Everton vs Chelsea FA Cup Final

Chelsea took a step closer to their quest of a triple cup haul this season. After Wednesdays 4-4 Champions League draw with Liverpool, Chelsea took on cross town rivals Arsenal in another tough battle. Arsenal took the lead through Theo Walcott, but Florent Malouda scored before half time to leave the teams level. Then in the 86th minute, Didier Drogba scored the winning goal after a huge blunder by Polish international keeper Lukasz Fabianski, the game finished 2-1.

That left Manchester United and Everton to battle for the other final spot. In what was to be one of the most boring games in FA Cup history (no exaggeration!), Everton secured the win after the game went to penalties. It will be Everton's first final appearance since 1995. Tim Howard turned out to be Everton's hero by saving the first 2 penalties, leaving Manchester United needing Everton to miss. That was not to be. One thing to note about the game was team that Alex Ferguson put out to start the game. With Macheda, Wellbeck, Fabio and Rafael Da Silva, Gibson, and Anderson starting, the average age of the United team was just over 22 years old (Ji-Sung Park was the second oldest player on the field at 27). This, of course, does not take away from the fact that Everton deserved to win.

The final will be played on May 30th 2009 at the new Wembley stadium. This will be the 3rd final at the new Wembley since it was rebuilt, and the 128th final of the world's oldest domestic football tournament. Last years final was won by Portsmouth, who beat Championship team Cardiff 1-0.