Chelsea and Arsenal will contest the 2017 FA Cup final at Wembley next month after both came through tough semi-final ties this weekend.
Antonio Conte’s Blues saw off Tottenham 4-2 at the home of English football on Saturday to book their place in the showpiece, with a Willian brace and goals from Eden Hazard and Nemanja Matic too much for Mauricio Pochettino’s in-form Spurs.
Harry Kane and Dele Alli both netted equalisers as the North London outfit attempted to end their Wembley hoodoo, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Chelsea reaching a 12th FA Cup final, and potentially striking a psychological blow in the Premier League title race.
And Conte’s men will face Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal in the showpiece next month after his men showed great resilience to come from behind to beat Manchester City 2-1 on Sunday.
Sergio Aguero gave Pep Guardiola’s side a 62nd minute lead, but Nacho Monreal equalised nine minutes later to send the game to extra time, where Arsenal’s talisman Alexis Sanchez tucked home the winner after 101 minutes.
It means that Guardiola will end his first season in Manchester without a trophy, which is also the first campaign in his managerial career that he hasn’t won any silverware, while Wenger’s Gunners will go in search of a record-breaking 13th FA Cup crown against Conte’s Chelsea next month.
And, unsurprisingly, the semi-finals stimulated quite the response on social media, with several Arsenal supporters taking to Twitter to laud their side’s determined display on Sunday…
https://twitter.com/adnan_gooner98/status/856278574457913345
What a great team performance..the effort and desire was what won us the game …. this is what football is all about #arsenal #ATID #afc
— Sids (@Sids30) April 23, 2017
https://twitter.com/danielkane23/status/856216412595113984
https://twitter.com/seb_clare/status/856416972141191169
Chelsea fans were also thrilled to see their side make the final…
Today's performance will carry us to the double. Massive win mentally #CFC
— Moses 🦊 (@_Nando_FT9) April 22, 2017
https://twitter.com/owoniyilb/status/855972725684408323
With the performance off one man in particular receiving much praise on Twitter…
Wow. @NathanAke – what a performance. Looks like he's been playing big games all his life. Such cool. #cfc
— Robert Rea (@robertrea) April 22, 2017
What a performance from @NathanAke glad to have him back! #CFC #Ake
— Chris Nixon (@chrisnixon2) April 22, 2017
How good was Ake? Brilliant performance #CFC
— George (@GeorgeRapson1) April 22, 2017
However, it was ultimate disappointment for Tottenham, and many Spurs supporters lamented their side’s inability to turn a dominant display into victory…
Frustrating. We were the better team for most of the match and somehow concede 4. #THFC #COYS
— JayRey (@Bellybuttonlnt) April 22, 2017
Another visit to Wembley & another loss. Deserved more. Disappointing outcome but so much to look forward to. #THFC #COYS
— roger cross (@mehstg) April 22, 2017
We've been the better team. To lose from 2 mistakes from Lloris and Son is disappointing. We go again! COYS over everything #THFC
— RPrainer 🇭🇺 (@HotchPrainer) April 22, 2017
Pochettino has been excellent for Spurs but yesterday experimented in a huge season defining game. Still has much to learn #COYS #THFC
— JimmyBC (@JimmyBCSpurs) April 23, 2017
While City fans were also hugely frustrated after seeing their side throw away the lead to lose against Arsenal…
Disappointing result. Deflating performance. Pep has a huge preseason ahead. Lessons to be learnt. We'll be stronger next season #CTID #MCFC
— Paul McGarraghy – @paulmcgarraghy.bsky.social (@PaulMcGarraghy) April 23, 2017
Today was disappointing but the truth is the only true disaster would be finishing 5th. It's all about the derby now. #ManCity #MCFC
— CityzenAbroadPodcast (@cityzenpodcast) April 23, 2017
Very disappointing result – Silva going off was a game changer – but we go on to a small game on Thursday….#mcfc
— Darren Banks (@mcfcdarren1971) April 23, 2017
#mcfc A poor performance today I'm afraid, we're going in the wrong direction
— Jon Prosser (@JonProsser63) April 23, 2017