Sunday Times
Didier Drogba makes the difference
Arsenal 1 Chelsea 2
Jonathan Northcroft at Wembley
FAREWELLS do not have to be sombre and Guus Hiddink has a happy visionof how his leave-taking of Chelsea will be. A beautiful sunny day,Wembley, drenched in ticker-tape, a magnum of bubbly clutched in hismitt. Wealth is there to allow those who have it to enjoy the finerthings in life and the billions of Roman Abramovich have made him themost deluxe caretaker in football. Chelsea are in the FA Cup final andHiddink will be with them for the maximum timespan possible, untilthis competition’s showpiece brings an end to the club season on May30.Hiddink could only ever commit himself to Chelsea for the remainder ofthe 2008-09 campaign, after which he will return to coaching Russiafull-time. By extending Chelsea’s fixture list by one more match heinevitably provoked further “why-don’t-you-stay?” questions in hispress conference, which he answered with his customary twinkle andgood grace.“On May 30 I say, with a nice bottle of champagne, goodbye. Well, notgoodbye because I will be back at the club in the future in a friendlyway,” he said.Chelsea might yet also have Champions League final in the season’sfinal week and Arsenal could be their opponents. Should these teamsmeet in Rome, its Olympic Stadium would be glad to showcase ared-corner-blue-corner slugfest, the kind of which Wembley staged. Thebiggest crowd to attend a match at this stage of the competition sawone of the FA Cup’s best recent semi-finals.Sir Alex Ferguson noted Chelsea’s 4-4 draw with Liverpool had dollopsof an ingredient often key to making classic football games, mistakes.This was similar. Flaws were what perfected the entertainment and,just as in midweek, after swings of initiative and having come frombehind, Chelsea ensured the result went in their favour.The errors came from their midfielders in the early stages, Arsenal’sdefenders in the later ones, and both goalkeepers throughout thematch. The last blooper, made by Lukasz Fabianski, decided things.Didier Drogba had scored four times in his previous two appearancesagainst Arsenal and hardly needed the help Fabianski offered him. Heis tipped for big things but, deputising for Manuel Almunia, themagnitude of the occasion snapped the young Pole. Six minutes fromtime, a long, volleyed pass by Frank Lampard landed outside Arsenal’sbox and Fabianski raced hare-brained out to meet it. Drogba outmuscledMikael Silvestre in a lion-versus-antelope battle of strength and willand reached the ball first, taking it past the Arsenal keeper andretaining balance and composure to squeeze home from an angle. TheIvorian crossed himself repeatedly and smooched the blueNo 11 shirt he had ripped from his chest and the Chelsea end cavorted.Arsenal’s fans were distraught and in the neutral sections there wasbewilderment. Had Fabianski learnt nothing? Drogba had so nearlypunished him for an identical error in the opening moments of thegame.Arsenal had won the previous seven FA Cup ties between these sides butHiddink has a knack for inspiring teams to achieve that of which theywere formerly incapable and self-belief is the key. It seeps from himand gets into his players. After conceding a goal to Theo Walcottafter 18 minutes, Chelsea had the conviction to assert themselves inthe game, equalise through Florent Malouda and use their greatermuscle to wear down Arsenal’s resistance before it was broken byDrogba.Hiddink felt Lampard, Michael Essien and Michael Ballack sat too deepat the outset and Cesc Fabregas, abetted by Denilson, was quickly ableto establish a rhythm for Arsenal. Walcott was their outlet, his paceand nimble feet tormenting Ashley Cole and Cole — literally — lent hima hand with his goal.In those initial stages Arsenal were taking far more care than theiropponents in possession. When Emmanuel Adebayor received the ball tothe left of Chelsea’s area he held it, toying with Branislav Ivanovicuntil Kieran Gibbs overlapped. With a smooth pass, he fed his youngcolleague. From the touchline, the defender clipped a pass back towhere Walcott was arriving and Walcott, these days calm and classy inhis finishing, did not attempt to blast a shot but simply ensured hisfoot came right through the centre of the ball. It struck Cole’soutstretched hand and was pushed into the net by Petr Cech,leaden-footed and slow to dive. The form of the formerbest-goalkeeper-in-the world appears to be collapsing like anIcelandic bank.But Fabianski’s problems overshadowed his counterpart’s. After threeminutes he charged from his box towards a John Terry clearance thatwas always dropping short of him and Drogba reached it first, headingthe ball beyond Fabianski, who was bailed out when