FA Cup Final: An Arsenal performance to savour, a Wenger triumph to celebrate

Finally, some relief. Arsenal won a record 13th FA Cup after defeating Chelsea 2-1 in a thrilling final. It was Arsene Wenger’s seventh FA Cup win. Arsenal played against type and excelled to rescue their season. Here are three talking points:

1. A classic final

This was the 136th FA Cup final and it was richly textured with subplots – the inescapable questions about Arsene Wenger’s future (see infra), the Chelsea double and Diego Costa’s flirt with China, but Arsenal’s unforeseen aggression – almost crass in its application – made these 90 minutes, all at a frantic pace, a classic with villains and heroes, with dramatic undulations and melodramatic touches.

Perhaps the first goal was freakish and fortuitous for Arsenal, highlighting the need for a proper and lucid interpretation of the offside rule and a quick implementation of Video Assistant Refereeing, but the Gunners manufactured their luck with relentless pressing and attacking. The Cahill Clearing Service was up and running.

The club from Woolwich dominated the midfield. Granit Xhaka, who has so often been lambasted and vilified this season, played with maturity in a deep role. Aaron Ramsey was pushed up leaving Chelsea’s N’Golo Kante and Nemanja Matic outnumbered in midfield. They had to pick up Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez.

Ozil tracked back and even made a crunching sliding tackle on Eden Hazard. The Belgian’s baroque runs were insignificant. Chelsea were impotent and Antonio Conte went berserk on the touchline. But his little fits were not curative.

In fact, Per Mertesacker, who hadn’t played football for 392 days and just a paltry 37 minutes against Everton, became the man of the match. First, there was a mini-tussle between the young Rob Holding and Diego Costa, but the real match within the match was Mertesacker versus the Spaniard. The German may be slow and prone to be turned, but his positioning and timing was superb. When Costa shielded the ball, Mertesacker’s tackling was precise.

2. Wenger’s future

Perhaps, the question was then – why can’t Arsenal play with this industry, aggression and ferocity in every single game? They defeated the champions with a dominant and lethal superiority. This had been setup for a trademark Arsenal collapse, but the self-inflicted defeat and slapstick implosion never arrived.

It was a cup final of yesterday and a great finale to the Chelsea-Arsenal trilogy this season, with Chelsea switching to a season-defining 3-4-3 at Emirates Stadium, sealing the title at Stamford Bridge, and Arsenal saving their season in the third stanza. But will this vintage Arsenal performance be enough for Wenger to remain?

This was a moment that showed how brilliant Arsenal and Wenger can be, a glimpse of what football can be in a universe that eschews the philosophy of Jose Mourinho, and a flash of how addictive the game can be – this match wasn’t supposed to finish after 90 minutes. Delectable football deserves more time.

Wenger saluted the fans after the trophy presentation in the royal box. At the post-match press conference the Frenchman remained tight-lipped about his future, but this triumph, out of the Arsenal armoury, was somewhat redemptive after an acrimonious season for Wenger and his team. The feeling is that the evergreen coach will still lead out Arsenal next season, again with the promise of dreamy football.

3. Chelsea in champions mode

Chelsea were lethargic and couldn’t touch a ball. When Chelsea did have possession, they probed and poked a lot. But Arsenal, when they defended, they did so in numbers. The Blues struggled to break down that red wall. Antonio Conte was not a happy man. His Chelsea were poor.

Kante was invisible, Eden Hazard was yet again a mediocre star. When Costa did pounce – almost in super slow-mo – it was a piece of brilliant opportunism – but it wasn’t enough. By that time, Victor Moses had been sent off, after a moment of rank stupidity, with a Schwalbe in the plenitude of the word.