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FA Cup Blues Di Matteo goal lifts Chelsea over Aston Villa in FA Cup
Posted: Saturday May 20, 2000 10:23 PM
WEMBLEY, England (AP) -- Roberto Di Matteo fired Chelsea to an historic FA Cup final 1-0 win over Aston Villa and into next season's UEFA Cup on Saturday with a second half strike in the last final to be played at Wembley. Di Matteo, who scored Chelsea's first goal after 42 seconds of their 1997 triumph over Middlesbrough, had to wait until the 72nd minute this time, firing in from close range after Villa goalkeeper David James had failed to hold a Gianfranco Zola free kick. "I took my eye off it. It was a silly mistake," said James, whose blunder may have cost him a place on England's Euro 2000 squad. Di Matteo didn't mind. But he was just sad that his goal created a bit of history he didn't really want. "It's such a shame they're going to knock Wembley down," the Italian said. "I'm so sad about it." First used for a cup final in 1923, Wembley is to be demolished in October to make way for a brand new stadium on the same site which will be the centerpiece of Engand's bid to stage the 2006 World Cup. FIFA's executive committee is to vote on July 5-6 and England faces opposition from Germany, Brazil, South Africa and Morocco. The result have Gianluca Vialli's team a late triumph in a season in which its Premier League challenge tailed off well before the end for a fifth place finish and it was ousted from the Champions Cup by Barcelona in the quarterfinal. Winning the famous FA Cup trophy meant it made it to the UEFA Cup along with League Cup winner Leicester and fourth place Liverpool. Chelsea manager Gianluca Vialli saluted his team for ending the season with a title. "It has been a long season of ups and downs but this is the best way to finish it," he said. "I am very pleased for everybody because we have put so much effort in this season, and this is a great reward." Dennis Wise, who appeared the odd man out all season as the only regular Englishman on the Chelsea lineup, collected the trophy as team captain. Twelve years ago, the 33-year-old midfielder collected a winner's medal on the victorious Wimbledon team that defeated Liverpool. "Everyone has been saying we haven't done very well this season but we've won the cup," Wise said. "We knew at the start of the game that this was our last route into the UEFA Cup and it was very important for the club financially that we won. "In the first half there was a bit of tension and we tried things that didn't come off. But I thought in the second half we played a lot better than them." Villa forward Paul Merson, who tasted FA Cup success in his Arsenal days, admitted Chelsea deserved the title. "We gave as good as we got in the first half but in the second half they were a far better team than us," he said. "They deserved to win in the end. The only real action of a low-quality first half was a well-struck Wise volley which was firmly held by James and a Paul Merson volley which flew just too high. Three players -- Villa defender Gareth Barry, Chelsea defender Mario Melchiot and Wise -- were all shown the yellow card in untidy game which had few chances before half time as Chelsea seemed unable to put its passing game together against a well-organized Villa midfield. There were far more openings in the first few minutes of the second half. After Gareth Southgate had headed too high from a cross by Merson, George Weah fired just wide of the post with a low, one-touch shot from 20 yards off a pass from Gianfranco Zola. Wise had the ball in the net in the 53rd minute after James had failed to hold a shot from Gustavo Poyet, but Weah was offside and the linesman's flag spoiled the Chelsea players' celebrations. Weah, a Liberian striker on loan from AC Milan, was guilty of letting down Chelsea again two minutes later when Zola found him with a right wing cross and the former FIFA Player of the Year arrived unmarked at the far post only to slide the ball wide with James out of position. Weah almost atoned for his blunders when he won the ball with his back to goal inside the Villa area, shrugged off a defender and prodded the ball goalwards only for James, who had raced off his line, to block the effort. The Chelsea goal arrived in the 72nd minute and was the result of a mistake by Villa goalkeeper James. Dutch defender Melchiot, playing because Spanish rightback Albert Ferrer failed a late fitness test, made a determined cross-field run only to be fouled after a clever turn close to the corner flag on the left side. Zola floated in the free kick and James, trying to earn a place on England's Euro 2000 squad, failed to hold the ball and Di Matteo, in a crowded area, powered it into the roof of the net. Benito Carbone had a great chance to level in the 75th minute but scuffed his shot with only Chelsea goalkeeper Ed de Goey to beat at the near post. Villa made a double substitution with 11 minutes to go, sending on Steve Stone and Julian Joachim for Taylor and Carbone and Ehiogu went close to equalizing near the end when he climbed to a left wing cross but headed over the top. Teams: Chelsea: 1-Ed de Goey; 3-Celestine Babayaro, 5-Franck Leboeuf, 6-Marcel Desailly, 15-Mario Melchiot, 7-Didier Deschamps, 16-Roberto Di Matteo, 8-Gustavo Poyet, 11-Dennis Wise (captain), 25-Gianfranco Zola, 31-George Weah. Aston Villa: 1-David James; 15-Gareth Barry, 4-Gareth Southgate (captain), 5-Ugo Ehiogu, 3-Alan Wright, 6-George Boateng, 7-Ian Taylor, 10-Paul Merson, 24-Mark Delaney, 18-Benito Carbone, 9-Dion Dublin. Referee: Graham Poll. Kickoff: 1400 GMT
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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