Gibbs, racing back,scooped the ball to safety within a yard of the line.Gibbs was the only member of Wenger’s defensive corps to play well.Without William Gallas co-ordinating it, Arsenal’s offside trap keptfailing to spring at the proper moment and Malouda, who had alreadygone close after beating it, eluded it again to score. Lampard, whowas increasingly imposing himself on the game, played a long diagonalpass and the Frenchman just about held his line to collect the balland cut inside Emmanuel Eboue, who was evaded too easily, it seemed.From 18 yards out Malouda, with a low and powerful shot, beatFabianski, who had failed to cover his near post.The Arsenal underbelly was further exposed when, inside their area,Malouda hounded Abou Diaby out of possession and Nicolas Anelka struckthe post. Essien knockedRobin van Persie off the ball with the force of a charging rhinocerosand power began to tell. A lovely exchange between Lampard and Drogbaended with Lampard volleying close, though Walcott’s speed andenterprise meant Chelsea could never relax.Wenger was unhappy about the playing surface but Hiddink cannot waitto walk on the green grass of Wembley again for one last time in theservice of Chelsea.LESS than nine weeks after Guus Hiddink answered the call from hisfriend, the Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, to take control ofChelsea following the dismissal of Luiz Felipe Scolari, he hasdramatically changed the club’s fortunes.The experienced Dutch coach took them into the semi-finals of theChampions League last week, and now, with yesterday’s victory overLondon rivals Arsenal, he has led them into the final of the FA Cup.So emphatic has the turnaround been that the Blues, who are only fourpoints behind Manchester United in the Premier League — albeit havingplayed one more match — are still in contention for the Treble thisseason.Hiddink’s victory denied Arsène Wenger, inset, the Arsenal manager,the chance of appearing in his sixth FA Cup final and his first since2005.Significantly, it was Chelsea’s first FA Cup victory over Arsenal for62 years, and it will be their ninth appearance in the final. Hiddink,who is also the Russia international manager, has remained steadfastin his decision to walk away in the summer — and still has ambitionsof taking them to the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa.But should Chelsea finish the season with one, maybe even two or threetrophies, he could well reconsider his positionCech slips starting to showWould the Petr Cech of two years ago have saved Theo Walcott’sfirst-half effort in yesterday’s semi-final? Before he sustained aserious head injury in a collision with Reading’s Stephen Hunt inOctober 2006, the keeper had conceded just 54 goals in 107 Chelseagames at a miserly rate of 0.51 goals per match. Coincidence or not,his post-injury statistics provide evidence of a shot-stopper indecline. Since conceding twice on his return to action againstLiverpool in January 2007, Cech, inset, has let in 74 goals in 112games at a rate of 0.66 goals per game. Before his injury, the26-year-old Czech keeper carried an air of invincibility as he liftedsuccessive Premier League titles in his first two seasons in England;but over the past 14 months, he has become injury-prone and, as hiscatalogue of costly blunders suggests, accident-prone as well. Hismistakes over the past year include the clanger that sent his countrycrashing out of Euro 2008.----------------------------------------------------------
Telegraph:Chelsea beat Arsenal to reach FA Cup finalIn the build up to the FA Cup semi-final between Chelsea and Arsenal,Didier Drogba had spoken ominously about a return to the imperiousform that made him the most feared striker in the world. This was noempty rhetoric – the Ivorian was back to his distinctive best inscoring the winner here, taking Guus Hiddink's Chelsea to the FA Cupfinal.By Duncan White at WembleyThe winner, coming just six minutes from the end was vintage Drogba.Frank Lampard’s volleyed ball over the top looked harmless enoughuntil Drogba started pounding across the turf. Mikael Silvestre wasshrugged off with ease en route, as the Chelsea striker shifted theball around the on-rushing Lukasz Fabianski with his right foot beforesteering it into the empty net with his left.Wenger had adapted his team selection to try and prevent the Chelseamidfield triumvirate of Lampard-Essien-Ballack from dominating themiddle of the park.Ballack looking forward to Wembley From the side that had so elegantlydismissed Villarreal, the Frenchman made two changes, dropping AlexSong and Samir Nasri to the bench and playing Denilson and Abou Diabyalongside Casc Fabregas in the centre of midfield, with Robin vanPersie