London  - Didier Drogba snatched the winner seven minutes from time as Chelsea edged out Arsenal 2-1 at Wembley to reach the FA Cup final.

The striker pounced after Florent Malouda had equalized Theo Walcott's deflected early strike to set up a final against either Manchester United or Everton, who meet on Sunday.

Arsenal left Andrei Arshavin and Samir Nasri on the bench at the start but it mattered little as Walcott put them ahead, with a strike that deflected off Ashley Cole's hand.

That came after 17 minutes and neither side was at their fluent best as chances came and went.

But some poor defending cost Arsene Wenger's side dear on 32 minutes when Malouda beat stand-in goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski at his near post.

Extra time appeared to be inevitable until Frank Lampard found Drogba and the striker took the ball down superbly before rounding Fabianski and slotting the ball home. (dpa)