Drogba delivers double glory for Chelsea

Chelsea FC became the seventh English side to win the double after beating Portsmouth FC 1-0 in the FA Cup final at Wembley.

The English champions could have been out of sight by half-time, but Portsmouth were still on level terms when Petr Čech saved Kevin-Prince Boateng's 56th-minute penalty. Didier Drogba then put Chelsea in front soon after and the team who finished bottom of the Premier League could not force a way back into the contest, with Carlo Ancelotti's men even afforded the luxury of Frank Lampard missing a late spot kick.

An action-packed first half somehow remained goalless despite Chelsea hitting the frame of the goal on no fewer than five occasions. Lampard had already gone close before striking the outside of the post from long range in the 13th minute. Salomon Kalou then placed his shot against the crossbar from all of four metres and John Terry's header hit a similar spot of the woodwork just after.

In between, there was time for Čech to claw away superbly as Frédéric Piquionne redirected Boateng's volley, but it was a rare foray forward and Chelsea soon returned to their run of near misses. Next up was Drogba, whose thunderous free-kick wrong-footed David James, although the England goalkeeper did brilliantly to tip the ball on to the bar. Just before the break, the Côte d'Ivoire striker stabbed against the base of the post from a tight angle as Pompey held on.

Portsmouth started the second period well and were given a golden chance when Aruna Dindane was upended by Juliano Belletti – on for the injured Michael Ballack – in the box. However, Čech denied Boateng with his feet and, three minutes later, Chelsea were in front. Having plundered five goals in his previous six outings at Wembley, it was perhaps no surprise that it was Drogba who broke the deadlock, his precise, low free-kick connecting with the post but striking the right side this time to go in.

Nicolas Anelka, Belletti and Joe Cole all threatened to extend the Blues' advantage and although Dindane spurned two half-chances, it was Chelsea who went closest to scoring again. Ultimately, though, Lampard's penalty miss, after he was fouled by Michael Brown, did not matter and the west London side held on comfortably for their sixth triumph in the competition.