moving out to the left flank. It was a valiant effort from theArsenal manager - the two sides were evenly matched for much of thisgame - but there is no tactic for taming Drogba in full flight.Just as the game had begun to settle, Arsenal took the lead. Gettinglittle change out of Alex and John Terry through the middle EmmanuelAdebayor pulled out to the left. Kieran Gibbs took advantage ofNicolas Anelka’s defensive inattention to nip down to the by-linewhere Adebayor passed him the ball.The 19-year-old left-back crossed to the far post where Theo Walcotthad been left in loads of room by Ashley Cole. To cap Cole’sembarrassment Walcott’s soft volley hit his hand and the subsequentdeflection was enough to fool Petr Cech in the Chelsea goal.Until then, it had been Chelsea who had come closest to scoring.Lukasz Fabianski, continuing to deputise for the injured ManuelAlmunia, had made begun the game in a nervous state, practicallyhanding Chelsea the lead when he came hurtling out of his box to tryand deal with Terry’s speculative chip.Misjudging the bounce, Fabianski froze and Didier Drogba headed theball towards the open goal – the alert Gibbs sprinted back and hookedthe ball to safety. Gibbs played impressively and his maturity willnot have gone unnoticed by the watching Fabio Capello.The Polish goalkeeper did not look any more settled even after Arsenalhad taken the lead, letting a Malouda cross-shot rifle under his bodyand only just wide of the far post. So it was unsurprising that he wasin part culpable for Chelsea’s equaliser.Lampard hit a superb crossfield ball to Malouda who had the ball inthe net with three touches – trap, shift and shot. Emmanuel Eboue wastoo easily evaded but even so, Fabianski should not have been soeasily beaten at his near post.The Frenchman has been in good form after struggling for much of theseason and he evidently likes the ground, having scored a memorablegoal on debut here in the 2007 Charity Shield.Having levelled matters, Chelsea were ascendant. Anelka hit the postwith a whipped shot with Abou Diaby vainly appealing for a foul aftergiving the ball away on the edge of the box. Hiddink’s side were doingtheir best to intimidate Arsenal’s youthful team - Branislav Ivanovicand Michael Ballack were both cautioned for hefty sliding challenges,the first on Van Persie, the second on Fabregas.There was improvement form Arsenal after the break and Wenger’s side’sfortunes seemed directly correlate with how often Walcott got on theball. The England winger has been excellent since his return from hislatest injury and enjoyed a compelling duel with Cole all game.Just before the hour his curving cross was just too far ahead of VanPersie for the Dutchman to convert and five minutes later his crossedforced Alex into an acrobatic overhead clearance.Chelsea punched back, a slick passing move – a rarity on this poorWembley surface – culminated in Lampard volleying a Drogba cross wide.Then Arsenal were fortunate not to concede a penalty after MikaelSilvestre handled in the box while challenging Drogba for the ball.Referee Martin Atkinson was certainly in lenient mood – Denilson,frustrated at having a foul awarded against him, should have been sentoff for pushing the referee. Atkinson merely cautioned him.Extra-time seemed inevitable as both sides grew increasingly cautiousuntil Drogba’s explosive intervention with just six minutes to go.Arsenal tried desperately to rescue the game after that – substituteAndrei Arshavin panicking Cech with some expert deliveries – but theirfirst visit to the new Wembley was to end in disappointment.Arsenal (4-5-1): Fabianski; Eboue, Toure, Silvestre, Gibbs; Walcott,Fabregas, Denilson, Diaby, Van Persie (Arshavin 76); Adebayor(Bendtner 83). Subs: Mannone (g), Nasri, Vela, Ramsey, Song. Booked:Denilson.Chelsea: (4-3-2-1): Cech; Ivanovic, Alex, Terry, A Cole; Ballack,Essien, Lampard; Anelka (Kalou 82), Malouda; Drogba. Subs: Hilario(g), Carvalho, Di Santo, Mikel, Belletti, Mancienne. Booked: Ivanovic,Ballack.Referee: M AtkinsonCHELSEAPetr Cech 5Patently not the impassable presence he once was. Even with Cole'sdeflection for the Arsenal opener, Walcott's shot looked to be eludinghim.Branislav Ivanovic 5Guilty of a clattering, clumsy challenge on Van Persie, and ditheredas Adebayor put Gibbs through in build-up to Arsenal goal. Booked.Alex 6Shepherded Adebayor well. Even tried to push his luck up front with a(fairly useless) 40-yard daisy-cutter.John Terry 7Fell awkwardly after an aerial challenge with Silvestre but hisunderstanding with Alex ensured Arsenal could not mount a latecomeback.Ashley Cole 6Weathered merciless vitriol from Arsenal fans and was effective in hissquirming running on left. Provided unfortunate