Arsenal have won the FA Cup for a record 14th time after beating Chelsea 2-1 in the 2020 final.Christian Pulisic gave Chelsea an early lead after just five minutes but, just before the half hour mark, things started the go wrong for Frank Lampard’s side.Cesar Azpilicueta conceded a penalty for pulling down Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, which the Gabon striker stuck away.Minutes later, the Chelsea captain limped off after appearing to pull his hamstring.Shortly after half-time, Pulisic suffered the same fate as he left the pitch in tears.But with a little more than 20 minutes remaining, Aubameyang won the match for his side with a moment of brilliance.Nicolas Pepe found him with a pass and there didn’t appear to be too much danger with Kurt Zouma between him and the goal.But a lovely drop of the shoulder later and Aubameyang was dinking the ball over Willy Caballero.
Superb.
As you’d expect, Chelsea pushed for an equaliser but the sending off of Matteo Kovacic certainly didn’t help.
But Arsenal held firm and, with the help of stand-in goalkeeper, Emiliano Martinez, they held on for a record 14th triumph.
In the post-match interview, it was all too much for Martinez who was only playing due to Bernd Leno’s injury.
Dan Walker asked a question about what it meant for his family and Martinez was too emotional to answer.
The Argentine has been at Arsenal for 10 years but has been sent on loan to six different clubs. Before this season, he had only played six times in the league. At 17, he was approached by Arsenal while his family were struggling financially back in his native Argentina. He moved to England on his own to help them out financially.
But now, he’s an Arsenal hero and he couldn’t hold back the tears.
Beautiful.
Fair play, Emi.