Chelsea will face Liverpool in the FA Cup final after a controversial 5-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley Stadium this evening.
The start of the match was marred by a small section of Chelsea supporters, who disrupted the minute's silence held in honour of the victims of Hillsborough as well as Italian footballer Piermario Morisini.
When the action got underway, Chelsea had the best opening chances as Frank Lampard looped his weak header over the bar.
Drogba then had two chances in quick succession, but the striker flashed his free kick over before scuffing his volley.
Scott Parker's effort was blocked by the onrushing Frank Lampard in the penalty area as Spurs began to get into the game.
Harry Redknapp's side nearly broke the deadlock five minutes before the break, but John Terry managed to clear Rafael van der Vaart's header off the line after good work from Emmanuel Adebayor.
Van der Vaart came close almost instantly when his cross missed everyone to hit the crossbar.
Drogba gave Chelsea the lead two minutes before the break when he shook off the attention of William Gallas to lash the ball in past Carlo Cudicini.
The second half started breathlessly as the Blues extended their lead in controversial circumstances.
Mata's shot loooked to have hit a crowd of bodies in front of the goal after a scramble in the box following a corner. Replays showed that they ball had clearly hit Benoit Assou-Ekotto in front of the line, but referee Martin Atkinson decided to give the goal without consulting his linesman.
Spurs got themselves back into the match soon after when Gareth Bale tapped in after Adebayor had been brought down by Petr Cech.
As both sides attacked, substitute Gary Cahill fired over from a corner, while Ledley King nearly headed into his own net.
However, Chelsea extended their lead in the 77th minute when Ramires was played in by Mata before calmly slotting past Carlo Cudicini.
It was 4-1 with 10 minutes to play as Frank Lampard unleashed an unstoppable free kick into the top corner past the Italian goalkeeper.
The rout was completed in injury time when Florent Malouda's converted from close range.
Jack Prescott
