Chelsea booked their spot in the FA Cup semi-finals for the fourth time in five seasons with a laborious 2-0 victory over Sheffield United.
It took Chelsea a while to grow into the game and they had to wait until the 24th minute to make the breakthrough. Ben Chilwell's strike was heading wide before a deflection from Oli Norwood carried it past Aaron Ramsdale and into the net.
And that's full-time, we're off to the semi-final!#CHESHU @EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/RPqQyqOzfC
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) March 21, 2021
Chelsea began the second half on top but soon began to lose their composure, allowing United to grow into the game and cause some real problems. David McGoldrick fluffed an excellent chance to tie things up, but with the Blades throwing everything forward, Hakim Ziyech made the most of a late counter and volleyed home to steer Chelsea through to Wembley.
CHELSEA RATINGS
1. Goalkeeper & Defenders
Kepa Arrizabalaga (GK) - 7/10 - Had nothing but speculative long-range strikes to deal with, but looked very comfortable with each and every catch. A nice change.
Andreas Christensen (CB) - 7/10 - Did well as a right-sided centre-back and rarely looked under threat. A sign of things to come once Thiago Silva comes back?
Kurt Zouma (CB) - 7/10 - McGoldrick wanted a physical battle with Zouma, who was licking his lips and he shrugged off each and every fight. Did very well to come across and cover for Emerson on several occasions.
Emerson (CB) - 6/10 - Didn't have much to do defensively and spent most of his time moving forward. Got into some good areas but needed to do more with the ball at his feet.
2. Midfielders
Callum Hudson-Odoi (RM) - 5/10 - Some poor decision-making from Hudson-Odoi, who declined to try to take on his man far too often. Probably time to bring an end to the wing-back experiment.
Mateo Kovacic (CM) - 6/10 - A tale of two halves. Controlled the tempo early on but found himself overrun by United after the break. Couldn't keep hold of the ball late on.
Billy Gilmour (CM) - 7/10 - Excellent composure to deal with United's intense press. Floated around the field in search of possession and kept things flowing with some nice passes. A couple of underwhelming long balls, but nothing too bad.
Ben Chilwell (LM) - 5/10 - Always seemed to be in the box to get on the end of overhit crosses. Good positioning but very little end product, and Tuchel could be heard begging for more from the left-back.
Mason Mount (AM) - 5/10 - Can't fault Mount's effort but his end product simply wasn't there. Made some sloppy passes and rarely looked like causing problems.
Christian Pulisic (AM) - 7/10 - Movement was absolutely excellent and he dribbled his way through defenders with terrifying ease, but his lack of confidence was abundantly clear with his poor finishing.
3. Forward
Olivier Giroud (ST) - 4/10 - Starved of service, Giroud looked lost before being brought off on the hour mark. A couple of nice one-twos but no goal threat whatsoever.
4. Substitutes
Cesar Azpilicueta - 4/10
Reece James - 6/10
Kai Havertz - 6/10
Hakim Ziyech - 7/10
N'Golo Kante - N/A
SHEFFIELD UNITED RATINGS
5. Goalkeeper & defenders
Aaron Ramsdale (GK) - 7/10 - Could no nothing about the own goal but did very well to stop it from becoming 2-0 when he kept out Pulisic's effort.
George Baldock (RB) - 4/10 - Looked more bothered about fouling than defending. Appeared one or two steps behind the rest and tried to make up for it with sloppy challenges.
Phil Jagielka (CB) - 6/10 - Outpaced Mount early on and did well to keep the youngster quiet for the majority of the game.
Enda Stevens (CB) - 5/10 - Seemed a little flustered in a central role and made a couple of poor decisions, although nothing too problematic.
Ben Osborn (LB) - 6/10 - Did well to keep control of Hudson-Odoi and force the Chelsea man to pump in speculative crosses. Beaten once or twice but contributed more in defence than most of his team.
6. Midfielders
Jayden Bogle (RM) - 6/10 - Had a lot of fun charging forward down the right and looked a lot happier being out of a flat back five. Didn't actually do much but his enthusiasm was a breath of fresh air.
John Lundstram (CM) - 4/10 - Completely overrun by Kovacic and Gilmour. Failed to make the most of his rare periods on the ball and was sloppy with too many passes.
Oliver Norwood (CM) - 5/10 - A tricky one. Norwood was one of the few United players who actually wanted the ball to his feet, but then he didn't get a lot right. Balanced a sloppy first half out with a decent second.
John Fleck (LM) - 5/10 - Lacked quality on the ball and looked a little overwhelmed by Chelsea's press.
7. Forwards
David McGoldrick (ST) - 6/10 - Put himself about a lot and had a few exciting flashes, but was largely too isolated. Had one clear-cut chance and definitely should have scored, and he caused some real problems late on.
Oli McBurnie (ST) - 3/10 - Didn't realise McBurnie was playing until I got to this point in the ratings.
8. Substitutes
78' 2nd Blades change.
— Sheffield United (@SheffieldUnited) March 21, 2021
Brewster is on for Norwood.
Come on, Rhian. ? pic.twitter.com/0wq33EuS3o
Oliver Burke - 6/10
Rhian Brewster - 6/10
Lys Mousset - N/A
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Source: 90min
