Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink's hopes of ending his tenure at Stamford Bridge with a trophy received a massive boost on Saturday as his side beat Arsenal 2-1 to book their place in the FA Cup final.

With the pitch leaving much to be desired, both the teams started on a cautious note with Arsenal dominating the possession. However the Gunners looked very shaky at the back with keeper Lukasz Fabianski almost gifted Chelsea a goal as he raced out of the area but was unable to reach the ball in time with Didier Drogba heading the ball toward goal only for youngster Kieran Gibbs to clear it off the line.

Arsenal took the lead against the run of play when Gibbs curled in the ball for Theo Walcott who made no mistake on his volley to put his side in front with 18 minutes gone. Chelsea stepped up their attacks in search of an equalizer and were rewarded 15 minutes later when Florent Malouda trapped a long ball from Frank Lampard before slotting it past Fabianski.

Nicolas Anelka almost grabbed the lead minutes before the half time whistle only to see his shot smash against the post. Chelsea continued to press ahead in the second half but Arsenal put up an improved defensive performance to deny the attacks.

Just when it looked as if the game would go into extra time, Drogba finally got his goal through another long pass from Lampard, comfortably beating Fabianski before passing the ball into an empty net to give his side a deserved victory.