20/05/2020  Aston Villa 0 Chelsea 1

Roberto di Matteo, having imprinted his name upon the 
record books in his last FA Cup final appearance, made an even 
greater impact at Wembley against Aston Villa to secure 
Chelsea's place in Europe next season.

While di Matteo's goal after just 42 seconds against 
Middlesbrough in 1997 set the Blues on their way to their 
first trophy for many years, this goal - gifted to him by 
David James' horrendous handling error - was even more 
important.

For a side, who only six weeks ago were taking a seemingly 
imposing 3-1 lead to Barcelona in the Champions League 
quarter-finals, had otherwise been facing the prospect of 
their season petering away into the relative ignominy of the 
InterToto Cup.

As it is, in a final which rarely quickened the pulse, 
Gianluca Vialli duly secured his fourth trophy since taking 
charge but it was not just his close friend di Matteo - hardly 
a regular in the side this season - whom he had to thank.

For while virtually the whole Villa side again seemed to 
freeze at Wembley in their first FA Cup final for 43 years - 
just as they did in their semi-final against Bolton before 
going through on penalties - the main culprit was James.

Just a few days after being recalled to the England squad, 
the former Liverpool keeper committed an appalling error 
reminiscent of the mistakes that gave him the tag of 'Calamity 
James' at Liverpool which he has worked so hard this season to 
throw off.

When Gianfranco Zola swung over a free-kick with 17 minutes 
left, James flapped at the ball amid a crowd of players, 
pushed it onto Gareth Southgate's chest and di Matteo duly 
pounced to scoop a lunging shot home from four yards out.

In their 61st game of the season, Chelsea may not have ever 
reached the heights of performance that they have risen to 
previously this season in Europe, but they deserved their 
victory and the three weeks extra holiday which it now allows 
them ahead of next season.

The FA Cup may also have suffered enough knocks and blows 
to tradition already this season, what with holders Manchester 
United withdrawing and 'lucky losers' Darlington taking their 
place in a third round held before Christmas.

And while this final was hardly a fitting end to the Twin 
Towers before demolition work starts on the stadium next 
summer, it will have mattered little to Gianluca Vialli as he 
managed to fulfil the overbearing expectancy which now grips 
Stamford Bridge.

The Italian, who was left out of the starting line-up three 
years ago by Ruud Gullit, was just as pragmatic in his own 
selections as he ensured that Chris Sutton and Dan Petrescu 
suffered an even worse - and possibly ominous - fate by not 
even being included on the bench.

George Weah was also preferred to Tore Andre Flo, while 
Jody Morris also missed out, leaving Dennis Wise as the sole 
Englishman in the side, facing a far more predictable Villa 
line-up with just two overseas players.

Villa midfielder George Boateng was certainly intent upon 
making his presence felt immediately by Wise as he thundered 
in with a crunching tackle and the only surprise was that it 
took the Chelsea captain 20 minutes to exact revenge, for 
which he was booked.

While Wise did volley straight at James, while Paul Merson 
also lobbed a speculative volley just over the bar, that was 
about it for first-half excitement.