New Blues show signs of promise

This was probably the moment when everything finally caught up with Chelsea FC; all the fixture congestion, the off-field trauma, the sackings, the negative headlines, all the energy-sapping distractions that have made Rafa Benitez’s job almost impossible; but even so you have to say, in true Chelsea style, they made a fight of it.

Benitez had hoped to end his controversial six-month spell in charge at Stamford Bridge with two trophies; and as recently as last Friday he was talking in glowing terms about the legacy he would leave for the man who follows him.

There were times at Wembley in the first half when those words looked a farce — City were simply too strong, too clever and too quick for his ‘new’ Chelsea that took the field without Frank Lampard, John Terry or Ashley Cole — and of course without Didier Drogba, the man who normally wins these occasions for Roman Abramovich’s side.