London (AFP)

Chelsea were too strong: the Blues dominated Manchester United (3-1) on Sunday in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, and joined Arsenal, winner of Manchester City the day before, for a 100% London final.

Frank Lampard's men are also gaining psychological edge over the Red Devils, their main opponents in the race for 3rd place in the league, which had not lost since January.

The two teams presented themselves with two rather defensive schemes, with a back line at three.

The most cautious was Manchester United coach Ole Gunnar Solksjaer, who left Pogba, Martial and Greenwood on the bench, and chose seven defensive players, a team almost identical to the one that went on to win 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in the championship in February. The message was clear: priority to the championship, where qualification in C1 is at hand.

But the lack of offensive ambition of the Norwegian coach was felt in the collective expression of the Mancunians, even more apathetic than their Manchester City neighbors, the day before in the same place, facing Arsenal (0-2).

And the system did not necessarily secure them defensively, like a head by Marcos Alonso above (15th) and a head by Zouma, out of frame (39th).

The very first Mancunian opportunity came only at half an hour of play, with a free kick from Bruno Fernandes rejected by Caballero (32nd).

- Evacuation on a stretcher from Bailly -

Without delivering a high-ranking performance, Chelsea logically opened the scoring after additional time (45 + 11) by Olivier Giroud, following a series of long stoppages for injuries, including an evacuation on a stretcher from Eric Bailly , hit in the head after a shock with teammate Harry Maguire.

Giroud, flawless since the resumption of the championship in mid-June (five goals scored in his last six tenure), has deflected perfectly into the center of Azpilicueta.

The knockout came from the first minute of the second period, on a full-field land razor shot from Mount at eighteen meters, very badly appreciated by De Gea (46th, 2-0)

Manchester United tried to accelerate the pace and put more movement, including a breakthrough from Rashford into the penalty area (52nd), but the English international has crossed his shot too.

The entries of Pogba and Greenword in place of Fred and Daniel James, both off-topic, did not bring the expected quality. It was even Chelsea who was again the most dangerous, via Mount (57th), Giroud (59th), then Rudiger, who put Maguire under pressure and trained an own goal (74th, 3-0 ).

A penalty from Bruno Fernandes made this defeat a little less salty (85th, 3-1) for the Mancunians.

A defeat that is not trivial, however, since Manchester United remained on 14 wins and 5 draws since their surprise defeat against Burnley (2-0) in January. Two days before the end of the championship, advantage Chelsea.

© 2020 AFP