Football’s Greatest Goals No.33
This week’s ‘Greatest Goal’ comes from the right boot of Chelsea’s Roberto Di Matteo in the 1997 FA Cup Final. It was the fastest goal scored in FA Cup Final history, a record that stood for twelve years until Louis Saha scored in the 2009 final for Everton, ironically against Chelsea.
The goal came after just 42 seconds into the Final. Middlesbrough lost possession midway inside Chelsea’s half and Dennis Wise picked up the loose ball before playing a square ball to Roberto Di Matteo.
The Italian was in loads of space in the middle of the pitch and charged forward with no Middlesbrough player within ten yards of him.
As Di Matteo pushed forward, the two closest players to him were both team mates. As Mark Hughes made a clever decoy run in front of him, Chelsea’s right back Dan Petrescu tried to keep up with him on the overlap. No Middlesbrough player got near the Italian to try and dispossess him. It almost looked as if they intentionally stood off him, thinking that he would be of no real threat.
As Di Matteo got closer to goal, there was still no challenge from a Middlesbrough player and he decided to take shot on, thumping the ball hard towards goal.
‘Boro keeper Ben Roberts was only about three yards off his line but the ball fizzed past him before he could properly react, slamming off the underside of the bar and into the back of the net.
Eddie Newton added a second goal for Chelsea in the 83rd minute that killed off the match. Ruud Gullit that became the first foreign manager to win the FA Cup.
The win over Middlesbrough was only the second time that Chelsea had ever won the FA Cup, the first was back in 1970 after beating Leeds United in a replay. They have since won the oldest cup competition in the world a further five times – in 2000, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2018.
About Author
