Chelsea wins English FA Cup

Chelsea Coach Jose Mourinho finally got his hands on the English FA Cup trophy and didn’t want to let go.

Didier Drogba scored during extra time Saturday to give Chelsea a 1-0 victory over Manchester United in the first FA Cup final at rebuilt Wembley Stadium.

The crowd of 89,826 was the largest at an FA Cup final in 19 years. It was the third consecutive final to go to extra time.

The teams had played to a scoreless tie in regulation and were four minutes from a penalty-kicks shootout before Drogba exchanged passes with Frank Lampard and shot past goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar.

Chelsea now has four cup titles and joins Arsenal (1993) and Liverpool (2001) in becoming the third club to win two cup titles in the same season. Chelsea earlier won the league cup.

Mourinho was the last to go up the 107 steps to collect the famous trophy after the first final at Wembley in seven years.

He received a bigger cheer from the Blues fans than his players did when it was his turn. Then Mourinho ran down the steps -- trophy in hand -- and back to the field for more celebrations

“It means a lot. The FA Cup, it’s the first time for me,” Mourinho said. “We have won every title in English football in my three years in the club, and it’s something that the players deserve so much because of the season they’ve had.”

For only the third time in FA Cup history, the Premier League champion (Manchester United) and runner-up (Chelsea) met in the final. With the players so familiar with one another, the first half resembled a game of chess, punctuated with fierce tackling.

The lone goal came in the 116th minute when Drogba took a pass from John Obi Mikel and then swapped passes with Lampard inside the penalty area. When the ball came back, Drogba had only the advancing goalkeeper to beat, and he flicked a shot inside the post.