Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti created history as Didier Drogba’s second-half winner sank Portsmouth and sealed the London club’s first Premier League and FA Cup double.
Drogba’s precise free-kick just before the hour mark was the decisive moment of an incident-packed FA Cup final in which Chelsea hit the woodwork five times in the first half and both sides also missed from the penalty spot.
Chelsea - who become only the seventh club to win the coveted domestic Double - were again grateful to the prolific Drogba, who kept up his remarkable record of scoring in each of his six games at Wembley with his 37th goal of the season.
He scored only minutes after Pompey’s Kevin-Prince Boateng saw his half-hit penalty saved by Chelsea keeper Petr Cech - and in that moment Pompey’s chances of repeating their victory of two years ago effectively disappeared.
Chelsea were even able to survive a rare penalty miss by Frank Lampard in the closing minutes when he shot wide from the spot after he had been brought down by Michael Brown.
The margin of victory belied Chelsea’s superiority, especially in a remarkable first half when Lampard, John Terry, Salomon Kalou and Drogba, on two occasions, all struck the frame of the goal.
It is a victory that caps a remarkable campaign for Ancelotti - and there was a personal honour for defender Ashley Cole, who became the most decorated player in FA Cup history by picking up his sixth winner’s medal.
