Chelsea rode their luck to defeat Sheffield United 2-0 at Stamford Bridge and reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
An Oliver Norwood own goal gave the Blues the lead in the first half before Hakim Ziyech scored for the second consecutive match, deep into stoppage time to secure a spot in the final four.
It is the 11th time Chelsea have reached the semi-finals of the tournament in the last 20 seasons which is the most of any team in that time and they will face Manchester City to try and reach the final for a second consecutive year.
Tired performance from Thomas Tuchel’s Players
Chelsea extended their unbeaten streak under Thomas Tuchel to 14 matches but the German admitted his side were lucky to progress.
They failed to reproduce the levels of performance that has seen them rise from ninth to fourth in the league and qualify for the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
Tuchel said: “It was a tough match, we had a good first half where we controlled everything but in the second half we lost control.
“We were clearly tired, I could see after 14 consecutive matches unbeaten, I could feel we were tired and lacked a bit of concentration and we made many little faults and we were lucky in the second half to keep the clean sheet.
“It is the first time in 14 matches that we were lucky to win because we allowed too many chances but this can happen, all that is important is that you go through in the cup and we managed it.”
Slow start for the Blues
The Blades started positively and refused to allow the hosts to settle early on by pressing high up the pitch. The tactics saw them call Kepa Arrizabalaga into action twice in the opening 10 minutes. David McGoldrick and Phil Jagielka both had attempts which the Spanish keeper caught comfortably.
Chelsea started to take control of the ball after the 20 minute mark and their first meaningful attack saw Ramsdale spill Hudson-Odoi’s low cross into the path of Olivier Giroud but the Frenchman’s effort was deflected wide.
The resulting corner led to the opener as Mason Mount’s corner evaded everyone and reached Ben Chilwell and the fullback’s low strike from the edge of the box was deflected into the net by Oliver Norwood.
Norwood was again at fault just before the break as his back pass was latched onto by Christian Pulisic. But the American winger could not chip the ball over the onrushing Aaron Ramsdale and the goalkeeper smothered the shot to save his teammates blushes.
Following the break Pulisic again went close to scoring as the 22-year-old winger danced his way through the Sheffield United defence but his low shot was well saved again by fellow 22-year-old Ramsdale.
Blades battle hard in search of the equaliser
As the game went on the Blades grew in stature and tried to force their way to an equaliser. McGoldrick who has scored three times against the Blues previously spurned a golden opportunity to equalise as the striker put his free header wide of the post from just six yards out.
McGoldrick was at the heart of another dangerous attack for the visitors as his brilliant solo run was put to a halt by Arrizabalaga’s left hand palming the Irishman’s effort wide.
Sheffield United continued to push and fellow Irish international Enda Stevens stole in at the backpost but headed into the side-netting from a Norwood free kick.
Substititute Rhian Brewster almost made an instant impact after coming on and latched onto a first-time on the edge of the box but dragged his first-time effort just wide of the post in stoppage time.
Despite all of the Blades’ endeavor it was Chelsea who grabbed the second goal of the game as substitute Hakim Ziyech secured the victory in the 92nd minute.
The hosts broke quickly and the Moroccan expertly controlled Chilwell’s lofted ball before slotting into the bottom corner of the goal with virtually the last kick of the game.
