CHELSEA 1 MANCHESTER UNITED 0 (AET)

Chelsea became the first FA Cup winners at the new Wembley Stadium as Didier Drogba ended Manchester United's hopes of claiming the double in the final four minutes of extra-time.

The African striker settled a game that had looked certain to go to penalties after 126 minutes of football that had failed to match a memorable occasion.

With time running out, Drogba played a neat one-two with Frank Lampard and lofted a brave finish over the advancing Edwin Van Der Sar to ensure that Jose Mourinho ended his third season in English football with two trophies in the bag.

Drogba's strike was cruel on a Manchester United side who had arguably shaded the majority of a largely forgettable match.

But it ensured that after winning the final cup final played at the old Wembley, Chelsea would create history by winning the first one at the new home of English football.

Neither side threatened during a mind-numbing first half that failed to live up to its billing.

But things improved gradually after the interval, with Manchester United in particular carrying much more of an attacking threat.

Ryan Giggs came close in the 57th minute, ghosting onto Paul Scholes' floated cross and drilling a first-time volley narrowly over the crossbar.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney also tested Petr Cech with second-half shots from distance but, at the other end, it was Drogba who went closest to breaking the deadlock in normal time.

The Ivory Coast international caught Van der Sar unawares with a curled free-kick, but his 20-yard effort rebounded to safety off the base of the right-hand post.

Extra-time produced much of the same inertia, although Giggs forced Cech into a scrambling save as he slid in to connect with Rooney's cross across the face of the six-yard box.

But just as a penalty shoot-out looked all but certain, Drogba cemented his status as the season's foremost striker with a clinical close-range strike.