Chelsea survive late Sheffield United surge, win 2-0 – FA Cup Quarter-Final report
Despite good pressure from Sheffield United late-on in this FA Cup Quarter-Final fixture against Chelsea, it was The Blues that came out on top.
An own-goal in the first-half from Sheffield’s Oliver Norwood and a late strike by Hakim Ziyech was enough to see Chelsea go through to the Semi-Finals of the FA Cup.
Chelsea’s early pressure paid dividends
The first goal of this FA Cup Quarter-Final fixture between Chelsea and Sheffield United came in the 24th minute for the hosts.
A Mason Mount corner from the right side swung outwards and went all the way to the edge of the box on the left-hand side.
Chelsea’s Ben Chilwell was there to collect it, where he fired the ball back into the Sheffield United box into a dangerous area.
The shot/cross looked as if it was going wide until Sheffield’s Oliver Norwood’s attempt at blocking it put the ball into his own net from close-range.
Sheffield United almost gifted Chelsea a second goal
Chelsea almost doubled their lead in the 42nd minute after Sheffield United tried playing it out from the back.
It was Norwood at fault again, when his blind pass along the back-line was pounced upon by Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic, who did well to skip around the intended target with the ball.
However, despite being wide-open in the Sheffield United box, the American winger slipped as he adjusted to shoot.
This gave Sheffield keeper Aaron Ramsdale time to quickly close down Pulisic and make a crucial save to keep his team in the game.
McGoldrick squandered a huge chance for Sheffield United
Sheffield United had their best chance to equalise in this FA Cup Quarter-Final against Chelsea in the 67th minute.
John Lundstram’s cross from the right-wing was deflected en-route into the Chelsea box.
However, the ball floated perfectly into the path of Sheffield United striker David McGoldrick, who was unmarked.
Somehow, McGoldrick’s wide-open diving header from inside the 6-yard box bounced wide – a huge chance for Sheffield to pull level.
Ziyech sealed the win for Chelsea late-on
Despite late pressure from Sheffield United in this FA Cup Quarter-Final, Chelsea put the final nail in the coffin in the 92nd minute.
Goal scorer Hakim Ziyech started the move with an interception at the half-way line, which subsequently started a Chelsea counter-attack.
Ziyech then passed to Mateo Kovacic, who then found Chilwell on the left side just outside the box.
Chilwell’s low delivery into the box found Ziyech, who controlled it well, before firing his shot into the bottom right corner past Sheffield keeper Ramsdale.
Reactions from this FA Cup Quarter-Final result
https://twitter.com/OptaJoe/status/1373660376580173827
Wednesday: Reach #UCL quarter-finals ✔️
Sunday: Reach FA Cup semi-finals ✔️Not a bad week for Chelsea 😎 pic.twitter.com/1SpGhT7DtK
— B/R Football (@brfootball) March 21, 2021
https://twitter.com/ChelseaFCBlogs_/status/1373662549317664772
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