Chelsea moved through to an FA Cup final with Liverpool at the expense of Tottenham after controversy at Wembley.

Chelsea moved through to an FA Cup final with Liverpool at the expense of Tottenham after controversy at Wembley.

Didier Drogba put them ahead after turning William Gallas and firing an unstoppable 15-yard left-footed shot. But referee Martin Atkinson awarded a second despite a melee of players blocked Juan Mata's shot on the line. Gareth Bale tapped in after Emmanuel Adebayor was fouled by Petr Cech, but a Ramires chip, Frank Lampard's free-kick and Florent Malouda late on sealed it. Spurs were trailing to Drogba's spectacular strike when the match was turned by a hugely debatable goal in the early stages of the second half.

Mata drilled the ball towards goal but a combination of Ledley King, Benoit Assou-Ekotto and John Terry colliding inside the six-yard box kept the effort out. Referee Atkinson was on the left side of the penalty spot but despite the mass of bodies he chose to award the goal. The injustice inspired Tottenham, and a slick Scott Parker pass freed Adebayor, who was hauled down by Cech inside the area.

Chelsea's goalkeeper might well have been sent off for the challenge but the loose ball broke to Bale and the Tottenham winger slotted it into the net, resulting in no punishment for Cech. The ascendancy was with Spurs but a clinical Chelsea counter saw Ramires ghost through, and he deftly lifted over the advancing Carlo Cudicini.

Lampard's long-range free-kick swerved into the corner of the net past the despairing dive of Cudicini who was chosen ahead of first-choice keeper Brad Friedel, as he had been throughout Tottenham's Cup campaigns this term. The bizarre sequence of events was completed when Malouda punished a tiring King and Gallas in the Tottenham defence to give the scoreline a somewhat unfair reflection of the balance of play

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