LONDON, April 19: Didier Drogba scored with six minutes left to give Chelsea a 2-1 win over Arsenal on Saturday and a place in the FA Cup final on May 30. [break]
Chelsea advanced to its second final in three years and will play for the title against the winner of Sunday’s semifinal between Manchester United and Everton. This was Chelsea’s first FA Cup win over Arsenal since 1947.
Theo Walcott gave Arsenal an 18th-minute lead at Wembley and Florent Malouda tied it in the 32nd. Drogba broke away on the winning goal and Frank Lampard drove a high ball behind the Arsenal defense from deep in his own half. Drogba beat Mikael Silvestre, dribbled around goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski and rolled the ball into an empty net.
“It’s very nice to work with these guys,” Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink said. “They always deliver.”
Arsenal defender Mustafi ruled out of FA Cup final against Chel...
Hiddink is in charge only until the end of the season, then returns to his full-time job as coach of Russia’s national team. He said it would be a fitting to lead the team in the final of soccer’s oldest and most famous domestic cup competition.
“Hopefully we will celebrate with a nice bottle of champagne,” the Dutchman said.
Fabianski, playing on his 24th birthday, was in the game in place of Manuel Almunia. He had been lucky not to concede a goal on a similar error in the first half and was partly at fault for Malouda’s tying goal.
“He’s a great goalkeeper but it was not his greatest day,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said. “Inexperience, yes. It was a game when any mistake could be costly.”
In the Premier League, Sunderland and Stoke boosted their chances of avoiding relegation with 1-0 wins.
Stoke beat visiting Blackburn through a 75th-minute goal by Liam Lawrence to move nine points clear of the relegation zone, and Djibril Cisse scored just before halftime to send Sunderland past Hull.
Stoke, playing in the top tier for the first season since 1985, looks to be safe from dropping. Sunderland is still in danger despite moving above Blackburn and Hull into 15th place.
Wolverhampton Wanderers became the first club this season to gain promotion to the Premier League after a 1-0 win over visiting Queens Park Rangers. Charlton was relegated again, this time to League One, following its 2-2 draw with Blackpool.
