Guus plans sparkling farewell

GUUS HIDDINK last night dared to dream of the perfect farewell to Chelsea after seeing the Blues overpower Arsenal to ensure his last game in charge of the club will be the FA Cup Final.

The Dutchman will walk away from Stamford Bridge on May 31, the day after the 128th showpiece showdown against either Manchester United or Everton.

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And he's got a vision of himself leaving the Venue of Legends with the cup in one hand and a bottle of champagne in the other.

Hiddink grinned: "It is the perfect scenario for me. It could be a beautiful day, win the cup, get a nice bottle of champagne and then on May 31 say, not goodbye because I will be back one day, but farewell for now."

But it could be even better with the final coming just three days after the Champions League final in Rome and a week after the finale of the Premier League.

And, remember amid all this clamour surrounding a United quintuple, Chelsea are on course for a remarkable treble.

So it could be quite a week for Hiddink.

"Yes a whole load of champagnes," he chuckled

In a week when he's seen off first Liverpool in the Champions League and now the Gunners in the FA Cup, he has good reason to feel confident.

Chelsea, after a shaky start, bossed the game and were worthy winners.

Hiddink said: "I thought it was very deserved. It was a bad start but we turned things around to make it 1-1 and that is good.

BLUE JOY - Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba

"And, in the end, we controlled the game and dominated and I always felt the second goal was coming."

It would probably have come in the 69th minute if referee Martin Atkinson had spotted Mikael Silvestre's blatant handball in the box to illegally stop a rampant Didier Drogba.

Man-of-the-match Frank Lampard doesn't usually miss those. Hiddink was certainly convinced it was a spot-kick.

He said: "Yes, it could have been decided earlier. I haven't seen the images but it clearly looked to be hand to ball not the other way around. Maybe the referee didn't see it but the linesman could have helped him out. They have these beautiful mikes but the linesman refused to do so."

Lampard had to be content with two assists - one for Florent Malouda's 32nd-minute equaliser and then, with six minutes to go, he teed up Drogba for the winner.

And afterwards the England midfield star was content enough. He said: "It means so much to the club, players and manager to be in the final.

"We always take this competition very seriously. We had a massive game on Tuesday and that took a lot out of us but we came back strongly today.

WINNING GOAL - Didier Drogba takaes the ball past Arsenal keeper Lukasz Fabianski

"I think we deserved it. We started off slowly and were a bit tired but we got stronger as the game went on, showed a lot of character and, of course, we've always got the big man Didier to finish things off."

Match-winner Drogba loved that. He said: "It's a very important goal for the team and the boss. We want to win a trophy with him and it's a wonderful feeling to score the goal that puts us in the final. The pass from Frank was simply fantastic.

"But this is just a step for us. It's great to be winning games but unless we win a trophy it will be no good for us."

It was Drogba's eighth goal in nine outings againt the Gunners but he says it's nothing personal.

Love

He added: "There's nothing special about me against Arsenal. I love to score goals against any team, not just them. It's my job."

Skipper John Terry was full of praise for the big striker. He said: "He's in great form and long may that form continue. When he plays like that he is as good as any striker in the Premier League or even the world.

"His link-up play is fantastic and he has got a great finish as well. I have played against a lot of strikers and he is definitely up there with the best.

"It's great to be in the final. I would love to get my hands on a trophy again. As for the treble - we'll keep pushing in the Premier League, we never give in.

"We have shown that over the past two years when everyone has ruled us out.

"We're in the FA Cup Final and we have a massive game against Barcelona in a couple of weeks, so things are going well for us."

LEVELLER - Florent Malouda scores to make it 1-1 at Wembley

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger was not so happy. He defended blundering goalkeeper Lucasz Fabianski and launched a blistering attack on the Wembley pitch after the game.

He said of Fabianski: "He is a great keeper who did not have the best of days. We have to rebuild his confidence."

He was less forgiving about the pitch. Wenger fumed: "When you build a stadium and pay all that money, then to have a pitch like that it is laughable. The quality of the pitch is a disaster."

But Hiddink had the last word and rightly so.

He said: "The pitch was OK to play. There are far worse pitches all over Europe."

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