Sport
Didier Drogba match winner as Chelsea beats Liverpool 2-1 to win FA Cup
“I’m very happy for the players because we’ve been heavily criticized this season and we’ve got the trophy and have the chance for another one,” Di Matteo said. “It’s been a difficult season but the players have made the club proud. It’s been hard work but we came through it.”
Di Matteo, who also won the FA Cup twice as a player for Chelsea, is making it increasingly difficult for the club not to extend his contract.
“He has been brilliant,” Lampard said. “He has turned the club around.”
Liverpool had hoped the return of Kenny Dalglish in January 2011 would similarly rouse its faltering fortunes.
But while the Reds won the League Cup in February, their Premier League form has been even worse than Chelsea’s – sitting eighth – and they didn’t even play in Europe this season.
Dalglish suggested his team’s inability to make an impact on Saturday until midway through the second half was a sign of its inexperience.
“We were excellent for the last half hour, but the game lasts for 90 minutes,” he said. “You can’t give a team like Chelsea a two-goal head start. It’s credit to our lads that they went close to an equalizer after Andy scored, but they had left themselves too much to do.
“I don’t think the first hour was a reflection of the quality of the players we had out there … these players will get better and benefit from this experience – they’ve been in two cup finals in this season.”
