2018 FA Cup Final

The 2018 FA Cup Final was an association football match between Manchester United and Chelsea on 19 May 2018 at Wembley Stadium in London, England. It was the 137th FA Cup final overall and was the showpiece match of English football's primary cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (FA Cup), organised by the Football Association (FA). It was the second successive final for Chelsea following their defeat by Arsenal the previous year. The teams had met twice before in the FA Cup Final, winning one each between them. The first was in 1994, which Manchester United won 4–0, and most recently in 2007, when Chelsea – then managed by the incumbent Manchester United boss José Mourinho – won 1–0 after extra time.

Michael Oliver refereed the match which was notable for being the first FA Cup Final to use the video assistant referee (VAR) system. Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and President of the FA, was absent as he was attending his brother's wedding. The trophy was instead presented by Jackie Wilkins, the widow of former Manchester United and Chelsea player Ray Wilkins, who died in April 2018.

The match was played in sunny conditions in front of a Wembley crowd of 87,647. After a relatively even start to the match, on 21 minutes, Chelsea's Eden Hazard was brought down in the Manchester United box and Oliver awarded a penalty. Hazard scored from the spot to make it 1–0 to Chelsea, a lead they maintained to half time. Manchester United dominated the second half, and saw a 63rd-minute goal from Alexis Sánchez ruled out for offside after being referred to VAR. The match ended 1–0 to Chelsea who won the FA Cup for the eighth time.

As winners, Chelsea qualified for the group stage of the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League, although they had qualified for that phase already via their league position. Chelsea also earned the right to play 2017–18 Premier League champions Manchester City for the 2018 FA Community Shield.

Route to the final

Chelsea

Chelsea as a Premier League team entered the FA Cup in the third round, and were drawn against Championship club Norwich City on 7 January at Carrow Road. Chelsea made nine changes to their starting eleven from their previous league match against Arsenal but still dominated the match, which ended goalless. The replay was held 11 days later and was a 1–1 draw with goals from Michy Batshuayi in the 55th minute and Jamal Lewis in the 90th minute. The match went into extra time, during which Chelsea were reduced to nine men when both Pedro and Álvaro Morata were dismissed, each for two yellow cards. With no further goals, the match went to a penalty shootout that Chelsea won 5–3 after their goalkeeper Willy Caballero saved Nélson Oliveira's spot kick. The match was also notable for what the BBC reporter Emlyn Begley described as the "first video refereeing controversy" in English football when, after deliberation with VAR, Willian was booked for diving when he was brought down by Timm Klose in the Norwich penalty area; Alan Shearer described the decision as a "shambles". In the fourth round, Chelsea met Premier League opposition Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge, and won 3–0 with two goals from Batshuayi and one from Marcos Alonso.

In the fifth round, Chelsea faced Hull City, another Championship team, at home. Chelsea were dominant, scoring four times in the first half with goals from Willian (2), Pedro and Olivier Giroud, winning the game 4–0. In the quarter-finals, they visited the King Power Stadium to face fellow Premier League opponents Leicester City, where a goal for Chelsea from Morata and a Leicester equaliser from Jamie Vardy took the game to extra time. Substitute Pedro came off the bench and scored the winning goal to take Chelsea to the semi-final. There, they played Premier League opposition in Southampton at Wembley, and goals from strikers Giroud and Morata saw Chelsea win 2–0, and progress to the FA Cup Final for the second successive season.

Manchester United

Like Chelsea, Manchester United entered the cup in the third round because of their Premier League status. They were drawn at home against Championship side Derby County. Despite making five changes to the starting line-up from their previous league match, the Manchester United manager José Mourinho fielded a strong side, including Juan Mata, Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford and Henrikh Mkhitaryan. United dominated the game and won 2–0 with late goals from Jesse Lingard and substitute Romelu Lukaku. Their fourth round opponents were League Two club Yeovil Town, the lowest ranked team remaining in the competition. Mourinho made ten changes for the match, played at Huish Park, which ended in a 4–0 victory for United with goals from Rashford, Ander Herrera, Lingard and Lukaku.

In the fifth round, Manchester United were drawn against fellow Premier League side Huddersfield Town away at Kirklees Stadium. Although Mata had a goal ruled out following a controversial VAR review, Lukaku scored in each half to secure a 2–0 win. In the quarter-finals, they played Premier League Brighton & Hove Albion at Old Trafford. Lukaku scored in the 37th minute and with Brighton's Jürgen Locadia missing four chances to equalise, a late goal from Nemanja Matić, the United midfielder, secured his side 2–0 victory. In the semi-final at Wembley Stadium, Manchester United faced fellow Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, who took an early lead through Dele Alli. Alexis Sánchez equalised midway through the first half with a header from Pogba's cross past the Tottenham goalkeeper Michel Vorm. Herrera then put United ahead in the second half and his team held on for the 2–1 win and progression to the final.

Match

Background

The 2018 final was the last match of the 2017–18 FA Cup and the 137th final of the FA Cup, the world's oldest football cup competition. This was Chelsea's thirteenth FA Cup final, having last progressed to the final the previous season where they lost 2–1 to Arsenal. Chelsea had won the cup on seven occasions, the most recent being in the 2012 FA Cup Final where they defeated Liverpool 2–1. Manchester United had featured in nineteen finals prior to 2018: their most recent appearance was in the 2016 final when they needed extra time to beat Crystal Palace 2–1. The 2018 final was the third to see Manchester United and Chelsea face one another: United won the 1994 FA Cup Final 4–0 while Chelsea were 1–0 winners in the 2007 final. In the two meetings between the clubs during the 2017–18 Premier League, Chelsea won 1–0 at Stamford Bridge in November 2017 while Manchester United won 2–1 at Old Trafford the following February. The season ended with Manchester United in second place, and Chelsea fifth, eleven points behind.

Tributes for former Chelsea and Manchester United midfielder Ray Wilkins, who died on 4 April, were held before the match on the hoardings and the screens in the stadium, as well as a feature in the matchday programme. Wilkins won the FA Cup with both sides; in the 1983 final for United, and three times as assistant manager of Chelsea – in the 2000, 2009 and 2010 finals. The traditional performance of the hymn, "Abide with Me" was performed by the choir of the Royal Air Force and 14 individual fans of 14 different clubs with a flypast by three Royal Air Force Typhoons. The national anthem, " God Save the Queen", was sung by soprano Emily Haig who also performed it at the 2018 FA Women's Cup Final.

The referee for the match was 33-year-old Michael Oliver from Northumberland. He previously officiated when these two sides met in the previous season's quarter-final, in which he sent off Manchester United's Herrera. Oliver became the youngest FA Cup final referee since the 1914 FA Cup Final between Burnley and Liverpool which was officiated by the 32-year-old Herbert Bamlett. Oliver's assistants were Ian Hussin from Liverpool and Lee Betts from Norfolk. The fourth official was Lee Mason

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