We will meet Liverpool once again next month, a repeat of February’s Carabao Cup finale, which ended in a penalty shoot-out defeat for Thomas Tuchel’s men. There was no need for spot-kicks on our latest trip to the national stadium as two goals in 11 second-half minutes broke the resistance of a stubborn Crystal Palace side.

The first period was edgy and lacking in real opportunities down either end, with the Eagles going closest when Edouard Mendy saved smartly from his Senegalese compatriot Cheikhou Kouyate. Yet Chelsea upped the ante in the second period and eventually broke through when substitute Loftus-Cheek smashed a brilliant opener into the top corner on the half-volley.

That advantage was doubled shortly afterwards when his homegrown partner Mount steered a low finish into the bottom far corner to continue an impressive recent run of goalscoring form and book our return to Wembley for next month’s final, our fifth appearance in the showpiece in the past six years.

The selection

Chelsea were changed by three from our midweek outing in the Spanish capital, with Andreas Christensen, Jorginho and captain Cesar Azpilicueta the returning trio in place of Thiago Silva, N’Golo Kante and Loftus-Cheek.

Azpilicueta came in at wing-back, while Mount and Timo Werner were retained in attack following their goalscoring exploits at the Bernabeu.

Palace made four alterations from their recent league defeat at Leicester City. On-loan Conor Gallagher was ineligible to face his parent club so James McArthur replaced him in midfield, while Joel Ward, Ebere Eze and goalkeeper Jack Butland also came in.

Easing in

Just like Chelsea in the Carabao Cup this term, the Eagles’ FA Cup campaign had been fought entirely in London and their first Wembley appearance since 2016 meant a big following from the south Londoners, complete with party paraphernalia.

It made a welcome change from the empty stadiums endured throughout the pandemic, with our semi-final last year against Manchester City played a year ago to the day and in front of a deserted Wembley Stadium. Once the balloons had been popped and the smoke cleared, proceedings could begin for a place in the FA Cup final.

Patrick Vieira lined his side up in a similar system to that which Chelsea had deployed in Madrid on Tuesday night, with three central defenders and a twin attacking apex of Wilfried Zaha and Jean-Phillipe Mateta, which was matched by the Blues.

The latter was soon scampering forward in a foot race with Christensen and momentarily seemed to escape the Dane’s attentions but Mendy was alert to the danger.

Limited threat

While Tuchel’s men might have been forgiven for a slow start after 120 gruelling midweek minutes in Madrid and ultimate disappointment at our European exit, the German’s side quickly settled in possession, even if that didn’t translate into creating clear-cut chances.

Mount’s cross was too close to Butland while McArthur rose highest to head clear the first corner of the match, swung in dangerously from the left by James. The Palace keeper was rarely troubled throughout the first period, plucking a looping header from Kai Havertz out of the air on 25 minutes with relative ease.

The pattern of the semi-final was controlled Chelsea possession in the face of Palace attempting to win turnovers in the middle, with Jorginho caught out on a couple of occasions before his midfield partner Mateo Kovacic was withdrawn from the action with an ankle injury in another blow to the Blues midway through the half.

Mendy’s moment

Most of our offensive productivity came down the left as Werner drifted deep and wide to initiate attacks. Our number 11 managed to tee up a decent sight at goal on the half-hour mark after advancing down the wing and skipping clear of Kouyate to deliver, though the ball came a little too high for Azpilicueta on the far side and the skipper could only connect with a stray knee.

Mount also hooked off-target from just outside the box moments later but the best save of the first period came down the other end nine minutes before the interval.

A Palace free-kick was floated in from the left by Eze and eventually fell to Kouyate, who struck it sweetly on the volley and drew an impressive low save from Mendy. Joachim Andersen smashed the rebound against the post but the offside flag soon went up.

Restarting right

Tuchel can’t have been too pleased with our efforts in the final third during the first period but there was reason to be optimistic that the players had heeded his half-time words with the way they restarted in the semi-final.

Mount fired high into the Chelsea fans behind the goal we were now attacking before Loftus-Cheek, our earlier replacement for Kovacic, teed up an inviting opportunity for Werner.

A neat flick with the outside of the boot sent the ball nicely into the striker’s path but there was just a fraction too much weight on the pass and Butland was able to collect before his goal was unduly troubled.

The Eagles carried their greatest threat from set-pieces and went close with a Kouyate effort just after the hour as Eze swung the ball in from the left. The makeshift centre-back got on the end of it but the contact came off his shoulder and bounced a few yards wide.

Ruben gets it right

So often in football, there is a narrative to the on-field story and so it came to pass as Loftus-Cheek, who spent a season on loan at Selhurst Park in 2017/18 and grew up in Lewisham seven miles from the Palace stadium, fired in the decisive opening goal 25 minutes from time.

Havertz’s foraging in the box paid dividends as the German squeezed into space down the right and his delivery deflected kindly off Marc Guehi’s outstretched calf into the path of the defender’s fellow Chelsea Academy graduate.

The ball bounced up perfectly to be thumped and Loftus-Cheek hit it beautifully, cutting across the strike so it swerved away from Butland and nestled into the top corner for his first Chelsea goal since May 2019, a run of 59 matches without scoring.

Mount seals it

Falling behind took the wind out of Palace sails both on and off the pitch but the significant damaging blow came 10 minutes later when Mount’s caressed low finish beat Butland to make it 2-0.

The England midfielder exchanged passes with Werner on the edge of the box and then darted forward to pick up the return. With the right-hand side of the goal gaping, the 23-year-old telegraphed where he was going to place the finish but Butland was powerless to keep it out as the strike’s power and accuracy was too much to handle.

It continued a purple patch of goalscoring form for Mount, his 12th of the season, and all but secured our place in the final.

Seeing it out

Palace did have a chance to make the final exchanges interesting when Andersen found himself in space at the back post after Jordan Ayew had flicked on Eze’s corner, but the Dane got underneath the header and couldn’t keep it down.

Among the Chelsea introductions following our second goal was Hakim Ziyech and the forward soon warmed the palms of Butland with a low effort well held. Another substitute, Romelu Lukaku, went even closer in the dying stages as he struck the post following enterprising tee-up play from strike partner Werner, with Ziyech’s follow-up blocked on the line.

Nevertheless, our increase in intensity and attacking intent in the second half had been rewarded and Chelsea’s Cobham graduates were the toast of Wembley once again.

What’s next?

A trio of London derbies continues with a Premier League double-header at Stamford Bridge, first against Arsenal on Wednesday and then West Ham on Sunday.

Chelsea (3-4-3) Mendy; James, Christensen (Thiago Silva 82), Rudiger; Azpilicueta (c), Jorginho (Kante 77), Kovacic (Loftus-Cheek 26), Alonso; Mount (Ziyech 77), Havertz (Lukaku 77), WernerUnused subs Kepa, Sarr, Kante, Saul, Pulisic, Ziyech, LukakuScorers Loftus-Cheek 65; Mount 76Booked Havertz 38

Crystal Palace (3-4-1-2) Butland; Kouyate (Milivojevic 85), Andersen, Guehi; Ward, McArthur (c) (Olise 72), Schlupp (Benteke 72), Mitchell; Eze; Mateta (Ayew 55), ZahaUnused subs Guaita, Clyne, Kelly, Tomkins, Edouard

Referee Anthony TaylorCrowd 76,238