Chelsea won a dramatic FA Cup final as they beat Liverpool 2-1 at Wembley.

Ramires fired Chelsea into an early lead and Didier Drogba doubled their advantage just minutes into the second-half, in so doing became the first player ever to score in four different finals.

The game then changed on the hour when Andy Carroll came on and he scored soon after to cut the arrears in half.

With minutes left Carroll thought he had headed an equaliser but Petr Cech clawed the ball off the line to rescue Chelsea, who managed to hang on and claim their third FA Cup in four years.

There was no hint of the drama to follow when Ramires became the first Brazilian to score in this most prestigious of showpiece occasions.

Juan Mata slipped a pass beyond Jose Enrique, the Liverpool full-back failed to recover his ground, allowing Ramires to bear down on the Reds goal.

Jose Reina then chose incorrectly, diving to his right, allowing the ball to

beat him rather embarrassingly at the near post.

Having fallen behind in both the semi-final against Everton and to Cardiff in the Carling Cup final earlier in the season, Liverpool had no need to fret.

Concern

What would probably have concerned manager Kenny Dalglish rather more was the way his team were outgunned in midfield.

It was not until the half-hour, when Steven Gerrard started to get in advanced areas, that the Merseyside outfit began to exert any influence on the game.

By that time Drogba, Frank Lampard and Salomon Kalou had all wasted half-chances.

Branislav Ivanovic, like Ramires banned from the Champions League final in

Munich on May 19, had done well to block a snap-shot from Craig Bellamy early on.

That was Liverpool's only opportunity though, until Suarez rose on the edge of the six-yard box only to nod Jordan Henderson's knock-back wide.

Unfortunately for Dalglish's team, their momentum was halted by the half-time break and before they could get into their stride again, Chelsea had doubled their advantage through Drogba.

The Ivorian found space on the left side of Liverpool's area and rattled a shot

through Martin Skrtel's legs and into the far corner, he was scoring for the eighth time in as many Wembley appearances.

It prompted Dalglish into making his move, introducing his £35million striker.

Response

And Carroll responded immediately, twisting John Terry around superbly inside the area before lashing his shot into the roof of Cech's goal.

The former Newcastle man then used his power to set up the much-maligned Henderson, who drilled a half-volley narrowly wide as those ageing Chelsea legs began to creak.

And Liverpool were convinced Carroll had levelled nine minutes from time when he rose at the far post to power Suarez's cross goalwards.

But the celebrations were cut short as the officials ruled Cech had clawed the ball out before it had crossed the line.

Even after half a dozen replays, there was no clear verdict either way, meaning the linesman, with one look, was in an impossible situation.

Carroll carved out one more chance, only for Terry to block, leaving Dalglish to reflect on the moment of controversy that denied him.

Liverpool   Reina, Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Enrique, Spearing (Carroll 55), Henderson, Downing, Gerrard, Bellamy (Kuyt 78), Suarez
Subs Not Used  Doni, Kelly, Carragher, Shelvey, Rodriguez
Booked  Agger, Suarez
Goals  Carroll 64

Chelsea  Cech, Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole, Mikel, Lampard, Ramires (Meireles 76), Mata (Malouda 90), Kalou, Drogba
Subs Not Used  Turnbull, Ferreira, Essien, Sturridge, Torres
Booked  Mikel
Goals  Ramires 11, Drogba 52

Attendance  89,102