Arsenal and Chelsea FA Cup finals make television viewership record in UK
Saturday’s FA Cup final between Arsenal and Chelsea was the most watched match of the 2019-20 season, television viewing figures have revealed.
The Wembley final, which Arsenal won 2-1, was watched by 8.2million people at its peak on BBC One and had an audience share of 46.1 per cent.
It means that nearly half of the UK population who own televisions tuned in to watch the final on terrestrial television.
The viewing numbers for the final topped the audience figures for the FA Cup semi-final between Manchester United and Chelsea on July 19, which attracted 7.3million people at its peak.
In the game, Aubameyang equalised with a penalty he had won himself to cancel out Christian Pulisic’s 5th minute opener.
Chelsea then lost Cesar Azpilicueta and Pulisic to injury before Aubameyang brilliantly added his second to secure a 2-1 victory and then lifted a record 14th FA Cup for the Gunners. But the game was not without incident.
Blues substitute Tammy Abraham was adamant that the Arsenal shot-stopper had handled a long-ball forward outside the penalty area, which prompted a VAR review.
After a few moments, VAR reached a verdict that will have no doubt come as a major relief to Martinez and his Arsenal teammates, as the replay showed that the Gunners goalkeeper had claimed the ball just inside his 18-yard box, much to the relief of Arteta.
With the incident not having had any impact on Arsenal’s quest to lay their hands on the FA Cup for the second time in four years, Martinez has now seen the funny side of the incident, taking to social media to share a rather fitting joke.
At the time of when Martinez claimed the ball inside the penalty area, the Wembley advertising boards were displaying an advert about the much-loved video game Pokemon.
And the fact that Pokemon was being advertised at the time Martinez claimed the ball has prompted a joke from the former Reading and Sheffield Wednesday loanee, insisting that he was carrying out his very best efforts to catch Pikachu, who is arguably the most popular face of the game.
On Instagram, Martinez, sharing a picture of him catching the ball, said: “My best moment at Wembley was catching a Pokemon. pikachu.”
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