Chelsea have booked their place in the FA Cup final with a 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace in Sunday's clash at Wembley Stadium.
After a drab first half, goals from Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Mason Mount sent the Blues through to a third successive final, where they will take on Liverpool in a repeat of February's EFL Cup final.
The opening 45 minutes in North London largely passed by without incident with Crystal Palace having the best opportunity through Cheikhou Kouyate, whose shot from the edge of the area was well parried away by Edouard Mendy.
After the restart, Chelsea used the ball with much more purpose, but another chance went the way of Kouyate with the midfielder directing a header wide of the target.
However, just before the midway point of the second half, Chelsea went in front through Loftus-Cheek, the midfielder benefitting from the ball falling invitingly for him from 16 yards out to lash a deflected shot to Jack Butland's left.
After watching the Englishman score his first goal for three years, Patrick Vieira inevitably reacted by introducing Michael Olise and Christian Benteke but with 15 minutes remaining, Chelsea doubled their advantage in clinical fashion.
Timo Werner provided the assist, finding the run of Mount whose first touch took him into the penalty area, and the playmaker never looked like missing as he placed a shot into the far bottom corner.
While the perception was that the game was over as a contest, Palace should have halved the deficit soon after that second strike, but Joachim Andersen somehow headed over the crossbar from three yards out.
Romelu Lukaku should have added a late third for Chelsea, the Belgian somehow diverting Werner's cutback against the post rather than inside the far corner, but it mattered little as Chelsea kept their hopes of a third piece of silverware for the season alive.
Darren Plant
