The court of public opinion has had its say on Chelsea and their outgoing owner Roman Abramovich but Thomas Tuchel’s response to the crisis engulfing his club continues to impress. His team strode into the FA Cup semi-finals with minimal fuss, and one of the Sky Bet Championship’s form teams had little answer.
This was a dominant performance from Tuchel’s side, who made five changes from the midweek Champions League success in Lille. First-half goals from Romelu Lukaku and Hakim Ziyech kept Chelsea on course for what would be a fifth FA Cup final in the past six seasons.
It is safe to say that Chelsea have made Wembley a second home during the Abramovich years. They have won the FA Cup five times, although during the last of those victories, over Manchester United in 2018, their owner was absent due to “visa problems”, a portent of things to come.
Since the UK government imposed sanctions on the Russian oligarch and, therefore, his club ten days ago, Tuchel has now masterminded four victories in three different competitions. Chelsea may, understandably, have lost the support of the neutral fan in recent days but Tuchel most certainly has not.
If the checklist for avoiding FA Cup upsets included an early goal to quieten the hostile home crowd, then Tuchel will have been delighted, and more than a little relieved, that it took only 15 minutes for the opener to arrive.
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Lukaku was the scorer, although he might have been even earlier with his contribution after missing from Mason Mount’s right-wing delivery with only three minutes played. The Belgian competed with the defender Dael Fry, who opted not to touch the cross for fear of turning it into his own goal, but Lukaku also missed contact, as did Christian Pulisic as he arrived late at the far post.
There was no such reprieve for the Championship side after a quarter of an hour as Ziyech started, then continued, a move in his own half before releasing Mount down the right again.
It was a carbon copy of the earlier cross, only this time Lukaku timed his run to perfection, easing ahead of Anfernee Dijksteel, and converting from near point-blank range, a finish that was far more dexterous and difficult than he made it appear.
For a No 9 without a league goal since the end of 2021, it was a welcome reminder that he can still play some sort of role in Chelsea’s future, whatever that may look like. Since his most recent league goal, Lukaku has scored five times — three in the FA Cup and two in the Club World Cup — to remain relevant in, if not exactly essential to, Tuchel’s plans.
But as befits the conquerors already of Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur in this season’s competition, Chris Wilder’s side were far from cowed by conceding first.
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Marcus Tavernier’s dangerous free kick forced a fine defensive header by Lukaku on 25 minutes and, from the resulting corner, Folarin Balogun missed a chance with a bizarre header that somehow travelled away from goal, rather than towards it.
Middlesbrough’s recovery was short-lived. Just after the half-hour, Édouard Mendy started an attack with a pass from his own penalty area to Antonio Rüdiger which, three passes later, ended with the ball being deposited in the back of the Middlesbrough goal. Mateo Kovacic took the ball over halfway before finding Mount, whose pass to Ziyech on the right allowed him space to attack his defender, cut inside and deposit a curling shot past the diving Joe Lumley. The goalkeeper may have misjudged his angles but the lethal finish was a sight to behold.
The tie looked over, and should have been five minutes later, when Chelsea scythed through the home defence again, Tavernier inadvertently touched the ball into the path of Lukaku and, after he had rounded the goalkeeper, only Dijksteel’s goalline clearance averted further calamity.
It was hard to imagine proceedings going any more swimmingly for Tuchel. Even when Pulisic collapsed, with nobody around him, having apparently twisted his ankle awkwardly late in the first half, he was soon able to continue.
Wilder’s response, meanwhile, was to bring on the experienced centre half Sol Bamba at the interval, in an attempt to counter the impact of Lukaku, and two early excellent pieces of defending on the Belgian augured well for the home side.
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Less encouraging was that another of Wilder’s back four, Paddy McNair, went off injured only eight minutes after the restart, forcing Middlesbrough into another defensive shuffle.
Instead, all too often, it was Chelsea who were able to play pretty patterns through the opposition defence. Mount and Ziyech combined on 55 minutes before the former’s shot was deflected behind for a corner.
Middlesbrough, roared on by their noisy fans despite the scoreline, continued to battle valiantly, although Chelsea never offered them much hope of repeating the drama they have enjoyed in previous rounds.
The substitute Duncan Watmore chipped a shot over and Isaiah Jones had a dangerous cross well handled by Mendy but Chelsea were rarely troubled as they ran down the clock.
