FA Cup semi-final: Chelsea 2-0 Crystal Palace, Live update: When Chelsea takes on Crystal Palace at Wembley today, they will be attempting to reach their third straight FA Cup final.
The Blues were left heartbroken in midweek following their stunning Champions League elimination at the Bernabeu to Real Madrid, but they now have a chance to bounce back against dangerous London opponents.
Chelsea won both Premier League meetings with the Eagles this season, a 3-0 victory at Stamford Bridge on opening day, and a 1-0 victory at Selhurst Park in February, with an 89th-minute Hakim Ziyech strike securing the points.
Below you can see all of the action from the game.
91st minute: Rudiger apparently feels better as he romps down the left and latches on to some combination play from Werner and Ziyech to have a shot blocked. He limps away. You’re fooling no one, pal.
90th minute: That should be Werner’s second assist of the game – he darts through a flagging Palace backline and his cutback finds Lukaku. It should be a simple finish but the substitute hits the post and Ziyech can’t convert the follow-u
89th minute: Werner named man of the match, which is fair enough. Plenty of his teammates looking good now the sun is shining, but when Palace was making life difficult for Chelsea Germany forward never took a backward set.
That announcement is prepared in the Chelsea end, which is nice to see for a player who has had it tough at times.
88th minute: You wouldn’t have banked on this half an hour ago, but Chelsea is playing things out in relative comfort as a handful of Palace fans head for the exits.
85th minute: Rudiger just went down and is now back up again – not an ideal sight for Tuchel, who has just used his fifth substitution. Luka Milivojevic is on for Kouyate, who has put in quite the shift for Palace.
82nd minute: Christensen, who has had a very fine game indeed, makes way for the veteran Thiago Silva.
81st minute: Tuchel made a triple change after the goal and one of the new men, Hakim Ziyech, has a shot that Butland holds.
76th minute: GOAL!!!!! Mount!!!! Chelsea 2-0 Crystal Palace
75th minute: But that leaves them exposed on the break. Havertz gives them a bit of a warning, and then…
74th minute: Zaha darts in front of Rudiger but his cross is too deep. Palace committing bodies forward now, as they must.
72nd minute: Here comes the cavalry for Palace – Christian Benteke and Michael Olise on for Schlupp and McArthur.
71st minute: Poor old Schlupp is copping for some challenges out there. Loftus-Cheek is the latest to pile into him and there was a bit of a scissors motion with the legs. Despite that, it wasn’t the worst challenge and Taylor’s decision to just tell everyone to calm down seems about right.
68th minute: Chelsea has small blood here and is swarming all over Palace. Vieira’s men need to regroup and steady themselves for a final charge. Another goal here and the game is gone.
65th minute: GOAL!!!!! Loftus-Cheek!!!! Chelsea 1-0 Crystal Palace
Breakthrough for Chelsea!
62nd minute: It hasn’t been Jorginho’s day so far but that’s a doozy of a pass that Mount brings down on his chest. Palace gets back to scramble clear but that was a glimpse of the game-breaking quality Chelsea possesses.
61st minute: Close! Kouyate – who has been absolutely everywhere today – gets up first. The contact isn’t clean but the ball squirts just beyond the near post with Mendy rooted.
60th minute: Christensen has been excellent so far, but Zaha twists and turns to get the better of him. A dangerous cross in headed behind for a Palace corner.
59th minute: Schlupp goes down and stays down after a meaty coming together with James. Chelsea plays on for a bit, then play is stopped – something that pleases roughly no one in the ground.
55th minute: Mateta, who put in an industrious shift, is the man to make way for Ayew.
53rd minute: Jordan Ayew is getting his final instructions from Vieira as Mendy holds a looping Kouyate header from Palace free-kick.
50th minute: Jorginho and Loftus-Cheek fashion a way through but the combination of Guehi and Butland thwart Werner.
48th minute: Tell you what, with Kovacic off, Jorginho struggling and N’Golo Kante sitting on the bench, this Chelsea midfield kind of looks like it could do with Conor Gallagher…
46th minute: We’re back underway. No changes for either side – perhaps Tuchel was tempted but is keeping his powder dry after losing Kovacic early on.
46 mins
KICK-OFF
Chelsea 0-0 Crystal Palace
Is this one destined for extra time? Or will we see some excitement in the next 45 minutes?
Chelsea gets things back up and running.
HT: Chelsea 0-0 Crystal Palace live
Halftime: It remains goalless and Chelsea has plenty to ponder. You sense Palace and Vieira have this game exactly where they want it. That would have indisputably been the case if Kouyate’s strike had gone in. Tuchel’s side has not really gotten close yet. Catch you in 15!
