Chelsea 4-2 Tottenham Hotspur: Conte's men leave Lilywhites feeling the Wembley blues once again

Goals from Willian, Hazard and Matic sent the Blues through to another FA Cup final, while condemning Spurs to seven defeats in a row in FA Cup semi-finals.

Chelsea 4-2 Tottenham Hotspur: Conte's men leave Lilywhites feeling the Wembley blues once again
brandon-sayer
By Brandon Sayer

Chelsea have advanced to the 2017 FA Cup final after defeating Tottenham Hotspur 4-2 at Wembley in a fantastic match that many will remember for a long time to come.

Antonio Conte's men made a fantastic start to the semi-final when Willian struck home a fantastic free-kick five minutes in. Harry Kane though equalised for Spurs 13 minutes later with a instinctive headed finish.

The Blues though regained the lead just before half-time when Willian scored his second goal of the game from the penalty spot.

Mauricio Pochettino's men though got a second equaliser just after half-time when Dele Alli finished off a fantastic move and from their they looked like they were going to go on and win the game.

That wasn't to be though as Eden Hazard, off the bench, scored Chelsea's third before Nemanja Matic struck a magnificent shot striaght into the top corner of the net to send Chelsea through to the final were they will either play Arsenal or Manchester City, who play the second semi-final tomorrow.

Both managers made big changes to their respective teams

The big news before the game came from the manager's teamsheets as Conte made big decisions to leave both Hazard and Diego Costa on the bench with Michy Batshuayi and Willian replacing them in the side.

Pochettino also surprised everyone by naming Kyle Walker on the bench with Kieran Trippier his replacement while Son Heung-min played as a left wing back for Spurs as they went with three at the back.

Willian gave the Blues the perfect start

The game itself started at a lightening pace but it was the Blues who hit the front early on from a superb counter attack in the first five minutes.

Batshuayi played a lovely flick through to Pedro, who in turn was brought down just outside the box by Toby Alderweireld, who received a yellow card for the tackle.

Willian was the man to take the free kick which was a good decision as he curled the ball over the wall into the back of the net past Hugo Lloris, who should probably have done better with the shot.

After the goal, Conte's men looked comfortable in the game as they started to cause Spurs some real problems with the pace they had up front but Pochettino's men stood strong.

Kane's instinctive finish levelled things up for Spurs

Then out of nothing, Spurs, who really struggled to get a foothold in the game, got themselves back on level terms when Kane glanced a brilliant header into the back of the net from a fantastic cross from Christian Eriksen.

The dynamic of the half changed with the equaliser as Spurs started to play really well and they almost took the lead after the half-hour mark when a brilliant ball into the box by Jan Vertonghen found Eric Dier, who saw his header just go wide of the goal.

Willian netted his second of the game before half-time

The game then was fizzling out to the half-time whistle when the Blues were awarded a penalty when Son fouled Victor Moses in the box.

After some confusion, Martin Atkinson awarded the spot kick which Willian stepped up to take and score his second goal of the game by sending Lloris the wrong way.

It meant that at half-time, Pochettino was the manager who had to have a word with his players as they once again had to find another equaliser in the second half, while Conte will have wanted more the same from his team.

Alli got Spurs back on level terms for the second time

The second half saw Spurs come out very strong by piling the pressure on the Chelsea goal and they got their reward seven minutes after the restart.

The goal once again was created by the impressive Eriksen, who produced a wonderful pass to Alli, who in turn smashed the ball into the top corner of the net with his left foot.

After this the game became a very tactical one as Conte finally brought on his big guns just after the hour mark and Hazard made a massive impact by scoring Chelsea's third goal.

Two goals in five minutes sent Chelsea through against a dogged Spurs side

Spurs failed to clear a corner kick with the ball falling to Hazard on the edge of the box with no one marking him and he put the ball straight into the back of the net with his left foot.

Five minutes later, the Blues got a fourth goal and this one was special as Matic, who hadn't scored a goal all season, received the ball a long way out after a pass from Hazard and his thunderous left-footed shot went in off the bar to send Chelsea through to the FA Cup final at the end of May.

Spurs almost got one goal back in added time when a free-kick from Kane was well-saved by Thibaut Courtois but once again Spurs' Wembley curse came back to haunt them as they lost for a seventh time in a row in a FA Cup semi-final.