deflection for Arsenalgoal.Michael Ballack 7Arguably Chelsea's most important player, such was the way he limitedFabregas. Guilty of a mistimed challenge from behind on Fabregas.Booked.Frank Lampard 7Beaten by Walcott in opening minutes but then restored himself,producing a splendid crossfield pass to pick out Malouda.Michael Essien 6A frustrating afternoon for the Ghanaian, as he was repeatedly nudgedoff the ball, but partnership with Lampard in central midfield stoodstrong.Florent Malouda 7Gave lie to image as a passenger in Chelsea team. Drilled shot fromleft sneaked under Fabianski, then he showed poise to control anddispatch Lampard's cross.Nicolas Anelka 6Could have done better defensively, but he outmuscled Diaby to hit thepost with Fabianski beaten.Didier Drogba 7Muscular in his running throughout, he was relatively anonymous untilthe 84th minute, when he showed all his power to round Fabianski forthe winner. 7Manager: Guus Hiddink 7His major accomplishment was to plug the leaks for Chelsea, afterseven goals conceded in two games. Drogba continued his revival, whileBallack snuffed out Fabregas' influence.------------------------------------------------------------Independent:Drogba leaves it late but gives Chelsea final sayArsenal 1 Chelsea 2: Fabianski's failures leave Arsenal high and dryBy Steve Tongue at WembleyLightning, and Didier Drogba, struck twice here as Chelsea repeatedtheir victory from behind over Arsenal in the Carling Cup final of twoyears ago. Once again the excellent Theo Walcott scored the openinggoal, only for his club's Nemesis to defeat them in the last 10minutes. It was the Ivorian's eighth goal in nine games againstArsenal, climaxing another of his outstanding performances under GuusHiddink, who has found the means of motivating him denied to some ofhis predecessors.It is easily forgotten amid all the talk of Manchester Unitedquadruples and quintuples that Chelsea can still achieve a notabletreble. They will now meet United or Everton when this year's FA Cupfinal comes around on 30 May; a possible repeat of the disappointingfinal of two years ago, three days after what could conceivably be aChelsea-United climax to the Champions' League.Arsenal can have few complaints, Arsène Wenger's moans being confinedto fatigue, which afflicted both sides equally, and the pitch, ofwhich the same could be said even if he felt his side's passing gamewas affected more than Chelsea's approach. "Building a stadium withthat kind of money and having no pitch is laughable," he said. "It'snot flat." As long as Wembley has to be paid for with lucrative rockconcerts – several of which are planned this summer – the problem willremain.Not that Hiddink felt there was anything wrong with the surface.Speaking from a position of strength and victory, he said: "The pitchwas good. I think it was a highly deserved victory. We started alittle bit sloppy but after the one-nil we got hold of the midfield."That was achieved by dropping Michael Ballack deeper and freeingMichael Essien to rampage further forward with Frank Lampard, who madeboth goals. Arsenal's midfield, with Abou Diaby's physical presencepreferred to the subtlety of Samir Nasri or Andrey Arshavin, waseventually outplayed. Chelsea admittedly benefited by some poorgoalkeeping, which they nevertheless exploited by raining in twice asmany shots after being pushed back at the start of each half.Arsenal had no fewer than four defenders unavailable, as well –crucially – as their first-choice goalkeeper Manuel Almunia. Theteenaged left-back Kieran Gibbs was, however, passed fit, for whichthey would soon have reason to be grateful.In only the fourth minute Lukasz Fabianski completely misjudged a puntdown the middle and Drogba's header would have gone in had the alertGibbs not raced back, risking an injury from the post as he justmanaged to divert the ball wide of it. After that Arsenal settled, andwere playing the more composed football when they took the lead in the17th minute. Emmanuel Adebayor, moving to the left, played Gibbs intowards the byline for a pull-back that Walcott met with his weakerleft foot. A touch off Ashley Cole's hand may have hampered Petr Cechbut the goalkeeper still appeared to go down too quickly and wasbeaten.The wake-up call that often seems necessary for Chelsea did the trickagain. They improved and there was a warning for Arsenal whenFabianski dived over a low cross-shot from Florent Malouda thatskimmed the far post. Just after the half-hour the Frenchman receiveda diagonal pass from Lampard and sensibly decided to test thegoalkeeper again, cutting inside and beating him at the near post:shades of Bob Wilson at Wembley against Steve Heighway in the 1971 Cupfinal.Before