46th minute: Mitchell does well to hook Andersen’s punted free-kick into the box from the byline. Chelsea crowd out Schlupp but Palace are closing the half on the front foot and with a bit of swagger about their play.
45th minute: The half is petering out. There will be two minutes of injury time before Tuchel launches into what you would imagine to be one or two extensive home truths.
40th minute: Eze’s dancing feet get Palace going again in the Chelsea half. Their threat on the break is more about such fabulous technical ability, along with the raw pace at their disposal. Zaha has both of those to call upon, but James takes care of matters.
38th minute: Well, well, well, this is becoming very frustrating for Chelsea. Kai Havertz goes tumbling with Guehi on the scene and wants a penalty. Referee Anthony Taylor rightly books him for a pretty pathetic dive.
36th minute: Magnificent save from Mendy! Chelsea could only head Eberechi Eze’s delivery out to the edge of the box, where Kouyate clattered the ball towards the bottom right corner. Mendy probably saw that late but got down to save brilliantly. Andersen smacked the post on the rebound but was offside.
35th minute: Excellent interception from Christensen, who prevents Jeffrey Schlupp from playing in Mateta. His teammates thank him by giving the ball straight back to Palace, who wins a free-kick on the Chelsea right.
33rd minute: Chelsea tries to go wing-back to wing-back, with Alonso swinging a dangerous cross towards Azpilicueta at the back post. Mitchell makes an important defensive header and Mount hooks tamely over from the loose ball.
30th minute: Azpilicueta is playing at wing-back, with James at right center-back – seemingly an acknowledgment from Tuchel of Palace’s threat on the counter. But the experienced Spain defender really doesn’t provide the same threat as James going forward. An ungainly attempted volley that goes behind off his knee serves as a decent example of that.
39th minute: Both Reece James deliveries are dealt with and Palace breaks. Zaha thinks he’s in but Christensen intervenes. Ward is quick to the second ball but overhits his pass.
28th minute: Tuchel is out on the edge of his technical area looking about as unimpressed as is possible in a nice snug Gillet. Chelsea wins a corner on account of Werner being a pest.
26th minute: Early change for Chelsea, as Kovacic departs with what appears to be a twisted ankle. On comes Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who has the chance to impress in his natural position of central midfield after some enterprising outings at right wing-back recently.
25th minute: Antonio Rudiger lofts a long pass (yes, I know) into the Palace box. Kai Havertz clambers over Marc Guehi but there’s not much purchase on the header and its easy to work for Jack Butland.
23rd minute: Mount thinks otherwise and swivels on halfway to volley a pass in the vague direction of Marcos Alonso and out for a throw.
21st minute: Mateo Kovacic is the latest Chelsea player to have an ambitious through ball come to naught. Tuchel’s men need to sharpen and shorten their passes if they’re going to make an impression.
20th minute: Not much doing here for Chelsea. Jorginho aims a raking ball towards Cesar Azpilicueta but scoots out for a goalkeeper. The Italy playmaker is visibly frustrated, perhaps because that’s exactly what Palace’s well-stocked defense wanted him to do.
15th minute: At the other end Mateta tries to hook across the goal, only to pick out Mendy’s gloves.
14th minute: Werner, playing as if affronted by Palace’s early ease scoots down the left channel to win a corner. Reece James takes but Eagles skipper James McArthur gets there first.
13th minute: Timo Werner is on the move but Joachim Andersen slides in to get a vital foot in.
11th minute: Palace is into a nice rhythm here. Zaha peels into that pocket once more, no dice this time. More Chelsea pressure but the attack breaks down and Cheikhou Kouyate breaks away, forcing Mason Mount into a foul.
9th minute Again Zaha comes short and spins away this time, chasing a lofted ball from Tyrick Mitchell. Clearly a ploy from Vieira. Chelsea then looks to bundle into the Palace box but Marc Guehi emerges with the ball.
7th minute: Lovely feed from Wilfried Zaha inside the Chelsea half and a delicious ball in behind for Mateta to chase. Christensen and Mendy deal with the danger but these are encouraging moments for Palace.
4th minute: Edouard Mendy takes a sedate touch and has Jean-Philippe Mateta bearing down on him. Is he about to do what’s now known as a Zack Steffen at Wembley? Nope, the Chelsea goalkeeper strokes away from a pass with the minimum of fuss.
2nd minute: Joel Ward gets a chance to stretch his legs from full-back down the Chelsea left but Andreas Christensen is across to snuff out the danger.
