Drogba late strike books FA Cup final spot for Chelsea
Drogba's late goal gave Chelsea a 2-1 win over their London rivals
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Saturday, 18, Apr 2009 09:31
Didier Drogba scores a superb late goal as Chelsea beat Arsenal 2-1 at Wembley to reach the FA Cup final.
The Ivorian latched on to Frank Lampard's pass on 83 minutes, rounded Gunners keeper Lukasz Fabianski and coolly slotted the ball goalwards to give interim boss Guus Hiddink the chance of bringing silverware to Stamford Bridge.
Theo Walcott's early shot gave Arsenal the lead on 17 minutes, but Florent Malouda hit back for Chelsea 15 minutes later to ensure a close and tense finale in the all-London clash.
Drogba's late winner means Chelsea will meet the winners of tomorrow's semi-final clash between Manchester United and Everton at Wembley in the final.
Arsenal began the game with Emmanuel Adebayor and Robin van Persie in attack, but Russian signing Andrey Arshavin - whose style of play is well known to Hiddink - was left on the bench.
Englishman Theo Walcott linked up well with Adebayor in the opening stages as Arsenal started brightly.
The breakthrough then came on 17 minutes, with Adebayor linking up with Kieran Gibbs, whose back-post cross was met by Walcott and the winger's shot deflected off Ashley Cole's hand to wrong-foot Chelsea keeper Petr Cech and give the Gunners the lead.
However, Chelsea soon began to find their form on the Wembley turf. Malouda's powerful shot from the left five minutes later beat Fabianski but went the wrong side of the post.
And on the half-hour mark Chelsea were level, when Malouda turned inside Emmanuel Eboue and shot right-footed to beat Fabianski's outstretched hand at the near post.
Hiddink's men dominated the closing stages of the first half, with striker Nicolas Anelka hitting the post after dispossessing Abou Diaby.
After the break, Wenger's men battled hard and almost took the lead when van Persie, at the far post, was inches from turning Walcott's teasing cross.
But the game became increasingly scrappy as both teams showed tiredness following their mid-week Champions League exploits.
Wenger swung on Arshavin for van Persie but Chelsea seemed the more the likely to score.
And just as he did in the 2007 FA Cup final against United, Drogba scored late - with six minutes remaining - after controlling Lampard's long pass superbly before rounding Fabianski to slot home the winner.