half-time Nicolas Anelka, as committed as Drogba, won the ballback and struck the far post with a fine left-footed shot. ThreeArsenal substitutes were warming up from the start of the second half,with a touchline view as Robin van Persie just failed to reachWalcott's tempting cross and Drogba screamed with some justificationfor a penalty when Mikaël Silvestre held him and handled in the samemovement.It was high time for Arshavin, who replaced Van Persie, but before hecould do anything to influence the game, Chelsea were back in theascendant, and seven minutes from extra-time they scored. Lampard wasonce more the provider, another accurate long pass tempting Fabianskifrom his goal, too slowly again to prevent Drogba reaching it first,slipping round him and calmly placing the ball into an empty net.Arshavin's late effort was deflected to safety by the solid Alex andChelsea were through, allowing Hiddink to dream of a potentiallywonderful last week in charge of the club; which is what he continuesto insist the final week of May will be.Attendance: 88,103Referee: Martin AtkinsonMan of the match: DrogbaMatch rating: 7/10Man for man: ChelseaPetr Cech 6/10Had looked surprisingly vulnerable in recent matches, but wasunfortunate when Cole's hand deflected Walcott's shot for the Arsenalgoal. Otherwise, not a busy day as Arsenal could not get close enoughto his goal to test susceptibility until the final minutes.Branislav Ivanovic 7/10A better performance than of late from the right-back but Arsenaloffered little consistent threat from their left flank. Comfortable ashis side began to dominate.Alex 7/10Preferred to Ricardo Carvalho as Terry's partner at centre-back,shored up a defence that has seemed untypically nervous in the pastfew weeks. Kept it simple.John Terry 7/10Forceful in defence, gradually got on top of some none-too-testingArsenal movement and, like his partner, took the straightforward routewhen clearing. Simply too strong for the opposition.Ashley Cole 7/10Against his former and, he once felt, miserly employers, the full-backhad the better of an interesting battle with Arsenal's right- wingerWalcott, but deflected in the latter's shot for the Arsenal goal. Yetthereafter he got on top of the England winger.Michael Essien 7/10The mighty holding midfielder gradually got to grips with the Gunners'midfield and broke up most incursions into the Blues' danger areas,and in the second half gradually began to join Chelsea attacks.Frank Lampard 8/10Long ball played up to Malouda, which set up the Chelsea equaliser,changed the flow of the first half and, indeed, the match. Thenanother long ball later in the match sent Drogba away for Chelsea'ssecond goal. Might have had a goal himself as well.Michael Ballack 7/10Combative in finding time and space and combined well with Lampard andEssien to give Chelsea the platform to push on to victory. In midfieldit did indeed slowly start to look like men against boys.Nicolas Anelka 6/10Although at times looking ill at ease on the right, he was still asimmering threat but did not do enough to force himself into thematch. Also at fault for Arsenal's goal.Didier Drogba 8/10Unlucky not to score in the first half, proved a handful for Touré andSilvestre with his strength, power and no little courage and dulyreaped his reward, rounding Fabianski for Chelsea's well-taken secondgoal near the end.Florent Malouda 7/10Suddenly realised his defender was not wholly focused on defendingwhen collecting Lampard's long ball out of defence to turn past Ebouéand beat a poorly positioned Fabianski.Substitutes:Salomon Kalou on for Anelka with just eight minutes to go.-------------------------------------------------------Observer:Drogba scores late to put Chelsea into FA Cup finalArsenal 1 Walcott 18Chelsea 2 Malouda 33, Drogba 84Paul Wilson at WembleyArsenal's supposed resurgencewas put into perspective when they werefaced down by more determined opponents and clobbered by a late DidierDrogba strike that took Chelsea to the FA Cup final. This was thefirst time in over 60 years that Chelsea had prevailed against Arsenalin the Cup, but the losers only had themselves to blame, and not justfor passing up the chance to sign Drogba for £100,000 when he playedfor Le Mans. "He's a winner, he never stops," Arsène Wenger admitted.About as streetwise as the royal family and far too fair-minded fortheir own good, Arsenal failed to take advantage of the nervousness ofPetr Cech, hardly testing him with a shot or a cross and never puttinghim under any pressure. Bolton showed them the way last Saturday, andArsenal must have seen Liverpool turn the goalkeeper to jelly in theChampions League, yet Wenger's side remained aloof and paid the price.Perhaps Wenger would