Chelsea 1 Portsmouth 0:Chelsea completed their first double in the English top flight by retaining the FA Cup with a 1-0 win over Portsmouth at Wembley. The win came courtesy of a second half Didier Drogba free-kick, minutes after Kevin Prince Boateng saw his penalty saved by Petr Cech.
Frank Lampard also missed from the spot with minutes remaining but one was enough for the Premier League champions, who rarely looked troubled.
Cech's penalty save was as much to do with Boateng's poor effort, but his reaction when parrying Frederic Piquionne's point-blank strike in the first half was inspirational.
At the other end, David James was by far the busier and had the woodwork to thank on no less than five occasions before the break.
Chelsea captain John Terry hailed a “special” feeling on the pitch afterwards.
Terry told ITV1: "It's unbelievable. It's never been done in the club's history and to do it with this group of players feels so special.
“I thought our luck was out but what a great free-kick from Didier.”
Terry was unimpressed with the infamous Wembley surface though, adding: “The pitch ruined the final. It’s probably the worst pitch we’ve played on all year.”
Cech said he “got lucky” with his first-half penalty save.
“I knew what the choices were and from the body language when he ran towards me I chose that side - but I was lucky to get there,” he said.
Portsmouth midfielder Jamie O’Hara admitted the Pompey players started to believe they could win the game after the way the first half went, but conceded the best team won.
“We rode our luck in the first half - David James pulled off some unbelievable saves - then we had the chance to win the game.
“If the penalty had gone in we could have defended for our lives, but it wasn’t meant to be. Chelsea showed their class in the end.”
Given the financial straightjacket they find themselves in, this was likely to be Pompey’s last major final for quite some time.
The club is in administration and £135 million in debt. They have had nine points deducted, been relegated, and have not paid wages on time on numerous occasions. Throughout the season, players have been sold at a moment’s notice and the squad is likely to dissolve after today.
“It’s going to the last time we all play together, so it’s an emotional day for everyone at the club," added O'Hara. "It would have been great to go out with a big win.”
He added: “They’ll (Portsmouth) be back. They’re a massive club with great fans.”
It could have been a fairytale ending had Piquionne not been denied by Cech, or had Aruna Dindane made clean contact as he tried to turn home the former's cut-back.
By any standards, they were glorious openings which Portsmouth might have had cause to regret were it not for the fact that Chelsea were enduring frustrations of their own at the other end.
Within this flurry of activity came a contender for the best save ever seen in a cup final, and a contender for worst miss.
Chelsea’s victory will save Saloman Kalou extreme ridicule, but he knows his own contribution is going to be replayed so often he will never escape.
Frank Lampard had already flashed a shot against a post and Chelsea were on top when Ashley Cole, the first man to win the famous old trophy six times, drove deep into the Pompey box, completely outpacing Aaron Mokoena.
Fabio Capello would not have been the only one to admire his sublime cross, which completely took David James out of the game and presented Kalou with a four-yard tap-in.
The Chelsea fans were already on their feet, arms aloft in triumph, when Kalou’s side-footed effort soared skywards and thudded against the bar.
For a moment or two, the stadium was completely silent, as if unable to comprehend what they had just witnessed. The eruption of noise from the Portsmouth end confirmed the reality.
Within a couple of minutes John Terry had glided a header against the bar, but that was nothing compared to the free-kick Drogba curled towards the top corner later on.
Somehow, James managed to reach it. His touch was only faint but it was enough to push the ball onto the bar and down, smack bang onto the goal-line.
So, when Drogba fired a low effort against the post four minutes from the break, little wonder the offending upright suffered the backlash.
For once, a half had been completed with no one mentioning the pitch.
An odd colour it might have looked but it was not restricting the entertainment value, which included a penalty 10 minutes after the restart.
Introduced for Michael Ballack, who had been the subject of a vicious first-half tackle from Boateng, Juliano Belletti had not quite got his bearings.
And when Dindane nipped past him, the Brazilian lunged in and sent him sprawling.
After all that had gone before, the entire stadium had the sense this was the moment that would give the underdogs the trophy. Except Boateng had not read the script.
So bad was his effort that Cech, having gone down early, had time to make the readjustment required and boot it clear,
Within three minutes, Drogba converted his magnificent free-kick and the dream was over.
Had Lampard scored when he was bundled over in the box by Michael Brown three minutes from time, Chelsea would have deserved it.