It had felt a day for drama in the North East, a vociferous Middlesbrough crowd, angered, like the club’s owner, Steve Gibson, by a request from their opponents for their FA Cup quarter-final to be played behind closed doors. The doors were locked only because the Riverside Stadium was full, and ready for another Premier League scalp.
It was, at least, until Chelsea showed why they are not Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur, the two Premier League clubs Middlesbrough had defeated in previous rounds on their cup run. Ruthless, efficient, slick, clinical, powerful — it was all there, a reminder that the size of the gulf between those sides and Chelsea is considerable.
What marked the victory — as well as just how ruthless Thomas Tuchel’s side were in attack — was the defensive cohesion and aggression that is so absent in their rivals. At the heart of that was Antonio Rüdiger, a centre half as happy in the two-man central defence that Chelsea largely adopted to advance to the FA Cup semi-final as in a three, and who, at 29 years of age, appears to be reaching his prime.
There is more control, more authority and more desire from the player who arrived at Stamford Bridge five years ago — when Antonio Conte was the Chelsea manager — and one who looks set to leave, with his contract due to expire and Chelsea unable, at present at least, to sign off the £200,000-a-week deal they had agreed, pre-Roman Abramovich government sanction days.
There was a time at United, under Sir Alex Ferguson, when clever domestic transfers were their forte: think Eric Cantona from Leeds United, Andy Cole from Newcastle United and Robin van Persie from Arsenal, three deals that strengthened their side and diminished their rivals. United do not appear to have the wit for such dealings these days: Juventus are favourites for Rüdiger’s signature.
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The player has a winning mentality and desire that is absent from the home dressing room at Old Trafford. In Middlesbrough’s wins over United and Tottenham, they recorded — not including penalties — 22 shots, with seven on target, and two goals.
Against the miserly defending of Chelsea, with Rüdiger at its heart, there were five shots from Middlesbrough, and not one was on target. What Rüdiger and his central defensive partner, Thiago Silva, offered Chelsea was control and calm.
It is one reason why they should be able to keep hold of third spot in the Premier League, while a real scrap for fourth takes place beneath them in the table. It is worth noting that Chelsea have conceded 19 goals all season in the Premier League; United and Spurs have let in a combined total of 76.
From Rüdiger against the Sky Bet Championship side Middlesbrough, there was defensive cover, in a typically frenetic opening, and calmness throughout, as Chelsea kept possession, as well as the passing precision that led to Chelsea’s second goal. The opening one had come after only 15 minutes, when Romelu Lukaku fired home from close
range. It took some of the life from that noisy home support.
Then, in the 31st minute, Silva passed back to his goalkeeper, Édouard Mendy, just outside the corner of his six-yard box. There was a group of four red shirts pressing hard when the ball was played to Rüdiger, deep in the left-back position. There was a need to move the ball quickly, so he took a touch and slid a firmly struck, left-footed pass up the line.
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It was enough to tempt Isaiah Jones to try to get the ball. He failed, and in that one pass, two lines of a red press had been dissected. Half of Middlesbrough’s outfield players were in the final third of Chelsea’s half.
What followed was delightful: a run by Mateo Kovacic and a pass with the outside of his right foot to Mason Mount. Only two touches followed before he moved the ball out wide to his right, and then a further four touches from Hakim Ziyech, all with his left foot, before drilling a shot into the bottom corner of the Middlesbrough goal. It had taken only 14 seconds from the time the ball left Rüdiger’s foot to the moment it struck the net.
Middlesbrough showed great bravery in not buckling then, with an hour of the game still to be played.
When they broke, however, Chelsea’s athleticism and desire to get bodies back stood out. In the 72nd minute, when there was a revival in the packed stands of the Riverside Stadium, Rüdiger offered composure.
Chris Wilder, the Middlesbrough manager, was understandably reluctant to draw comparison between the three teams from the Premier League he has faced, but this felt telling.
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“Chelsea find a way,” he said. “Whether it’s mentality of the group, led by an incredible manager, or maybe they have had that stability over the last two or three years.
“They’re bang at it, whoever they play, whatever the team sheet.
“You look at the mentality of the group, their skipper and their players, Silva and Rüdiger. They want to win and that’s why they’re top players and that’s why they win things, and that’s why they’re European and world champions.”
Now they have a semi-final at Wembley to look forward to.