never stoop to copying Bolton tactics, thoughironically nervousness on the part of their own goalkeeper had a majorbearing on the result. Lukasz Fabianski was at fault for both Chelseagoals."We will have to lift his confidence, he will feel guilty," Wengersaid. Chelsea's confidence, now they do not have to play Bolton again,currently knows no bounds. "We always take this competition seriouslyand I think you saw that," Frank Lampard, the man of the match, said."As long as we don't get ahead of ourselves, we could have asuccessful end to the season."Cech was given the nod, Guus Hiddink having more faith in his No1'sshattered confidence than belief in Henrique Hilario, though Fabianskiwas the first goalkeeper in the spotlight. Out of his area after threeminutes, Fabianski was beaten to a header by Drogba and Kieran Gibbshad to use his pace to prevent the ball rolling into the goal.Fabianski was in action again when Arsenal gave the ball away inmidfield and Michael Ballack sent Drogba racing towards goal, thoughtextbook cover work by Kolo Touré meant his eventual shot did notcontain much of a sting.Cech had not had a save of note to make by this stage, and retrievingthe ball from the back of the net before joining the game will havedone little to settle his nerves. He probably would not have had muchchance from Theo Walcott's crisp left-foot volley anyway, even had theball not taken a deflection off Ashley Cole's hand, though dashingacross goal and having to attempt a handbrake turn when Gibbs' neatcross was sent back in the direction from which it came was anothermadcap moment in a hectic week. It was the eighth time Cech had beenbeaten in as many days, and several of the goals were highlypreventable.When Cech made his first save it was an easy one, Robin van Persiefluffing a decent opportunity from Abou Diaby's run after FlorentMalouda had gone close at the other end with a cross that went throughFabianski and rolled across the goal. If that was a warning to Arsenalto keep their eye on the French winger, they ignored it. While therewas nothing they could do about Lampard's superb 45-yard pass to setup the equaliser, there was too much time for Malouda to pluck theball from the sky, turn inside Emmanuel Eboué and tuck a right-footshot past Fabianski. The goalkeeper could not have been expecting thefull-back to be turned so easily. Even so he should have covered hisnear post better.The game was more open than anticipated – perhaps a side effect ofbeing overshadowed by the Champions League is a carefree attitudetowards the Cup – and Chelsea were unlucky not to take the lead fiveminutes later when Nicolas Anelka bundled Diaby off the ball in hisown area and struck a shot on the turn that rebounded from the foot ofthe post. Motivated against his first English club, Anelka did thesame thing to Denílson at the end of the first half. Only a cornercame, but having come from behind Chelsea ended the half doing most ofthe attacking.That pattern continued in the second half, despite Emmanuel Adebayorthreatening the corner flag with the first chance after the break.Arsenal were finding Chelsea difficult to break down and were unableto impose their preferred tempo on the game. One buccaneering run byTouré was stopped by John Terry but otherwise it was Chelsea,building slowly and breaking quickly, who gradually began to dictate.When Anelka headed over from Ballack's cross he should have left itfor a better-placed colleague, though it was significant that Chelseahad players queuing up for the ball. By the midway point in the secondhalf Chelsea were being positively wasteful with their chances.Adebayor was ploughing a lonely furrow at the other end, yet stillWenger waited until the 75th minute to send on Andrey Arshavin. Andstill Cech was allowed to enjoy an unruffled evening. Arsenal hadtaken off Adebayor by the time Drogba scored the winner, running on toanother sumptuous pass from Lampard and having no difficulty inout-muscling Mikaël Silvestre and rounding Fabianski, to score with aconfident shot from a narrow angle. "It's nothing personal," Drogbasaid of his eighth goal in nine matches against Arsenal. Arsenal werenever going to come back from it despite a late effort from Arshavinthat Alex managed to block.