Arsenal and Chelsea booked a FA Cup final showdown after they defeated the Manchester clubs, City and United in their respective semifinal encounters. Fortune finally smile on both London clubs at the 3rd time of asking having lost both reverses fixtures in the league to the Manchester Clubs.
Arsenal kick off the 1st of the 2 semifinals against the holder Manchester City on Saturday. It was a case of a resurgence Gunners against a stuttering Citizens. However, the odds weren't in favour of Arsenal having lost not only both fixtures of the league season to City but had also lost the last 7 encounters, conceding 20 goals and scoring just 2 in the process.
Still basking in the euphoria of the 2-1 win over the league champion Liverpool, Arsenal put up another back-to-wall performance to thwart City of defending her FA Cup title. 2-unreplied goals from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang(19', 71') handed The Gunners the victory over The Citizen and a lifeline to UEFA Europa League.
Just like Arsenal, Chelsea had suffered losses in both league fixtures of the season to Manchester United, also conceded 6-unreplied goals(4-0, 2-0) and scored non. Playing against an inform and free-scoring Manchester United side wasn't going to be a stroll in the park
However, against the odds, Chelsea emulated their London rival Arsenal to shock and knock Manchester United out of Cup final. Oliver Giroud(45+11') continued his scoring form to open the scoreline in injury time of halftime. Mason Mount(46') and an own goal from Harry Maguire(74') completed Chelsea's scorers. Bruno Fernandes(86') got the consolation for United from the spot-kick.
Arsenal and Chelsea had previously met twice in an FA Cup final with Arsenal recording victories on both occasions(2-0 & 2-1 in 2002 & 2017 respectively). Both teams had also met in the FA Cup 20 times, Arsenal won 9 of those while Chelsea won 5, with 6 fixtures ended in a draw. However, often time records/histories don't play any part in derbies such as the North West London Derby.
Both managers Mikel Arteta and Frank Lampard had won the FA Cup as a player playing for their respective employers and would surely relish the prospect of winning it as a manager.
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