FA Cup final: Chelsea v Man Utd Photo

FA Cup final: Chelsea v Man Utd Photo

Manchester United take on Chelsea in the first FA Cup final to be played at the rebuilt Wembley Stadium
Fans make their way up Wembley Way as the atmosphere builds ahead of the big game

Chelsea's players sample the stadium as they prepare to face the side that dethroned them as Premiership champions

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson picks Gabriel Heinze and Darren Fletcher as Patrice Evra and Alan Smith miss out

Prince William officially welcomes the FA Cup trophy back to Wembley and declares the new stadium open

Chelsea captain John Terry and United skipper Ryan Giggs lead the teams out to a wall of noise

Chelsea wide-man Shaun Wright-Phillips tries to take on Heinze during a lifeless opening 20 minutes

Rooney fires wide of Blues keeper Petr Cech's left-hand post and a poor first half finishes goalless

Mourinho replaces Joe Cole with Dutchman Arjen Robben, who immediately feels the force of a challenge from Wes Brown


Rooney worries Chelsea with a fine run but the United forward is thwarted by Cech and the game goes to extra time

Giggs misses a golden opportunity to score when he scuffs Rooney's low cross into the arms of Cech

Cech again saves at the feet of Rooney and the match looks like being decided by a penalty shoot-out

But Didier Drogba nips in to score a 116th-minute winner to take the FA Cup to Stamford Bridge

FA Cup final - Chelsea 1-0 Man Utd

FA Cup final - Chelsea 1-0 Man Utd

A Didier Drogba goal late in extra time was enough to secure victory for Chelsea over Manchester United in the first FA Cup final at the new Wembley.

Drogba produced a rare moment of brilliance in a game that failed to live up to expectations and completed a cup double for the Blues.

He played a one-two with Frank Lampard before stabbing past Edwin van der Sar with the tie headed for penalties.

Ryan Giggs missed a good chance to win the game for United in normal time.

The 90,000 fans inside the stadium were treated to a fantastic pre-match build-up featuring some famous faces from Wembley's glorious past.

But aside from Drogba's late winner, the two best sides in the country produced a game that is unlikely to live long in the memory.

A cagey opening 20 minutes set the pace for a match that at times seemed more like the Community Shield than the first FA Cup final at an immaculate new Wembley.

The first effort on target did not arrive until after the half hour with Paulo Ferreira venturing forward and slipping a pass in for Frank Lampard, who forced Edwin van der Sar to make a smart low save.

That was about the extent of the first 45 minutes as both teams looked heavy-legged after a season in which they have each played over 60 games.

The pitch, which looked in fabulous condition at the start, began to cut up which did not aid the footballing spectacle or the weary players.

Joe Cole looked one of the few capable of livening things up before he was surprisingly replaced at half-time by Arjen Robben.

The pace picked up slightly after the break, with United looking the more likely to get Wembley's first Cup final goal.

Wayne Rooney emerged from his first-half shell to bring a first save out of Petr Cech and tested Chelsea's backline with a couple of bursting runs.

Paul Scholes picked out Giggs to volley just over the top as Sir Alex Ferguson's men showed the odd glimpse of the stylish side that dominated the Premiership.

At the other end Drogba was largely contained by Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, with the Premiership's top scorer limited to a curling free-kick that clipped the outside of the post during the 90 minutes.

Vidic could have settled the tie with the last touch of normal time but his glancing header from Giggs' inswinging free-kick was just too high.

Both sides had glorious chances to break the deadlock at the end of the first period of extra-time.

Giggs somehow managed to pick out Cech with the goal at his mercy as he slid onto a Rooney cross and then Drogba headed into the side-netting from an equally-promising position.

Salomon Kalou was agonisingly close to scoring before Drogba and Lampard exchanged passes and the Golden Boot winner capped a fabulous season with the most important goal of his season and prevented a third successive FA Cup final going to penalties.

Chelsea add the FA Cup to the League Cup which they won earlier this season and manager Jose Mourinho secures the one domestic trophy that was missing in his collection.

Chelsea: Cech, Ferreira, Essien, Terry, Bridge, Mikel, Makelele, Lampard, Wright-Phillips, Drogba, Joe Cole. Subs: Cudicini, Ashley Cole, Robben, Kalou, Diarra.

Man Utd: Van der Sar, Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Heinze, Fletcher, Scholes, Carrick, Ronaldo, Rooney, Giggs. Subs: Kuszczak, Evra, Smith, Solskjaer, O'Shea.

Referee: S Bennett (Kent).

One Step Closer To The Premiership!

One Step Closer To The Premiership!

After a good win in the Manchester derby today, it looks as though Manchester united will finally secure the Premiership title and take over the role as reigning champions from Chelsea. The Red Devils won 1-0 today as a result of Cristiano Ronaldo’s penalty after he was brought down by Michael Ball in the area.

Although Manchester United have to play Chelsea on Wednesday, the title comes back to Old Trafford if Chelsea do not get a result against Arsenal tomorr. I think it is fair to assume that we can start celebrating now!

Soccer: Chelsea and ManU reach FA Cup semis

Soccer: Chelsea and ManU reach FA Cup semis

LONDON - Champions Chelsea beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 and league leaders Manchester United overcame Middlesbrough with a Ronaldo penalty today to book their places in next month's semi-finals of the FA Cup.

United will meet Watford and Chelsea will take on Blackburn Rovers, with the final scheduled to return to the rebuilt Wembley stadium.

A magical 55th minute goal conjured against the run of play from Andriy Shevchenko and a second scorcher nine minutes later from Shaun Wright-Phillips earned Chelsea their win in Monday's quarter-final replay.

The Ukraine striker took a pass from Wright-Phillips on the right, stepped inside Steed Malbranque and sent a left foot shot into the top left of the net from 20 metres.

Seven minutes later Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba expertly chested a ball, passed from deep by Ashley Cole, to Wright-Phillips on his left and the diminutive winger belted it past Paul Robinson in the Spurs net.

Chelsea looked to be cruising until Ricardo Carvalho brought down Dimitar Berbatov in the Cheslea area in the 77th minute and Robbie Keane sent a penalty past Petr Cech.

After an uneventful first half this set up a grandstand finish with the home side pouring towards the Chelsea goal but, despite six minutes of time added on, Spurs failed to break through.

United had Middlesbrough on the backfoot from the first kick in their replay and might have scored half a dozen but for some fine goalkeeping from Mark Schwarzer.

He plucked the ball from England striker Wayne Rooney's feet and denied him twice more in the second half with Middlesbrough constantly unbalanced by Cristiano Ronaldo's jinking runs.

The tie was finally decided by a Ronaldo penalty after the Portuguese winger was brought down by Jonathan Woodgate in the 74th minute.