FA CUP Final: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s brace in the FA Cup final gave Arsenal a 2-1 win over Chelsea and secured their place in continental football next season.
Photo: FA Cup/Twitter
Watch: Aubameyang fires Arsenal to FA Cup final win over Chelsea
Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-1 in Saturday’s FA Cup final winning the trophy for a record 14th time by beating their fierce rivals at an empty Wembley.
FA CUP Final: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s brace in the FA Cup final gave Arsenal a 2-1 win over Chelsea and secured their place in continental football next season.
Photo: FA Cup/Twitter
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s brace in the FA Cup final gave Arsenal a 2-1 win over Chelsea and secured their place in continental football next season.
Mikel Arteta became the first man to win the FA Cup with Arsenal as both a captain and a coach and had the Gabonese striker to thank.
Aubameyang fires Arsenal to FA Cup win
Chelsea had taken the lead early thanks to the irrepressible American midfielder Christian Pulisic who finished off a sweeping Chelsea attack with aplomb just five minutes in.
Pulisic was injured in the second half and needed to be stretchered off in what proved to be a pivotal moment.
Arsenal certainly came ready to play though, but it was the captain who showed the composure needed to level matters from the spot.
Aubameyang exposed Chelsea with his pace and drew a foul in the box from Azpilicueta leaving referee Anthony Taylor little choice but to point to the spot.
The captain then buried his spot-kick to make it 1-1 just before the half-hour mark in the first half.
Captain cool levels matters for Gunners
Pulisic provided Chelsea’s best goal threat and his withdrawal took the wind out of the Blues sails to some extent. His replecement, Pedro came close to giving Chelsea the lead but Aubameyang would crop up again at a key moment.
Arsenal once again used their pace to make something happen with Hector Bellerin making a lung-busting run into the Chelsea half, he was stopped but the ball fell to Nicholas Pepe who picked out the skipper. Aubameyang’s finish was calmness personified, as he took a touch before burying an excellent left footed shot.
Aubameyang’s fine finish turns out to be the winner
The referee controversially sent off Chelsea’s Mateo Kovacic for a very soft second bookable offense. In the aftermath both Arsenal’s Dani Ceballos and Chelsea’s Anthony Rudiger were booked.
Arsenal’s David Luiz, so often the subject of derision produced one of his best defensive performances against his olf club effectively marking Olivier Giroud out of the contest. Luiz was subbed off late on with a knock, but his departure did not disrupt the Gunners backline too much.
Emiliano Martínez in the Arsenal goal is far from being the club’s first-choice keeper but he too had a solid game and did well to help manage the game in the dying moments.
Over ten minutes of added time were played but Arsenal held on to win 2-1 and claim a record 14th FA Cup.
