FA Cup Semifinal 17/18: Chelsea 2-0 Southampton - Player Ratings
Goal scorers: Giroud (46'), Morata (82')
Chelsea set up a mouth-watering FA Cup final clash with rivals Manchester United on the very famous '19th May'.
Last week, the Blues came from behind to beat the Saints thanks to 2 goals from Giroud. This time they made sure they were in full control. The former Arsenal man continued his impressive run in the FA Cup as he scored his 15th goal in 26 appearances.
Morata, who missed a sitter earlier in the week would be very relieved with his header that he scored to secure Chelsea went to the finals.
Here are the player ratings from the game.
Southampton
Alex McCarthy - 6/10
McCarthy could have done little to deny Chelsea score both the goals but he did make a brilliant one-hand save to deny Hazard from getting on the scoresheet.
Cédric Soares - 4/10
Not the best performance from Cedric today. He left too much space in the game and his positioning was also not up to the mark.
Wesley Hoedt - 4/10
You can blame Hoedt for the 2nd goal that Chelsea scored. Poor marking by Hoedt led to Morata comfortably converting the cross into the goal.
Maya Yoshida - 5.5/10
Had it not been for Yoshida, Chelsea would have gotten the lead in the 12th-minute courtesy Hazard. But as the game progressed, Yoshida did little to stop the Chelsea strikers from scoring.
Jan Bednarek - 6/10
Probably Saints' best defensive player on the pitch. In just his 5th appearance for the club, he had the most interceptions and clearances than any of this teammates.
Ryan Bertrand - 5/10
After having a good game last week, Bertrand couldn't continue the same performance this week. He was outrun almost everytime by Willian and was poor while defending.
Oriol Romeu - 5/10
Romeu just had too much on his plate today. He had to work a lot to stop Hazard and Willian, which, of course, he just couldn't do it as the duo got better of him on most occasions.
Pierre-Emile Højbjerg - 5/10
He was asked to link up the play from the back to the front but he failed to do that. Not entirely his fault as the Saints gave away the ball way too cheaply today.
Mario Lemina - 4/10
Lemina didn't get enough space in the midfield and hence couldn't get close to his counterparts. He also failed to apply pressure as his side chased the game.
Charlie Austin - 5/10
Austin tried hard to get his side back into the game but with no service from his midfield, he was all alone up front with no support. He came close to pulling one back when he was denied by the post in the last 10 minutes of the game.
Shane Long - 5/10
As always, Long worked hard but lacked quality throughout the game. He had the best chance to score when he was one-on-one against the keeper, but a bad first touch just released all the pressure.
Substitutes:
Dusan Tadić - 5.5/10
Coming on Redmond, Tadic was sent to add the creative link that was missing in the game. But once Morata scored the 2nd, he went missing.
Nathan Redmond - 6/10
Raymond provided the spark which was missing until he came on. He did all that he could but failed to get his side back into the game.
Manolo Gabbiadini - 5/10
Coming on with 12 minutes to go, Gabbiadini just saw the game out.