WEM-BER-LEY: United will be 2010 Community Shield
Another trip...
By Chris,
May 15 2010
Manchester United will be at Wembley this summer after Chelsea won the F.A Cup on Saturday afternoon. The big-spending Londoners heaped more misery on relegated Portsmouth with a 1-0 win – meaning they will face Manchester United for the Community Shield in their next competitive fixture.
I am usually a staunch defender of the fantastic F.A Cup - but this year's final attracted shockingly little interest.
With the World Cup looming, the showpiece Wembley game seems to have attracted significantly fewer column inches than usual with most pundits seeing the result as a foregone conclusion.
Few gave troubled Pompey a hope - and the bookmakers priced up the south-coast club at around 15/1 to win Saturday's game.
Ultimately, Chelsea did win the Cup - securing the first double in their history and bagging their third F.A Cup triumph in the last four seasons. However, things could have been rather different.
George Boateng missed a first-half penalty and Frederic Piquionne squandered an opportunity from only six yards as the Southerners aimed to offset their relegation with Cup glory.
However, few can argue against Chelsea's superiority. They rattled the woodwork on an amazing five occasions before the prolific Didier Drogba settled the contest with the game's only goal.
Chelsea could even afford to miss a penalty of their own. Frank Lampard fired wide of David James' goal in the closing moments - but not even that could spur a late rally from the underdogs.
The result means that, courtesy of finishing second in the Premier League, United will get the chance to win the Community Shield in August. United lost the 2009 event to Chelsea on penalties and will be hoping for revenge this time around.
Wem-ber-lee again: bring on the £6 hotdogs!
Full Time - Chelsea 1-0 Portsmouth
Attendance - 88,335