The rich defeated the poor – relatively speaking – North and South of the border as Chelsea beat Portsmouth to win the FA Cup and Dundee United beat Ross County to win the Scottish Cup.
No fairytale ending for Avram and Portsmouth
No shocks in the results, perhaps, but during the Wembley match there was plenty to talk about. Chelsea hit the woodwork six times before they scored, including a fantastic save by David James. He tipped the ball onto the bar from a Didier Drogba freekick that many at first thought had crossed the line as it bounced down. Replays showed it hadn’t.
Drogba put the Premier League champions 1-0 up from a free kick, in off the post, in the 59th minute. Just three minutes earlier Portsmouth squandered the chance to take the lead and send the match in a completely different direction when Kevin Prince-Boateng saw his penalty saved by Petr Cech. And before that, during the first half, Salomon Kalou hit the bar from six yards with the goal open and Frederic Piquionne forced a brilliant save from Cech with a snap shot.
In all fairness though, Chelsea dominated both halves and were worthy winners on their first ever League and Cup double. Credit must go to Avram Grant’s men as well, they defended brilliantly, rode their luck and conceded just the one goal from a team that had scored eight just a week earlier. Chelsea were just too good and could even afford a rare Lampard penalty miss.
North of the border, Dundee United overcame First Division opponents Ross County by three goals to nil in a relatively one-sided affair. United struggled to get the opener but after Goodwillie (yes, we sniggered too, sorry!) scored with a fantastic lob over the onrushing County keeper there was only going to be one winner. Craig Conway scored the second and third, while County only had one real effort on goal during the match.
Impressive. Ross County, sadly, weren't.
It was a disappointment for both Portsmouth and Ross County. Pompey’s problems this season are well documented – relegation and administration – but they were hoping to bow out in style for their supporters. It didn’t happen, though there was no shame in the manner of their loss.
County, on the other hand, were riding the crest of a wave inspired by defeats of Celtic and Hibs on the way to the final, but sadly for them it didn’t quite carry them far enough.
Just the European Cup final between Bayern Munich and Inter Milan before we turn our full attention to the World Cup finals in South Africa – speaking of which, Germany will waiting anxiously to hear news of an injury to Michael Ballack. He was taken off early in the FA Cup final with what looked like a fairly serious ankle injury. But then, John Terry miraculously recovered from a broken foot to play in this game. No, wait, that was a media over reaction to knock in training (yes, we were guilty too, we admit it!).
One more thing. That horrible little sh*t Ashley Cole is now the most successful FA Cup winner ever with six medals. How does stuff like that happen? The football Gods work in mysterious ways…
One more thing. Whatever happened to FA Cup final songs? Sadly missed.
One more thing. Remember when League and Cup Doubles were special and more impressive achievements? We blame Arsenal and Man Utd for ruining that by winning them too often.
One more thing. Just kidding. We’re done. Congratulations to Chelsea and Dundee United.