Source: SKY_Sports
Drogba sends Blues to final
A late effort from Didier Drogba saw Chelsea overcome capital rivals Arsenal 2-1 in the first of this weekend's FA Cup semi-finals.[LNB] Theo Walcott had opened the scoring for the Gunners at Wembley, but Florent Malouda had the Blues level before the interval.[LNB]Arsene Wenger's side survived an early scare as a defensive mix-up almost saw Drogba nod into an empty net, but Kieran Gibbs recovered in the nick of time to hack off the line.[LNB]The Gunners then began to take control of proceedings and took the lead on 18 minutes as Walcott volleyed home a Gibbs cross via the aid of a slight deflection off Ashley Cole.[LNB]Having fallen behind, Chelsea then suddenly sprung into life and Malouda grazed a post with a drilled effort which squeezed under the body of Lukasz Fabianski.[LNB]The Frenchman was not to be denied, though, and he found the target just past the half-hour mark when he beat the Arsenal offside trap and fired low into the bottom corner.[LNB]It could have been even better for the Blues at the break had Nicolas Anelka taken advantage of a clear sight of goal, but he saw a low drive cannon back off the post.[LNB]The second half was a quieter affair in terms of clear-cut goalscoring opportunities, but both sides continued to pile forward whenever the situation allowed.[LNB]Emmanuel Adebayor blazed a good chance over for the Gunners inside three minutes of the re-start, while Chelsea proved to be wasteful with their final ball despite working a number of promising openings.[LNB]Frank Lampard did his utmost to force a further breakthrough with a controlled first-time effort midway through the second period, but his radar was slightly off and he could only brush the side-netting.[LNB]With only six minutes left on the clock it appeared as though extra-time was a formality, with nothing to choose between two Premier League heavyweights.[LNB]However, Drogba had other ideas and he coolly rounded the onrushing Fabianski to slot in a dramatic winner and send the Chelsea support into delirium.[LNB]
