out and found that I’d missed a step in the patch, so the bug shut down the factory.
“What happened to the Millennium Bug? We saw it coming and fixed it before it caused big problems. It was a shining example of society successfully fixing a problem and it should be celebrated by anyone who thinks we can collectively make life better.”
Amen to that. Now, any idea how society can come together to fix everything? (Also, that must have been a pretty scary phone call to receive, especially if you’d been living life to the max the night before.)
46 min City begin the second half. Cherki has indeed replaced Marmoush, so these are the revised line-ups.
Chelsea (3-4-2-1) Sanchez; Fofana, Colwill, Hato; Gusto, Caicedo, James, Cucurella; Palmer, Enzo; Joao Pedro.
Substitutes: Jorgensen, Acheampong, Tosin, Chalobah, Essugo, Andrey Santos, Neto, Garnacho, Delap.
Man City (4-2-3-1) Trafford; Nunes, Khusanov, Guehi, O’Reilly; Rodri, Bernardo; Semenyo, Cherki, Doku; Haaland.
Substitutes: Donnarumma, Dias, Reijnders, Stones, Ake, Kovacic, Savinho, Foden.
Rayan Cherki is coming on at half-time, presumably for Omar Marmoush.
“When was the last time a team was utterly crushed, 1980s-style, by losing the FA Cup final? Pardew’s Palace, West Ham in 2006?”
You must have missed me weeping like a bairn in the bogs in 2018, mate. (But seriously folks, I’d probably say Palace in 2016 or Hull in 2014.)
Jonathan Wilson
Half-time reading
Another final-day showdown, another final-day heartbreak. The pain may have been spread over 61 years, but that won’t make it any easier to bear for Hearts who, having been top for 250 days of the Scottish Premiership season, missed out on the title again.
There was, of course, a Celtic penalty for handball and a critical video assistant referee decision that went their way but, on this occasion, neither provided the controversy. That came instead from the confusion as the game was ended by a pitch invasion with 23 seconds plus whatever else the referee felt needed to be added to injury still to play.
Some incursions are largely joyous, forgivable as spontaneous eruptions of emotion but while that may have been true for the majority who spilled out of the stands, there were also many who confronted Hearts players. But even if the invasion had been purely celebratory, fans cannot be allowed to dictate when games finish.
Half time: Chelsea 0-0 Manchester City
Peep peep! That’s the end of a first half that was intriguing rather than downright entertaining. The stats say City have been the better team – 60 per cent possession, both shots on target – but Chelsea grew into the game after a slow start and got into some promising positions. Joao Pedro, all alone up front, has been excellent.
45+1 min: Chelsea penalty appeal! After Bernardo lost the ball in a dangerous position, Joao Pedro surged into the penalty area and was sent flying by Khusanov. It was a body check rather than a trip but I think decision could have gone either way.
Nope, no penalty. The consensus is that it’s one to file under ‘a coming together’. That’s fair enough, but equally Khusanov knew what he was doing.
45 min Three minutes of added minutes.
44 min: Sanchez denies Haaland
Haaland rumbles into the Chelsea area, left of centre, and batters a shot from a tight angle that is blocked by Sanchez. His positioning was good, Petr Cech-good, and that made it very difficult for even Haaland to score.
42 min Andy Gordon has this to say on the skull cap being worn by Chelsea’s keeper Robert Sanchez.
My mind is wandering a bit, but could Chelsea have downloaded an AI of Petr Cech to feed to Sanchez through electrodes in that skull cap?
I love this idea; the potential is endless.
41 min The corner is headed away by Haaland, who then uses his abundant noggin to clear the danger a second time.
40 min After another crisp Chelsea move, Palmer’s cross is headed behind by the stooping Bernardo Silva. Chelsea are on top as we approach half-time.
38 min A deep cross is cushioned back across the face by Gusto and cleared by City. Chelsea are having less of the ball but look more dangerous when they have it.
33 min Semenyo beats Cucurella with ease on the right side of the area, only to slash a left-foot shot out for a throw-in on the far side.
32 min Cucurella is booked for a foul on Semenyo, who has caused him problems all day.
32 min Joao Pedro looks okay to continue.
31 min Now Joao Pedro is down with an injury to his left thigh. That’s a worry – for Chelsea, for Brazil and for all lovers of economical, intelligent, underrated centre-forward play.
29 min Enzo Fernandez is booked for wiping out Bernardo Silva. Both feet were off the ground, with his studs showing slightly, so although he took the ball he can have no complaints.
Okay, he should have no complaints. He is currently complaining.
28 min “We’ve gone from numbingly dull to mildly exciting incompetence,” says Adam Roberts. “Is this progress?”
Any chance we could talk about the game rather than my writing?
27 min: Disallowed goal for City! Semenyo plays in the underlapping Nunes, who gives Haaland an open goal at the far post. But Nunes started his run far too early and was clearly offside.
26 min Chelsea are growing into the game. Enzo Fernandez almost releases Joao Pedro with a short through pass that is crucially intercepted by Khusanov.
25 min Caicedo is limping with what looks like a knee problem. He’s going to continue for now.
23 min At the other end, James is sacked just outside the area by Doku. Haaland collects and smashes a cross-shot across the face of goal from a very tight angle.
22 min A fine tackle by Palmer on Doku leads to a dangerous Chelsea break. Joao Pedro is held up at first by Khusanov; then, when support arrives, he ignores Enzo on the edge of the area and goes for goal himself. Alas, Joao Pedro slips in the act of shooting and the ball dribbles through to Trafford.
21 min A slick attack from Chelsea, their first move of quality, ends with a cross on the run from Gusto that is headed behind by the diving Nunes.
The corner is taken short and eventually worked all the way back to the keeper Sanchez. No, I haven’t made that up.
19 min Possession watch: Chelsea 28-72 Man City.
16 min Not a classic so far. Both teams are playing the long game – City with the ball, Chelsea without.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2026/may/16/chelsea-v-manchester-city-fa-cup-final-live
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