Drogba wins FA Cup for Chelsea over Manchester United (Roundup)

By Ben James May 19, 2007, 18:19 GMT

London - Didier Drogba was the hero as Chelsea edged out Manchester United 1-0 after extra time to win the FA Cup for the fourth time in their history.

After 115 minutes of the first FA Cup final at the new Wembley Stadium, Drogba played a neat one-two with Frank Lampard and lifted the ball over Edwin van der Sar to send Chelsea fans wild.

The win gave Chelsea a cup double after their Carling Cup win earlier in the season, while United were denied a double of their own, having pipped the London side for the Premiership crown.

'It means a lot,' Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho said.

'It is the FA Cup, the first time for me. We've won every title in English football in our three years together and the players deserved it so much because of the difficult season they've had and how hard they worked.

'I think the team played very very well and understood exactly the plan we had at the start.'

The goal that won it five minutes from time was the only real moment of quality in a largely disappointing final.

Cristian Ronaldo, the player of the season, was a peripheral figure as Chelsea clogged the midfield and tried to stop United's flair players from performing.

Little of note happened in the first half, but Petr Cech saved well from Wayne Rooney, United's best player on the day, and Ryan Giggs volleyed over the bar.

The Welshman also squandered probably the best chance for United as he slid in to connect with a Rooney cross but shot straight at Cech.

Giggs's momentum took him into the goalkeeper and United appealed for a goal as the ball looked over the line but referee Steve Bennett waved them away.

In extra time, Chelsea began to look the side more likely and Drogba finished off a neat move to give the Blues' victory.

'I feel great,' Didier Drogba said. 'If we had not have won this cup, we'd have been very upset. A lot of players have been criticised but this is my team.'

'I am happy to score the first goal in this stadium. I don't know what to say, it's great.'

Chelsea captain John Terry said the win was compensation for missing out on a third straight Premiership title.

'This makes up for it,' he said. 'It's not nice losing - but nice coming here. It's absolutely unbelievable. It's one of the best feelings I have ever experienced.

'The way we hung right on to the death. The way Didier took his goal. It was first class. We both started tentative, gave the ball away and make mistakes. But we kept going and going - and it paid off.'