2000 FA Cup final

The 2000 FA Cup final was the 119th final of the FA Cup, and the 72nd (excluding replays) and last to be played at the old Wembley Stadium. It took place on 20 May 2000 and was contested between Chelsea and Aston Villa, the latter making its first FA Cup Final appearance since winning it in 1957.

Chelsea won 1–0 to secure their second FA Cup in four years, and their third in all. The goal was scored midway through the second half by Roberto Di Matteo, who had also scored in the 1997 final.

Wembley Stadium closed five months later, and was subsequently rebuilt. The FA Cup Final was played at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff for the next six years, before returning to Wembley in 2007 (Chelsea would also win that final as well).

Road to Wembley

Chelsea

Third Round	Hull City	1–6	Chelsea
Fourth Round	Chelsea	2–0	Nottingham Forest
Fifth Round	Chelsea	2–1	Leicester City
Sixth Round	Chelsea	5–0	Gillingham
Semi-Final	Newcastle United	1–2	Chelsea
	(at Wembley Stadium)

Aston Villa

Third Round	Aston Villa	2–1	Darlington
Fourth Round	Aston Villa	1–0	Southampton
Fifth Round	Aston Villa	3–2	Leeds United
Sixth Round	Everton	1–2	Aston Villa
Semi-Final	Bolton Wanderers	0–0	Aston Villa
	(at Wembley Stadium) Aston Villa won 4–1 on penalties

Match

Summary

Following a poor quality first half in which few chances were created, the match was brighter in the second, with Chelsea generally having the better of the play. George Weah missed several chances and Dennis Wise had a goal disallowed for offside, while Villa's Gareth Southgate headed wide. On 73 minutes, Roberto Di Matteo scored what proved to be the winning goal, capitalising on an error from Villa goalkeeper David James to put the ball in the net from close range. James came roaring off his line to deal with Zola's free-kick from the left, he fumbled the ball against Gareth Southgate's chest with Di Matteo blasting the rebound into the roof of the net. Villa could not get back in the match, their best chance falling to Benito Carbone, but his tame shot did not test Ed de Goey in goal.

Details

File:Kit left arm.svg File:Kit body.svg File:Kit right arm.svg File:Kit shorts.svg File:Kit socks long.svg Chelsea Template:Preview warningTemplate:Preview warningTemplate:Preview warningTemplate:Preview warning

File:Kit left arm.svg File:Kit body.svg File:Kit right arm.svg File:Kit shorts.svg File:Kit socks long.svg Aston Villa Template:Preview warningTemplate:Preview warningTemplate:Preview warning

GK 1 Template:Fbaicon Ed de Goey RB 15 Template:Fbaicon Mario Melchiot Template:Yel CB 6 Template:Fbaicon Marcel Desailly CB 5 Template:Fbaicon Frank Leboeuf LB 3 Template:Fbaicon Celestine Babayaro DM 7 Template:Fbaicon Didier Deschamps CM 16 Template:Fbaicon Roberto Di Matteo CM 11 Template:Fbaicon Dennis Wise (c) Template:Yel AM 8 Template:Fbaicon Gus Poyet Template:Yel CF 25 Template:Fbaicon Gianfranco Zola Template:Suboff CF 31 Template:Fbaicon George Weah Template:Suboff Substitutes: GK 23 Template:Fbaicon Carlo Cudicini CB 26 Template:Fbaicon John Terry LB 34 Template:Fbaicon Jon Harley CM 20 Template:Fbaicon Jody Morris Template:Subon CF 19 Template:Fbaicon Tore André Flo Template:Subon Manager: Template:Fbaicon Gianluca Vialli

GK 1 Template:Fbaicon David James DF 24 Template:Fbaicon Mark Delaney DF 5 Template:Fbaicon Ugo Ehiogu DF 4 Template:Fbaicon Gareth Southgate (c) DF 15 Template:Fbaicon Gareth Barry Template:Yel DF 3 Template:Fbaicon Alan Wright Template:Suboff MF 6 Template:Fbaicon George Boateng Template:Yel MF 10 Template:Fbaicon Paul Merson MF 7 Template:Fbaicon Ian Taylor Template:Suboff MF 18 Template:Fbaicon Benito Carbone Template:Suboff FW 9 Template:Fbaicon Dion Dublin Substitutes: GK 39 Template:Fbaicon Peter Enckelman DF 31 Template:Fbaicon Jlloyd Samuel MF 26 Template:Fbaicon Steve Stone Template:Subon MF 17 Template:Fbaicon Lee Hendrie Template:Subon FW 12 Template:Fbaicon Julian Joachim Template:Subon Manager: Template:Fbaicon John Gregory

Man of the match Dennis Wise (Chelsea)

Match rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary. Penalty shootout if scores still level. Five named substitutes Maximum of 3 substitutions.

Statistics

	Chelsea	Aston Villa
Goal attempts	5	11
Corner kicks	2	3
Fouls committed	17	14
Offsides	5	2
Yellow cards	3	2
Red cards	0	0

Source: The People

External links

• BBC Match Report
• Game facts at soccerbase.com
• BBC FA Cup Final 2000 Section