Chelsea's luck holds
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This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from April 2000.
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"Newcastle made it very hard for us and we have to be thankful that Gustavo Poyet scored two great goals and that Ed de Goey was so outstanding in goal."
Chelsea faces Aston Villa on May 20 — the last Cup final at Wembley before the stadium is demolished later this year for rebuilding. Newcastle captain Alan Shearer, after losing the last two cup finals, was devastated by Sunday's defeat and said the sooner the Twin Towers came down the better. "I cannot believe we played as well as that and lost. We have been sitting there absolutely stunned in the dressing room. "I thought we were the better side, but we have had no luck here for years and as far as Newcastle United are concerned, the sooner they knock this place down the better," Shearer said.
"I thought we were the better side, but you cannot give Poyet chances like that.
"He is one of the best attacking midfielders in the world and if you give him half a chance, he'll bury you. I have to admit it, we feel hard done by today."
Vialli gambled on making six changes to the team that played so superbly to beat Barcelona 3-1 in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday.
He even omitted from the starting lineup Wednesday's goalscorers Tore Andre Flo and Gianfranco Zola. Instead he paired George Weah and Chris Sutton in attack, and although they were both replaced later by Flo and Zola, Vialli's gamble paid off and Chelsea reached their third FA Cup final in seven seasons.
Newcastle knew they had dominated the match for long periods and their coach Bobby Robson was stunned by the result.
"We did not deserve to lose today; we did not deserve the result. I can't criticize my players in any shape or form because they gave their all. "They caught us twice on the break and it was very cruel result for us.
"Although we went in 1-0 down at halftime, I told them if we scored an equalizer we would go on and win the game - or at least take it to extra time which I felt we would enjoy much more than they would.
"But it was not to be. The word 'if' is a very big one. The referee stopped play when Di Matteo was down, but did not stop play when we had Kieiron Dyer down, and they went on and scored from that.
"If he had stopped the play they might not have scored. Dennis Wise took a rolling free kick which led to their first goal - if he had blown up and ordered him to take it properly, they might not have scored.
"But sometimes it just does not go for you even if you deserve to win, and today was one of those days."
Chelsea skipper Dennis Wise admitted his team did not play as well as Newcastle.
"We are a little disappointed with the way we played, but semifinals are rarely classics, they are all about getting a result and that's what we did today."
Villa, which reached the final with a penalty shootout victory over Bolton Wanderers last weekend, will be appearing in its first final since 1957. Chelsea has won twice, in 1970 and 1997.
Scorer: Chelsea - Gustavo Poyet 17, 72 Newcastle United - Robert Lee 67
Halftime: 1-0; Attendance: 73,876
Chelsea play Aston Villa in the final on May 20 at Wembley
Teams:
Chelsea: 1-Ed De Goey; 17-Albert Ferrer (2-Dan Petrescu 75), 5-Franck Leboeuf, 6-Marcel Desailly, 34-Jon Harley; 16-Roberto Di Matteo, 11-Dennis Wise, 7-Didier Deschamps, 8-Gustavo Poyet; 31-George Weah (25-Gianfranco Zola 80), 9-Chris Sutton (19-Tore Andre Flo 46)
Newcastle United: 1-Shay Given; 2-Warren Barton, 34-Nikos Dabizas, 6-Steve Howey, 18-Aaron Hughes (14-Temuri Ketsbaia 80); 15-Nolberto Solano, 37-Robert Lee, 11-Gary Seed, 7-Kieron Dyer; 9-Alan Shearer, 20-Duncan Ferguson (4-Didier Domi 39)
Referee: Dermot Gallagher
