FA Cup: Chelsea Beat Spurs in Thriller to Reach Final

The goal marked a bright start to the match for the Blues, but Spurs soon settled into it and were level by the 18th minute when Kane stooped to meet Christian Eriksen’s delivery at the near post and flicked a clever backward header into the far corner.

Antonio Conte chose to rest the likes of Eden Hazard and Diego Costa for semi-final match at Wembley, making five changes to his side in all as the likes of Nathan Ake, Michy Batshuayi and Willian all started.

Game-changing substitute Eden Hazard fired Chelsea ahead before Nemanja Matic thrilled the blue hordes with a thunderbolt that wrapped up a memorable 4-2 semi-final triumph.

As much as victory will lift Chelsea, this defeat will damage Tottenham – who have now lost seven straight FA Cup semi-finals.

Tottenham were rattled as Chelsea swarmed around the pitch threatening a second goal but Chelsea’s lead lasted only 13 minutes.

Mauricio Pochettino, who took Tottenham to that final in his first season in charge, has turned a young English-spined side into Premier League title contenders yet the suspicion remains they still lack the killer touch required to win trophies. “I feel proud, we were fantastic in the way we played and in our philosophy”, Pochettino said.

Given that Chelsea play the latter, the Tottenham boss may well opt to match his opponents like-for-like. Their two goals, a header from Harry Kane and a scintillating transition goal from Dele Alli, were outstanding.

Tottenham failed to clear the ball and Hazard shot a low fizzer through a thicket of players, across Hugo Lloris, and into the bottom right corner.

‘We deserved this after a very tough game against a really strong team.

Chelsea will take on the victor between Arsenal and Manchester City, who meet up in the other semifinal Sunday.

Hazard had been rested, along with Diego Costa, as Chelsea manager Antonio Conte shuffled his pack.

In the Premier League, there were big wins for some teams threatened with relegation.

Pochettino also paid tribute to Ugo Ehiogu, Spurs’ under-23 coach, who died on Friday after collapsing at the club’s training ground, saying it had put things in perspective. “In the last 30 minutes I made a decision to put on Eden and Diego and then Cesc who was also very important for us”, he added.

“Sometimes you play well and don’t win and now we must only be a little disappointed The gap is four points and we will try to catch up”.