CHELSEA CAPTAIN JOHN TERRY believes his side’s fighting qualities made them worthy winners of Saturday’s FA Cup Final.
The skipper was adamant that Andy Carroll’s late, headed effort had not crossed the goal-line and has called on his colleagues to win their Champions League Final outing against Bayern Munich in a fortnight.
He said, “At times people have slated us a little bit, (saying) ‘we’re too old, we’re past it, we’re not together as a team’.” Terry added:
But I said yesterday, ‘When the chips are down, we come together, we unite when our backs are against the wall’. We did that and we’ve done that superbly (over) the last 16 or 17 games.
Terry, who will miss his team’s next final due to suspension, was slightly less effusive when it came to endorsing a long term coaching role for caretaker boss Roberto Di Matteo, saying the win could do his job prospects ‘no harm’.
Not over the line
Terry said he had been honest about the legitimacy of Juan Mata’s ‘ghost goal’ in the semi-final but was firm in denying Carroll’s claims after Petr Cech kept Carroll’s header out.
“When he rose you think ‘goal’ but a great stop from Petr and a great clearance off the line from Iva (Branislav Ivanovic) as well,” Terry added.
Cech’s comments on the controversial effort mirrored that of his captain but Carroll felt he had a genuine shout for his second goal of the game.
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The Liverpool forward said, “I thought it was over the line. I thought it hit the other side of the bar. We were unlucky. We had a few chances but we couldn’t put them away. It wasn’t to be.”
“Liverpool are a difficult team to play,” said Chelsea goalscorer Didier Drogba. “Today we achieved a great result because, after losing the game against Newcastle, it was very difficult for us. I’m glad we won today. It’s the first step.”
Manager’s view
Speaking about the contentious Carroll chance, Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish said, “If the officials got it right they deserve credit. He added:
We were excellent in the last half hour but the game lasts for 90 minutes. You can’t give a team as good as Chelsea a two-goal start.
Roberto Di Matteo, the fourth Chelsea manager to win the FA Cup in six years, admitted that Carroll had caused problems when he came on as a second-half substitute.
“We played well for the majority of the game and scored two very nice goals, but it got a bit nervy towards the end,” he said.
