FA Cup

REECE JAMES proved his quality as a centre-back yet again with a flawless display in Chelsea’s FA Cup semi-final win over Crystal Palace.The England defender, 22, was brilliant against Real Madrid on Tuesday in an unfamiliar centre-back role.
Reece James showed his quality as a centre-back again as Chelsea beat Crystal PalaceCredit: Alamy
James and Timo Werner linked up effectively in the semi-finalCredit: Getty
He kept Real dangerman Vinicius Jr. quiet for the most part and did the same to Wilfried Zaha at Wembley.
It was an interesting decision from Thomas Tuchel to start James in the heart of defence with Cesar Azpilicueta instead given the right wing-back role.
But when James showed the strength and composure to keep the ball off Jean-Philippe Mateta in a dangerous position, Tuchel likely felt vindicated in his decision.
Patrick Vieira later moved Eberechi Eze to Palace’s left with Zaha operating through the middle – but whatever changes he made James was undeterred.
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Importantly, James’ attacking threat was not nullified in his new found role with plenty of space ahead of him to run into when required.
He exploited that space too, either by carrying the ball forward or playing passes in behind the Palace defence to the pacy Timo Werner.
Twice in the first half James almost found a defence-splitting pass into the German’s path – it twice took last-ditch tackles to put a stop to the danger.
One of James’ biggest strengths is his crossing ability so with more time and space on the ball in this role he should be able to pick out the likes of Werner and Kai Havertz and add more assists to his game.
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He can also provide runs on the underlap and perhaps would have been more adventurous against Real and Palace if the two games not been so vital to Chelsea’s season.
But James’ two classy performances in the space of six days – and the magnitude of the two games – suggests he could occupy a centre-back role for Chelsea long-term.
In doing so he would alleviate the pressure currently on the Blues to find one or more world-class centre-backs, having been linked with Jules Kounde and Matthijs de Ligt.
It also softens the blow of Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen and Azpilicueta potentially leaving in summer.
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Tuchel and Chelsea’s transfer chiefs could even decide to focus on signing a right wing-back instead when the transfer window opens, having been keen on Barcelona star Sergino Dest for some time.
Before that the Blues now have the small task of the FA Cup final to deal with, and James is almost guaranteed to play centrally once again to deal with the danger of Sadio Mane and Luis Diaz.
James’ display also gives Gareth Southgate plenty to think about and the England manager was in attendance at Wembley.
Southgate has previously deployed Kyle Walker in the same right-sided centre-back role, and with success, as the Manchester City star helped the Three Lions reach the 2018 World Cup semi-final.
James is now another option, and it could allow England to fit the Chelsea man in the same team as Trent Alexander-Arnold – a thought that should fill England fans with glee. More

CHELSEA booked their place in the FA Cup final with Mason Mount and Timo Werner impressing again.It was a tense affair at Wembley with neither the Blues nor Crystal Palace creating many openings.
Mason Mount scored his fourth goal in three games to help Chelsea into the FA Cup finalCredit: Jamie McPhilimey
Timo Werner continued his good form with a clever assist for Mount’s goalCredit: Reuters
Chelsea beat Crystal Palace 2-0 to book their place in a fifth cup final under Thomas TuchelCredit: Jamie McPhilimey
Ruben Loftus-Cheek powered home a loose ball to break the deadlockCredit: Reuters
So when the ball fell kindly for Ruben Loftus-Cheek to smash in on the half-volley he had to take his chance, and did.
Loftus-Cheek was quiet after coming on as a first-half substitute for the injured Mateo Kovacic, with his midfield partner Jorginho the more efficient out of the two.
The Brazilian was one of Chelsea’s better players alongside Reece James, Andreas Christensen and Mason Mount, who added a second for Thomas Tuchel’s side 11 minutes after the opener.
However, Kai Havertz was disappointing again after missing a hatful of chances against Real Madrid in mid-week.

Here is how SunSport’s Kealan Hughes rated Chelsea’s semi-final winning display.
Edouard Mendy – 7
An amazing save down low to his left to stop Cheikhou Kouyate’s strike which kept things level going into half-time.
Was mostly untroubled after that point but did show a good command of his area at Palace set-pieces.
Cesar Azpilicueta – 6
Got forward when he could be lacked a bit of quality in the final third, although it was his tenacity winning the ball back that led to the opening goal.
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Did well defensively in supporting James against Zaha and kept Eberechi Eze quiet when he moved over to Palace’s left wing.
Reece James – 8
Was deployed as a right-sided centre-back again after impressing in that role against Real Madrid in mid-week.
He was given the responsibility of keeping Wilfried Zaha quiet which he did well and also kept possession effectively throughout.
Andreas Christensen – 7
Played the Thiago Silva role in the Brazilian’s absence and was effective in preventing Crystal Palace counter attacks.
He also kept a tight lid on Zaha after he moved into a central role in the second half – Chelsea’s chiefs will be hoping the Dane signs a new deal with his contract up in the summer.

Antonio Rudiger – 7
Says a lot about his performance that Jean-Philippe Mateta tried to keep away from him and instead tried to get the better of Christensen.
Confident on the ball too with one brilliant pass to set Werner away late on in the game.
Marcos Alonso – 5
Solid if unspectacular as has been the case for much of the season.
He needed to get into the box more with Crystal Palace penned in for large spells.
Mateo Kovacic – 5
Some tidy touches and kept possession well but was forced off with injury after 25 minutes.
Jorginho – 8
The midfielder was a lot better than he has been recently with all of Chelsea’s play going through him.
Looked fresher than his team-mates after only coming on as a substitute at the Bernabeu and tried to make things happening by finding the killer pass to Timo Werner or Kai Havertz.
Mason Mount – 7
Snatched at a half-volley chance in the first half and was generally in and out of the game.
But his class showed as he played a superb one-two with Timo Werner before slotting the ball into the bottom corner to double Chelsea’s lead – his fourth goal in three games.
Timo Werner – 7
His runs in behind the Palace defence were Chelsea’s main threat and he really came alive as Patrick Vieira’s side tired late on.
But he did not get the clear sight of goal he was looking for thanks to some good defending from Joachim Anderson in particular.
The German did not give up though and he played a wonderful pass into Mount to set-up his goal. Should have had a second assist but Romelu Lukaku somehow hit the post when it was easier to score.
Kai Havertz – 5
Quiet until he was booked for a dive in an attempt to win a penalty.
Similarly to Werner he was crowded out by Palace’s five-man defence but moved around the pitch in search of the ball so the effort was there.
Subs
Ruben Loftus-Cheek (for Kovacic, 26′) – 7
Struggled to get into the game after coming on but made the decisive impact when he smashed Chelsea in front mid-way through the second half.
Made a couple of his trademark powerful runs too to help pile the pressure on the Eagles.
N’Golo Kante (for Jorginho, 78′) – 5
Broke up play well which was all that was needed after coming on with his side already 2-0 up.
Hakim Ziyech (for Mount, 77′) – 5
Did not influence much and should have scored when he followed up Lukaku’s embarrassing miss – his effort was cleared off the line.
Romelu Lukaku (for Havertz, 77′) – 4
Made a good impact after Havertz struggled to get anything out of the Palace backline – one good cutback in particular that Ziyech could have scored from.
But his woes in front of goal continued as he somehow hit the post from five yards out with the goal gaping.
Thiago Silva (for Christensen, 82′) – 6
Did not have much to do with Palace losing belief in the last ten minutes. More