--------------------------------------------------------Mail:Arsenal 1 Chelsea 2: Didier the top Drog as he books final dateDidier Drogba, the man whose form has been transformed mostspectacularly by Hiddink's arrival, delivered again by scoring thelate goal that ensured Chelsea's continued supremacy over Arsenal. Itwas his eighth in nine games against the London rivals and his taskwas made easier by birthday-boy Lukasz Fabianski, who endured awretched afternoon in goal.Drogba has seen off a succession of Arsenal centre-halves in recentyears, his previous victims including Philippe Senderos, WilliamGallas and Kolo Toure.But yesterday it was Mikael Silvestre who was outmuscled andoutsprinted by the formidable Ivorian when Frank Lampard delivered ahooked long pass for his team-mate to chase just six minutes fromtime.Drogba bullied and barged his way past the former Manchester Uniteddefender and the striker's task was made all too easy as Fabianskiraced out of goal unnecessarily. He never seemed likely to be beat theadvancing Chelsea forward to the ball and Drogba duly rounded him andstruck decisively into the net before galloping bare-chested towardsthe adoring Chelsea fans.'It's nothing personal against Arsenal,' said Drogba, while laudingthe pass Lampard provided for the winning goal.'He's done it again against us because he's a winner and he scores inbig games,' said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who had the chance tosign a young, raw Drogba for just £100,000 10 years ago when he playedfor Le Mans.'It's amazing that every week, every game he delivers,' said Hiddink.'Of course the team are delivering for him, but he's on the end ofwhat they produce.'For Arsenal it was hard to take but they paid the price for excessivecaution. Wenger started with Abou Diaby instead of the impish AndreyArshavin, justifiably citing Chelsea's strength at set-pieces andphysicality as the reason. Yet as his key men Robin van Persie, CescFabregas and Emmanuel Adebayor tired, he only introduced Arshavin on75 minutes and Samir Nasri on 86 minutes.Wenger suspected extra-time was looming, which was why he delayed hischanges for, in truth, this was a match short on the excitement of themidweek Champions League ties. Indeed, it was a game principallycharacterised by poor goalkeeping.Fabianski, celebrating his 24th birthday, is but a novice and remindedhis team-mates of the fact with a string of misjudgments. His firstcame after four minutes, when he rushed out and was beaten by Drogba,only for the excellent Kieran Gibbs to clear off the line. It set thestandard for a woeful afternoon.Had Petr Cech been similarly tested he, too, might have buckled, forhe had conceded seven goals in his previous two games. And when TheoWalcott aimed a shot at him on 18 minutes, Cech failed the test.Emmanuel Adebayor had released Gibbs with a delightfully timed passand the young left-back pulled the ball back for Walcott. Hissidefooted shot brushed Ashley Cole's hand but should have presentedno special problems for Cech, who was slow to react and only helpedthe ball into the net and Arsenal into the lead.Yet there was little sense of permanence about the advantage. Minuteslater Fabianski misjudged a shot from Florent Malouda and though onthis occasion it continued harmlessly wide, Chelsea would come again.Lampard was the instigator, with a superb lifted ball from deepmidfield which landed at the feet of Malouda, who turned insideEmmanuel Eboue and shot hard from the edge of the box to beat divingFabianski at his near post. Chelsea slowly began to assert theirphysical presence and Denilson and Cesc Fabregas were dwarfed by theoverpowering trio of Lampard, Michael Essien and Michael Ballack.Arsenal enjoyed a brief renaissance on the hour when Diaby bundled hisway downfield and released Walcott, whose cross fell agonisingly shortof the outstretched Van Persie. Then Fabregas's delightful backheel on66 minutes again freed a racing Walcott down the right and his crossdropped just short of Diaby. Chelsea merely bided their time.They might have had a secondhalf penalty when Silvestre appeared tohandle. Anelka - who had earlier hit a post - headed over from aBallack cross on 67 minutes and on 69 minutes Lampard struck low, hardbut just wide from Drogba's pull-back.For all their attacking bravado, Hiddink's teams have a relentlessquality, too. While Arsenal tired and ran short of imagination,Chelsea simply ground onwards, never abandoning their task until thoseperennial heroes, Lampard and Drogba, finally fashioned the victory.