Frank Lampard hands Guus Hiddink perfect parting gift

Chelsea 2 Everton 1
AND SO Guus Hiddink got what he wanted. Sunshine, champagne spray at Wembley and a “beautiful ending” to his three-and-a-half months with
Chelsea. His parting gift ensured he will forever be cherished by the club of which he has been temporary manager since February. Not only is the FA Cup football’s most holy hunk of silverware, this was Chelsea’s first trophy since Jose Mourinho and perhaps now they can finally move on from the Portuguese demagogue whose shadow was such that his 2007 dismissal was still being picked over on newspaper back pages yesterday.
Chelsea’s next manager can now start the job in the manner Hiddink left — on his own terms. Carlo Ancelotti is favourite to be appointed, but some qualities of the Blues seem destined to remain constant regardless of who is their boss. Frank Lampard’s ability to influence matches is prime among these and after Louis Saha invigorated the occasion with the quickest ever FA Cup final goal, Lampard decided it with one of the greatest, following Didier Drogba’s equaliser.
After seeing the sweet embrace of ball by net after his shot beat Tim Howard, the midfielder ran to the corner flag and jigged his way around it, mimicking the goal celebration of his father, Frank Lampard Sr, when scoring the winner for West Ham against Everton in a 1980 FA Cup semi-final.
This was a fair result, not least because minutes after Lampard made it 2-1 a refereeing mistake denied Chelsea when Florent Malouda “scored” with an even better strike, a Scud missile of a shot that dipped and wobbled over Howard before exploding off the underside of the bar and coming to earth beyond the goalline. The ball bounced back out and Howard Webb’s assistant referee, believing the ball had not crossed the line, declined to signal a goal.
A score of 3-1 would have been about right. Everton’s commitment was supreme, David Moyes’s tactical set-up was clever and players such as Saha, Joleon Lescott, Phil Neville and Steven Pienaar played at or near to their maximum. But they had needed Chelsea, with resources so superior, to have an off-day and Chelsea didn’t. It was poignant to see Mikel Arteta in a suit, not a strip. Had he, Phil Jagielka and Yakubu not been injured, it might just have been different.
Both sets of supporters were marvellously lusty. Everton’s had waited a long time for an occasion of this size but received instant gratification. Their team’s blade was on Chelsea’s jugular immediately. From the kick-off, Moyes’s midfield worked their way into an attacking position and Pienaar sent in the first of several penetrating crosses he was able to deliver. John Mikel Obi headed weakly, and Alex failed to clear as Marouane Fellaini rose to challenge him. The ball dropped towards the the penalty spot and there, Saha connected perfectly with a left-footed volley to leave Petr Cech sprawling. Everton were ahead with 25 seconds gone. Saha’s goal was the fastest in FA Cup final history, beating one scored by the talkative-sounding Bob Chatt, 30 seconds into this fixture in 1895.
Hiddink had unveiled the only selection surprise, starting with Mikel instead of Michael Ballack so Chelsea could use two holding midfield players against Fellaini and Tim Cahill. The parts played in the goal by both Mikel and Fellaini made this seem a mistake but the next 89 minutes and 35 seconds vindicated the Dutchman. Neither could get on the ball for long and with Everton unable to hold possession upfield, they retreated into their defensive third.
Chelsea flooded forward. Hiddink had also detailed Malouda and Nicolas Anelka to drop off before striking at Everton with pacy runs from deep and Moyes’s full-backs suffered, especially Tony Hibbert. With 21 minutes gone sustained Chelsea pressure was rewarded when Anelka came deep to find Lampard, who spread the ball nicely to Malouda. The Frenchman’s perfect cross curved into Everton’s area for Drogba to outmanoeuvre Lescott and head home. Lampard put one close from distance and Ashley Cole botched an opportunity when Malouda’s ball ricocheted off Fellaini into his path.
Moyes’s men were defending tenaciously. Neville lost possession but hounded Drogba to win it back, Pienaar pressured Anelka into running the ball out for a goal-kick when trying to tee up a shot and even Saha, the lone striker, was glimpsed in the left-back position.
The question was: Could Everton keep it up? Temperatures down on the pitch were touching 40 degrees and their manager did not think so. In the first half, Moyes stood in his technical area waving his players forward in vain. At half-time Hibbert, neutered as a tackler since an early booking, was replaced by Lars Jacobsen, an experienced Dane. Cahill and Fellaini swapped places so the Australian could play off Saha. For a while it worked, Everton got forward more and Saha had a sight of goal but headed over from 10 yards.
Then Lampard struck. Ballack, on for Essien, slipped a pass to Anelka, who found Lampard near the rim of Everton’s penalty area. Neville strained sinew to get back but Lampard checked inside him , slipping as he did so. Yet up he sprang and with his left foot caught the ball’s sweet spot, sending it scorching away from Howard who, despite getting both hands on the orb, could only push it into his net.
Lampard was subsequently booked for trying to win a penalty with a sneaky dive but this only slightly tarnished his afternoon. He was prominent among the Chelsea performers, yet did not outdo Cole, who plucked a ball from Drogba out of the air with an outrageously skilful touch and was justifiably named man of the match.
Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary-general, gave John Terry the old trophy and Hiddink was invited to be the last to hold it, but graciously insisted he raise it jointly with Ray Wilkins, his assistant. He is gone but not forgotten and, after some dreary recent finals, the pageant and quality of yesterday’s will also last in the memory.
CHELSEA: Cech, Bosingwa, Alex, Terry, A Cole, Essien (Ballack 61min), Mikel, Lampard, Anelka, Drogba, Malouda
EVERTON: Howard, Hibbert (Jacobsen h-t), Yobo, Lescott, Baines, Osman (Gosling 83min), Neville, Pienaar, Cahill, Fellaini, Saha (Vaughan 77min)
Source:The times