ARSENAL 1, CHELSEA 2

ONCE upon a time not so long ago, two very distinct schools of thought existed when it came to Didier Drogba.

One school hated him, the other simply disliked him.

He was the muscular embodiment of the plagues brought to these shores by foreign players.

He collapsed quicker than the pound in a credit crunch, feigned injury like a child looking for sympathy.

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And he whinged. Boy, did he whinge. He made Nicolas Anelka look like Little Mr Sunshine.

Pilloried by even his own fans earlier in the season, ridiculed nationwide, a symbol of all that was wrong with pre-Guus Chelsea.

Luiz Felipe Scolari wanted to make an example of him, Chelsea were prepared to bank the first decent cheque that came their way for him.

But redemption for Drogba followed a pace behind Hiddink into the Stamford Bridge dressing room.

And when he slid towards the hoardings, ripped off his jersey, kissed it and crossed his torso, that redemption was complete.

Drogba's journey has been a simple one. From folk hero to phoney and back to folk hero.

SCORERS - Didier Drogba and Florent Malouda

His swashbuckling displays against Liverpool carried Chelsea to a Champions League semi-final with Barcelona . . . now his opportunism and dynamism have opened the way to an FA Cup final meeting with Manchester United or Everton.

His late strike clinched triumph for Chelsea after Florent Malouda had cancelled out Theo Walcott's early volley. And in the scorer of the first goal and the scorer of the final goal of a beautiful evening, you have the contrast that sums up this game.

Walcott - 20 years of age, reed-thin and rose-petal delicate.

Drogba - 31 years of age, ebony-tough and bursting with Ivory power.

Arsene Wenger believes the former can already compete with the latter.

He is wrong. Sure, in the same fashion as many of Wenger's youthful projects, Walcott is developing. Witness his goal. Not spectacular but symptomatic of his creeping progress.

Emmanuel Adebayor surprised everyone with a simple pass, Kieran Gibbs crossed cutely and Walcott's well of confidence was brimming full enough to try a first-time left-foot volley.

A couple of years ago, first time and left foot were concepts as alien to Walcott as shaving and voting.

His effort was not struck with shoelace sweetness but it still had enough forward momentum to brush Ashley Cole's hand and find a way past Petr Cech's palm.

Not that it takes a shot of unerring accuracy or gun-barrel velocity to elude Cech nowadays. However, the hapless helmet could at least take comfort and confidence from watching his opposite number.

Lukasz Fabianski. Rarely have the opening three letters of any surname been less appropriate.

CHELSEA KISS - Didier Drogba shares his delight withe the fans

For a while there has been a growing consensus that Fabianski will soon change the debate from whether Manuel Almunia should play for England to whether Manuel Almunia should play for Arsenal.

And if you still think that, you've been on the same birthday juice as Fabianski. He set the tone before Walcott's opener - the Pole so far north that Drogba was able to loop a header goalwards from expedition distance.

Gibbs spared his blushes but was unable to help in the closing stages when Frank Lampard hoisted hopefully and Drogba flicked Mikael Silvestre aside as though the French defender was a spent Gauloises.

Fabianski was on another mad charge, bypassing Drogba in a bizarre blur and the Chelsea striker rolled the winner into an unguarded net.

At least Fabianski should not shoulder all the blame for Malouda's first-half equaliser. Merely a generous portion of it.

Emmanuel Eboue's idea of marking is to be within javelin distance of his man and it was hardly a chore for Malouda to pull a Lampard pass from the sky and turn inside the right-back.

Even so, Fabianski left a gap the width of Wembley's arch for Malouda to drag in the leveller.

Lampard's contribution, by the way, was much more than a couple of assists and, with every imperious late-season display, he makes a mockery of PFA voting deadlines.

EARLY GOAL - Theo Walcott and Abou Diaby

Hiddink can take no credit for his form but the coach must be applauded for his impact. And Malouda might well turn out to be one of his most persuasive adverts. He actually looks interested under the Dutchman.

Ditto Anelka, who stepped in when Abou Diaby bizarrely tried to slalom his way out of his own area and curled a post-kisser with his left foot.

Yet it seemed increasingly likely it would take the special or the silly to prevent the tie heading towards dusk. The special nearly arrived with a Lampard volley that fizzed wide and the silly almost followed when Silvestre flipped the ball away with his hand.

Arsenal's discipline seemed to be disintegrating when Denilson appeared to lay his hands on the referee after a booking. The Brazilian was a lucky lad to last the distance.

Which is more than Adebayor and Robin van Persie did. With those pair hooked, Chelsea always looked the likeliest. Fabianski's rush of blood and Drogba's ice-cool blood made sure they did.

Quite simply, big-game quality told. And none had it more than Chelsea's immense centre-forward.

Ten years ago, Wenger refused to pay £100,000 for Drogba.

This morning, the Ivorian is back to what he once was and always should be for Chelsea . . . priceless.

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