--------------------------------------------------------NOTW:ARSENAL 1, CHELSEA 2Didier Drogba's back on formFrom ANDY DUNN at Wembley, 18/04/2009ONCE upon a time not so long ago, two very distinct schools of thoughtexisted when it came to Didier Drogba.One school hated him, the other simply disliked him.He was the muscular embodiment of the plagues brought to these shoresby foreign players.He collapsed quicker than the pound in a credit crunch, feigned injurylike a child looking for sympathy.Click here for more great pictures from Arsenal v ChelseaClick here for Rob Shepherd's verdict on a troubled goalkeeperGuus Hiddink plans sparkling farewell - click here for the full storyAnd he whinged. Boy, did he whinge. He made Nicolas Anelka look likeLittle Mr Sunshine.Pilloried by even his own fans earlier in the season, ridiculednationwide, a symbol of all that was wrong with pre-Guus Chelsea.Luiz Felipe Scolari wanted to make an example of him, Chelsea wereprepared to bank the first decent cheque that came their way for him.But redemption for Drogba followed a pace behind Hiddink into theStamford Bridge dressing room.And when he slid towards the hoardings, ripped off his jersey, kissedit and crossed his torso, that redemption was complete.Drogba's journey has been a simple one. From folk hero to phoney andback to folk hero.His swashbuckling displays against Liverpool carried Chelsea to aChampions League semi-final with Barcelona . . . now his opportunismand dynamism have opened the way to an FA Cup final meeting withManchester United or Everton.His late strike clinched triumph for Chelsea after Florent Malouda hadcancelled out Theo Walcott's early volley. And in the scorer of thefirst goal and the scorer of the final goal of a beautiful evening,you have the contrast that sums up this game.Walcott - 20 years of age, reed-thin and rose-petal delicate.Drogba - 31 years of age, ebony-tough and bursting with Ivory power.Arsene Wenger believes the former can already compete with the latter.He is wrong. Sure, in the same fashion as many of Wenger's youthfulprojects, Walcott is developing. Witness his goal. Not spectacular butsymptomatic of his creeping progress.Emmanuel Adebayor surprised everyone with a simple pass, Kieran Gibbscrossed cutely and Walcott's well of confidence was brimming fullenough to try a first-time left-foot volley.A couple of years ago, first time and left foot were concepts as aliento Walcott as shaving and voting.His effort was not struck with shoelace sweetness but it still hadenough forward momentum to brush Ashley Cole's hand and find a waypast Petr Cech's palm.Not that it takes a shot of unerring accuracy or gun-barrel velocityto elude Cech nowadays. However, the hapless helmet could at leasttake comfort and confidence from watching his opposite number.For a while there has been a growing consensus that Fabianski willsoon change the debate from whether Manuel Almunia should play forEngland to whether Manuel Almunia should play for Arsenal.And if you still think that, you've been on the same birthday juice asFabianski. He set the tone before Walcott's opener - the Pole so farnorth that Drogba was able to loop a header goalwards from expeditiondistance.Gibbs spared his blushes but was unable to help in the closing stageswhen Frank Lampard hoisted hopefully and Drogba flicked MikaelSilvestre aside as though the French defender was a spent Gauloises.Fabianski was on another mad charge, bypassing Drogba in a bizarreblur and the Chelsea striker rolled the winner into an unguarded net.At least Fabianski should not shoulder all the blame for Malouda'sfirst-half equaliser. Merely a generous portion of it.Emmanuel Eboue's idea of marking is to be within javelin distance ofhis man and it was hardly a chore for Malouda to pull a Lampard passfrom the sky and turn inside the right-back.Even so, Fabianski left a gap the width of Wembley's arch for Maloudato drag in the leveller.Lampard's contribution, by the way, was much more than a couple ofassists and, with every imperious late-season display, he makes amockery of PFA voting deadlines.Hiddink can take no credit for his form but the coach must beapplauded for his impact. And Malouda might well turn out to be one ofhis most persuasive adverts. He actually looks interested under theDutchman.Ditto Anelka, who stepped in when Abou Diaby bizarrely tried to slalomhis way out of his own area and curled a post-kisser with his leftfoot.Yet it seemed increasingly likely it would take the special or thesilly to prevent the tie heading towards dusk. The special nearlyarrived with a Lampard volley that fizzed wide and the silly almostfollowed when Silvestre flipped the ball away with his hand.Arsenal's discipline seemed to be disintegrating when Denilsonappeared to lay his hands on the referee after a booking. TheBrazilian was a lucky lad to last the distance.Which is more than Adebayor and Robin van Persie did. With those pairhooked, Chelsea always looked the likeliest. Fabianski's rush of bloodand Drogba's ice-cool blood made sure they did.Quite simply, big-game quality told. And none had it more thanChelsea's immense centre-forward.Ten years ago, Wenger refused to pay £100,000 for Drogba.This morning, the Ivorian is back to what he once was and alwaysshould be for Chelsea . . . priceless.
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