Chelsea book FA Cup final showdown with Liverpool following semi win over Crystal Palace

Chelsea will face quadruple fighter Liverpool in the FA Cup final after second-half goals from local talents Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Mason Mount sealed a 2-0 victory against Crystal Palace at Wembley on Sunday.

Thomas Tuchel’s Blues had to work for it, with Crystal Palace tenaciously defending throughout, but a thunderbolt from Loftus-Cheek set them on course for a third successive FA Cup final appearance.

Mount ended the game with a sumptuous finish of his own later, setting up a final between Chelsea and Liverpool on 14 May.

That will be Chelsea’s fifth FA Cup final in six years as they look to make amends for defeat in the showpiece against Arsenal and Leicester in 2020 and 2021 respectively.

It was a much-needed win after Tuesday’s harrowing Champions League quarter-final exit to Real Madrid, where the Blues scored three times to come back from a 3-1 first-leg deficit only to be eliminated. in overtime.

Tuchel has so far won the Champions League, Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup in his reign at Chelsea, but has yet to lead Chelsea to a domestic trophy. The German made just three changes from the team that lost to Los Blancos, with Chelsea looking sluggish in the first half of Crystal Palace’s victory. They were certainly helped, however, by the fact that Palace were without workhorse Conor Gallagher, who was unavailable to face his parent club.

However, beating Palace keeps them in contention to end a troubled season with trophies, although Liverpool, who beat Premier League leaders Manchester City 3-2 in Saturday’s semi-final, will present much tougher opposition. .

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