Chelsea reach FA Cup final - radio & text reaction

More from Chelsea managerAntonio Conte speaking to Match of the Day: "I am very happy for my players and for Michy Batshuayi, he played from the start in an important game. I am happy for Nathan Ake, a young player from our academy. I am happy for Willian, two goals today in a difficult season. For me it is a great achievement.

"Today I also showed I trust all of my team.

"Eden and Diego knew very well my plan because in this situation it is important to be clear to all of the players. Now I hope on Tuesday to get a great performance from Eden and Diego and the other players."

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte: "I am proud for this achievement. It is great for the players for me. This is my first season in England and it is great to fight for the title and reach the final of the FA Cup, a great competition.

"I am pleased for my players and for our fans. Today they were great from the start until the end. Now we have to continue, on Tuesday have another tough game, I hope our fans push us a lot.

"During the season there is a moment as a coach you must take a strong decision. You have to take a risk. If you win the plan worked, if you don’t the responsibility is on you. I think today our plan worked very well."

Antonio Conte got his tactics spot on. He left out Diego Costa and Eden Hazard and was able to bring them on late.

When the team was announced I expect the Tottenham players thought today might well be their day. But fair play to Chelsea's manager, who once again has been proven right - his substitutions won the game.

Tottenham striker Harry Kane, speaking to Match of the Day: "I think we were the better team, played better football but couldn’t find a way to win. Sometimes that is football. 

"When we got back to 2-2 we thought we were going to win it but we got punished by another set piece. It is difficult to take right now."

You could have had two or three goalkeepers in goal for Matic's strike and they wouldn't have saved it. 

Conte's game plan worked perfectly. The guys he left out gave a reaction and the guy he brought in scored two goals.

Brilliant! This was reacting to the moment Nemanja Matic scored a beauty.

A date for your diary, Chelsea fans - the FA Cup final is on 27 May.

Manchester City and Arsenal contest the other semi-final tomorrow at 15:00 BST.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

deji: Nathan Ake appreciation tweet. Imperious performance. 

Kev McVeigh: Spurs pressured Chelsea but Courtois didn't have a real save until the 92nd minute. Great defending. 

Shaun Warren: Chelsea didn't snatch it, there's a clear two goal difference.

Tottenham had a big chance today. There was no Cahill, Costa or Hazard in the starting line-up. 

I think it will damage Spurs.

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino: "Congratulations to Chelsea. We dominated the game but they were more clinical than us. I feel proud, we were fantastic in the way we played and in our philosophy. They had five shots and scored four goals and we score only two.

"It is important to speak about the moments of the game. We fought a lot. We tried and scored. The penalty for me was a soft penalty or was not a penalty. To go into the changing room 2-1 down was difficult and again ee played well in the second half and scored but then they came back.

"Only now we can look forward. We are four points behind them and we will try to win our next game. I am not worried. The team is strong, we are focused. We were competing today with one of the best teams in Europe. Did we deserve more? Sure, but that is football. 

"Now we will try to be calm, watch the game again and try to improve. We are in a process of trying to improve, if we cannot win the FA Cup this season we will try again next season.

"We have another difficult game coming up against Crystal Palace. It is a tough league to play but we are OK. For sure now we are disappointed but that is football."

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Spurs had more possession but if you don't do anything with the ball you don't win. The substitutions won the game for Chelsea, so well done Antonio Conte.

Mauricio Pochettino is a very good manager but why did he play Son as a left wing-back? And of course it was Son who conceded the penalty.  

SMS Message: Poch got his selections wrong today. Son playing on the left, instead of Davies, was easily exploited and gives penalty away. Wanyama taken off when he could have occupied the space Matic was allowed to shoot from. from Jack, Reading

Poch got his selections wrong today. Son playing on the left, instead of Davies, was easily exploited and gives penalty away. Wanyama taken off when he could have occupied the space Matic was allowed to shoot from.

"Spurs didn’t deserve to lose the game in the way they did. They were the better team throughout the game - they dominated possession. But granted, Chelsea were much more potent in front of goal 

"Spurs have dominated that game. Chelsea were on the back foot for the majority of it - hanging on."

Chelsea's Eden Hazard: "It’s always good to win this kind of game – a semi against a London team - so for the fans it's good.

"It’s my first final in five years at Chelsea so it’s good."

On starting the match on the bench: "When you play football you want to play every game, but the manager did a great choice - he put in Willian and he scored two goals."

Not Nemanja Matic's best goal? Really?? 

I need to check out this one he scored in the Benfica-Porto derby.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Chelsea goalscorer Nemanja Matic at pitchside live on 5 live Sport: "It was a nice goal! But first of all I want to say I am very happy for the team, that we're going to play in the final. 

"Today was hard against a very good team. Congratulations to Spurs, who didn't give up. 

"I am happy for my goal, it was a great goal, but it's not the best I've ever scored. I scored a harder one in a Benfica v Porto derby... this is perhaps my second best ever! 

"It's great when you have a chance to play in this stadium. For our supporters, you can see this is something special. To have a chance to win this trophy is significant for us as players. 

"This result gives us more confidence of course - it's always good to win. Now we have to recover quickly for the next game on Tuesday."

The moment when Tottenham knew it just wasn't going to be their day...