Arsenal

2-1

Chelsea

Reyes 56, 61

 

Mutu 39

The FA Cup, Fifth Round
Highbury
15 February 2005

Jose Antonio Reyes scored a second half brace for Arsenal as they came from behind to once again knock Chelsea out of The FA Cup.

The 20-year-old Spaniard scored two goals - the first an absolutely brilliant effort - in five minutes as Arsenal notched up an FA Cup win over their London neighbours for the fourth successive season.

Adrian Mutu had put Chelsea ahead with a fabulous goal of his own six minutes from half-time after Jens Lehmann had failed to clear effectively.

But Reyes equalised with an outstanding long-range drive on 56 minutes before scoring a second past Neil Sullivan, Chelsea's substitute 'keeper.

For long periods of the first half Arsenal, who were without leading scorer Thierry Henry – missing due to a foot injury, looked to be devoid of ideas going forward and were virtually reliant on Dennis Bergkamp to create any goalscoring opportunities.

Without the mercurial Frenchman, Arsenal’s pattern of play was all-too predictable with Bergkamp and Robert Pires combining to try to play in each other or Reyes, a tactic that the Chelsea back four dealt with comfortably.

The Blues first scare came after ten minutes when Pires - having exchanged passes with Bergkamp - played a delicate pass into the feet of Gilberto who had got behind the visitors’ defence.

Thankfully for Chelsea, John Terry was able to get back, make the tackle and immediately launch a swift counter attack.

With Arsenal players and fans appealing to Paul Durkin for a penalty for a perceived foul by Terry, Chelsea broke quickly and found Gronkjaer at the other end of the pitch. His measured cross to the near post found, of all people, William Gallas who forced a good save from Lehmann.

Chelsea had served notice that they had come to Highbury to win and ten minutes before the break they thought they had grabbed the first goal of the game. Jesper Gronkjaer ghosted in unmarked at the far post to head Frank Lampard's cross from the left low past Lehmann but the Dane was judged to have been offside.

Chelsea didn’t give up hope at what was a tight call and four minutes later they did take the lead when Romanian Adrian Mutu powered home an excellent, opportunist goal.

Faced with a routine clearance, Lehmann kicked the ball only as far as Scott Parker, ten yards inside the Arsenal half. The England international immediately played the ball back up-field to Mutu who turned Toure and fired a 20-yard shot past Lehmann into the far corner.

Things were looking good for the visitors from Stamford Bridge but ten minutes after half-time, Arsenal pulled level with a sublime goal.

With the Gunners playing in a far more open and direct manner to their rather stuttering first-half performance, Reyes collected the ball to the left of the Chelsea penalty area, 25 yards out.

Running across the face of the Chelsea area, Reyes only faced one half-hearted challenge from a Blues defence that seemed to be nailed to the edge of the box. In the blink of an eye, he had created enough space to unleash a fierce, arrow-straight left-footed shot which flew high into Cudicini’s top left hand corner.

It was a brilliant goal, worthy of the missing Henry. With the Highbury masses chanting ‘ole, ole, ole’ in unison, the young Sevilla-born forward almost looked embarrassed at having displayed such consummate skill.

Suddenly Arsenal tails were up and when Cudicini, who had saved well from Pires and Joe Cole in the first half, had to be replaced by Sullivan, one feared the worst for Claudio Ranieri's expensively-assembled side.

With Arsenal encamped on the edge of the Chelsea area, Patrick Vieira threaded a beautifully weighted pass through for Reyes and the new signing showed considerable composure to finish calmly past Sullivan.

With that Chelsea’s Cup hopes were gone for another season and despite late efforts from Parker, Cole, Gronkjaer and Hasselbaink, Arsenal held on to book their place in tomorrow’s Sixth Round draw.

Team News

Arsenal: Lehmann, Cole, Campbell, Toure, Lauren, Parlour (Edu), Vieira, Silva, Pires, Bergkamp, Reyes (Clichy)
Subs not used: Cygan, Stack, Bentley

Chelsea: Cudicini (Sullivan), Melchiot, Terry, Gallas, Bridge, Parker, Makelele, Lampard, Gronkjaer (Cole), Hasselbaink, Mutu (Gudjohnsen)
Subs not used: Crespo, Huth

Referee: P Durkin (Dorset)