Three quick thoughts from Chelsea 4-2 Tottenham in the FA Cup semifinals at Wembley on Saturday.

Antonio Conte's gamble to leave Eden Hazard and Diego Costa on the bench paid off as Chelsea beat Tottenham 4-2 in a compelling FA Cup semifinal.

Hazard came off the bench with half an hour to go, and his compelling cameo changed the game. He scored the goal that sent Chelsea in front for the third time and then set up Nemanja Matic to score the fourth.

Chelsea go into next month's FA Cup final with a chance to win the Double. Hazard and Costa will also be relatively fresh for their team's Premier League match against Southampton on Tuesday, where a victory would bring the title a step closer.

Willian gave Conte's team the lead twice in the first half. Harry Kane and Dele Alli both leveled with brilliant goals, but Hazard had the last word.

Chelsea started well. Nathan Ake, in for Gary Cahill, made a strong challenge on Kane in the fourth minute, and the Blues broke at pace. Pedro stormed clear and was almost in shooting position when Toby Alderweireld slid across and scythed the Spaniard down. The Spurs centre-half was shown a yellow card, but further punishment awaited Tottenham. Willian curled the ball over the wall and into the far corner of Hugo Lloris' goal. The goalkeeper was unexpectedly slow into his dive and perhaps should have done better.

Chelsea's pace troubled Tottenham. Pedro and Willian were eager to run with the ball at defenders and Michy Batshuayi's movement presented a different set of problems for the centre-backs than they were expecting to encounter with Costa. The 23-year-old does not have Costa's power, though. The Belgian should have doubled the score just before the quarter hour, but his unopposed header was weak, and Lloris saved easily this time.

Chelsea were left to rue the miss three minutes later when Tottenham forced a corner. David Luiz headed the set piece clear, but all 11 Chelsea players were deep in the penalty area. They were too deep. Spurs were allowed to work the ball out wide on the right, and Christian Eriksen was given time to fire in a cross. It was not the best effort by the Dane, but Kane dived low and glanced the ball into the far corner. It was a magnificent, unstoppable piece of improvisation from an expert goal scorer.

But just as Spurs were beginning to dominate, Son Heung-Min -- playing wing-back -- made a huge mistake. Victor Moses charged into the area and Son slid across to try to intercept the ball. Moses saw him coming and waited for Son to miss the ball before dragging his legs to let the Tottenham player make contact. Moses could have easily avoided going down, but the chance to be awarded a penalty was too good to miss. Martin Atkinson, the referee, took a long look at the incident, checked with his assistant and pointed to the spot. Tottenham protested, but Willian expertly sent Lloris the wrong way to put Chelsea back into the lead.

Alli had struggled to make an impact in the first half, but he sprung to life in six minutes into the second period, powering down the inside left channel and flicking the ball into the net from Eriksen's fine pass. The goal showed all the midfielder's attributes: power, anticipation and a deadly finish.

Shortly afterwards, just on the hour, came the inevitable double substitution. Hazard and Costa arrived. The game changed in an instant.

Tottenham continued to swarm forward and were looking the likely winners, but Hazard was always going to have the last word. The Belgian was lurking on the edge of the area for a rare Chelsea corner and was in the perfect position when a headed clearance dropped out of the air. Hazard took one exquisite touch that set up the ball perfectly and then rifled his shot into the far corner. Conte's team were in front with one injection of class.

Matic made it safe for Chelsea with 10 minutes remaining with a splendid shot from 25 yards after Hazard teed him up. The Belgian went on a mazy run inside the box before rolling the ball to the midfielder, whose shot gave Lloris no chance and made sure Chelsea reached the final.

Hazard made all the difference.

2. Conte gamble pays off as Willian strikes

Conte took a huge gamble and it looked for a long time like it had gone awry. Batshuayi led the line in Costa's absence with Willian operating in the areas the Belgian usually patrols.

It was not quite a makeshift Chelsea side, but it was some way from Conte's strongest XI. Against the team who have emerged as Chelsea's only serious challengers in the Premier League, it was a bold move.

There has been rumbling discontent with Costa's attitude behind the scenes since interest in a move to China emerged in January. It was hardly a surprise that the striker had fallen out with his manager. Even so, if omitting Hazard was Conte's attempt to prioritise the league, it could have had dangerous consequences. Defeat to Spurs, who are despised at Stamford Bridge, would linger longer in the supporters' memories than even winning the title.

Batshuayi is some way from the finished article. Apart from the first-half header he wasted, he had little impact on the game. He worked hard but offered little else. It was a matter of time before Costa replaced him.

Willian was different. His quickness off the mark and tendency to run into dangerous areas made him one of Chelsea's better performers. It was a surprise when he was withdrawn for Hazard. The Brazilian went straight down the tunnel and may have picked up a knock. The man who bailed his manager out, though, was Hazard. His influence changed the match completely.

Conte will think twice about leaving him out again.

3. Spurs' Wembley woe

Playing at Wembley has been problematic for Spurs. They lost two out of three Champions League group games, winning only the meaningless match against CSKA Moscow, and drew their Europa League game against Gent. Mauricio Pochettino's side are expected to use the stadium as their home ground in next year's Premier League, and an inability to win games at the venue would bring the progression of Tottenham's young team to a juddering halt.

Losing another game here when they were on top for so long will have a serious impact on their confidence for next season.

Their tendency to lose discipline was highlighted by Son's wild sliding challenge that gave away the penalty. Pochettino seemed to accept that the Son experiment had failed when he replaced him with Kyle Walker after 67 minutes.

With Hazard on the pitch it made sense to shore up the right-back position with Kieran Trippier switching to the left. At the time of the switch, Spurs were still on top but in a matter of minutes they fell apart.

Once Hazard put Chelsea in front, Tottenham's Wembley demons seemed to reappear. Pochettino has all summer to fix things, but the team's performances in this stadium do not bode well for next season.

Source:
courtesy of ESPNFC

by TONY EVANS

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