Chelsea's sensational win over Manchester United - and the thousand and one talking points it sparked
Chelsea 4-3 Manchester United
Wow. If this is what these two teams are capable of serving up when they are bad, just imagine what they will be like when they finally get their act together.
Having taken a 2-0 lead, and having played United off the park, the Blues found themselves 3-2 down after an astonishing turnaround. Two goals from the excellent Alejandro Garnacho and a header from Bruno Fernandes ruined the start made by Chelsea in scoring through Conor Gallagher and Cole Palmer from the spot.
But as the clock past 90+10, Palmer showed he and Chelsea were far from done - netting an equaliser from the spot after a three-minute VAR check, before rifling in a winner after 90+11. Against the team who mocked him as a Man City reject. That is some script.
It was almost too much to take in. Here we do our best to make sense of it all with some of the key talking points.
That's entertainment
It was a game of utter manic anarchy with both team going hell for leather. A game to stand proudly in the pantheon of crazy games this season. It was chaotic, flawed, error-strewn and breath-taking all at once.
It ended 4-3. Frankly, it could have been anything. Neither team seemed to have the remotest intention of taking their foot off the gas.
The ingredients were there from the start in the line-ups, with both teams playing two wide players and flooding forward at every opportunity. Erik ten Hag, in particular, seemed to have a going-for-broke attitude. It was, it has to be said, a good watch.
Ice-cool Cole Palmer is a man for every occasion
The Man City 'reject' simply knows no fear. His last-gasp penalty secured an astonishing 4-4 draw with City earlier in the season and we thought we had seen it all.
How wrong could we be. He put away two penalties, the second of which came after a lengthy VAR review that would have caused plenty of penalty takers to shrink in their boots. This man is made of the right stuff.
That alone would have been pretty outstanding, but he only went and grabbed himself a hat-trick goal for the winner a minute later. The pandemonium that followed was completely understandable. What an asset he could be for Gareth Southgate in the summer.
Where we are now in terms of the rivalry
There was a time when this was THE fixture. But the days of Jose v Fergie seem a long time ago now. A match in April between teams in 12th and sixth position is not what fans of these two have been used to in the past.
But for all that, there will always be a certain frisson when they meet - even if it is just the weight of history generating the excitement and expectation. Fortunately, it lived up to its past rather than its present. It was unforgettable.
Both teams still boast good players but the rest of the world caught up a while ago and the A-listers on show are no longer so exceptional that you couldn't imagine them turning out for anyone else. That said, what we saw from Palmer and Garnacho stood comparison with some of the best action we've seen in the past.
Chelsea's dismal recent record against United ends in sensational style
Chelsea's fall from the summit has been even more pronounced in the last couple of seasons and a record of two defeats, five draws and no wins in the previous seven encounters with United told its own story.
They had won only one of the past 14 encounters in all competitions and there has been no league win since November 2017, when Alvaro Morata scored the only goal at the Bridge. This was some way to repair that anomaly.
That imbalance needed redressing, as did the defeat at Old Trafford earlier in the campaign. Besides which, Fergie time now belongs to Chelsea and Mason Mount was a mere footnote. He was booed by Chelsea fans when he came on, but he only arrived in time to witness Chelsea's late surge to victory.
Was this an FA Cup final rehearsal?
It's not too far-fetched to imagine the Blues locking horns with United at Wembley yet again in what would be a third showdown in the final since the new stadium opened in 2007.
If it's anything like this, you have to say, bring it on. This game was such a contrast to the turgid summit clash between Man City and Arsenal a few days ago.
The Blues won that 2007 final with a goal right at the end of extra-time from Didier Drogba and Eden Hazard's penalty settled the outcome when they met again in 2018. Those two 1-0s made up for the 4-0 thrashing in 1994 when United were on their way to a double and had two Eric Cantona penalties to help them on their way.
The obvious bet is on a repeat of last season's all-Manchester final, which City won 2-1. United ought to beat Championship side Coventry City.
The blue half of Manchester will be expected to get the better of Chelsea in the other semi-final later this month. But in a one-off duel, who knows? After this game, confidence should be high again for Mauricio Pochettino's men.
