Chelsea lost again at Wembley after a goal from Bernardo Silva within six minutes of normal time ending. Silva showed courage to score after his penalty miss against Real Madrid midweek. Chelsea, of course, were the creators of their issues. They were brutally punished for failing to take their chances, and they have squandered another massive opportunity.
This is even more painful when you consider that this was Pep Guardiola's 14th win against Mauricio Pochettino. They have now met 25 times, with Pochettino winning only four, accumulating more losses against Pep Guardiola than against any other manager.
Here at the Pride of London, we analyse the positives and negatives after the missed opportunity to reach another final for Mauricio Pochettino's side. Read our analysis of Chelsea's match against Manchester City, including positives, negatives, and insights into the Blues' performance in the massive FA Cup clash.
Positives
Bright Start from Chelsea
Chelsea had a promising start, with Nikolas Jackson running at will at the Manchester defence in the first 20 minutes. Jackson had the first shot of the game after being played in by Cole Palmer, but the effort was too close to the Manchester City goalkeeper. Chelsea created three massive opportunities in the first half and conspired to miss all of them. Had the Blues been more clinical in front of goal, they could have gone up 2-nil before the break.
Prior to this match, Chelsea had played City twice, with both encounters ending in a stalemate.
Negatives
Failure to Learn their Lessons
One constant theme in Chelsea's performance this season is their inconsistency and failure to learn from previous failures. One step forward, another step backward. After the resounding victory against Everton in the league on Monday, one would expect this Chelsea team to build on that result and deliver a stellar performance to progress to the final of the FA Cup. Although the Blues gave a good account of themselves in the opening period of the match, it is ironic that Manchester City showed more hunger in the second period and kept running despite the energy-sapping midweek Champions League match against Real Madrid.
Missed Opportunity for the Title
This is Chelsea's second game at Wembley this season, offering a significant chance to go for the FA Cup. Chelsea restricted Man City to no shots on target in the first 45 minutes of the game. Despite the two early errors from Cucurella and Thiago Silva, Chelsea defended very well and created good opportunities on the other end.
Overall, Chelsea had more shots on target, more expected goals, and more big chances but still lost 1-0. With this loss, Chelsea will be going trophyless again this season despite appearing at Wembley on two occasions.
When Mauricio Pochettino was asked about the performance and the missed one-on-one chances, he said: "If you can create, you can be close and need to be clinical". "The feeling is never good when you lose a game. We competed well against a very good team, the best team in the world. We didn’t do well enough in front of the goal after so many chances."
Nicolas Jackson Failed to Spark
Just like in the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool, the Blues missed many big opportunities in the first 45 minutes. Nicolas Jackson was particularly wasteful in this encounter, missing a host of glittering chances. The striker’s killer instincts left him in this huge encounter. Jackson spurned a massive one-on-one opportunity when put through on goal in the first half to put Chelsea ahead.
He was sent through on goal again in the second half and failed to put the ball at the back of the net before heading straight at the goalkeeper less than a minute later. The Chelsea striker’s failure to bury these huge chances in such a massive game will only intensify the Blues' search for a striker in the summer transfer window.