Matic: Wembley thunderbolt not my best goal

Nemanja Matic lit up Wembley with a stunning strike that put the seal on Chelsea’s FA Cup semi-final win over Tottenham, but insisted it was not his best goal.

The Serbian fired home a long-range effort 10 minutes from time to wrap up a 4-2 win for Antonio Conte’s side.

But Matic, who ended a 350-day goal drought, stopped short of putting the effort at the top of his list.

“It was a nice goal,” he told BBC Sport. “But first of all I want to say I am very happy for the team, that we’re going to play in the final. 

“It 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 versus Porto derby. This is perhaps my second best ever.”

Well played, lads! #CHETOT pic.twitter.com/Icyt8g0jkm

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) April 22, 2017

Matic relished playing on the hallowed Wembley turf, where Chelsea struck a potentially key psychological blow in the Premier League title race.

Conte’s men are hunting a domestic double, leading Spurs by four points with six games remaining and Southampton visiting Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.

Matic added: “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.”

Conte made the surprise decision to leave Eden Hazard and Diego Costa on the bench, introducing them on the hour mark and seeing the Belgian put the Blues ahead 15 minutes from time.

Hazard had no complaints with his manager’s call, particularly as Willian netted an early free-kick and a penalty on the stroke of half-time.

“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,” said Hazard.