Arsenal had the Cup stolen from their grasp after dominating Liverpool in last year's final and ironically it was Chelsea who were the better side for long periods this year.

But Arsenal have proved as they closed in on the title in recent weeks that they can hold their nerve as the pressure mounts.

The Gunners had barely been out of their own half for the 20 minutes before Parlour opened the scoring on 70 minutes, soaking up waves of Chelsea attacks and awaiting their chance.

It came almost from nowhere. Who could blame the Chelsea defence for backing off as Parlour advanced towards their box - the Englishman has scored just once all season and would surely look to play in one of his colleagues.

But Parlour set himself and fired a superb curling drive towards the top corner from 25 yards, Carlo Cudicini could only tip the ball into the net and Arsenal had their scarcely-deserved lead. 
 
There was an early scare for Chelsea fans when Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink appeared to be limping with the calf injury that had threatened his participation, but despite rarely carrying his usual menace, the Dutchman stayed on.

It was 15 minutes before either goal was threatened, Freddie Ljungberg getting round the back of the Chelsea defence only for Celestine Babayaro to keep his nerve and clear.

Chelsea's best early chances came from distance but David Seaman was equal to first Graeme Le Saux's shot - admittedly at the second attempt - then a more dangerous effort from Frank Lampard.

Neither team seemed prepared to take the game by the scruff of the neck, but the occasional chance did arise. Bergkamp lifted a free header over the bar and Lauren did the same under pressure from Le Saux - both should at least have found the target.

Lauren's miss came on the half hour mark and seemed to prompt Chelsea to take control of the game. Gudjohnsen almost finished off the best move of the match but mis-hit his volley from Le Saux's cross, then was desperately unlucky to be flagged offside when Hasselbaink sent him clear.

It was a similar pattern after the break as Chelsea continued to dominate, with Jesper Gronkjaer in particular a constant threat on the right.

Gudjohnsen's dipping drive was well tipped over by Seaman and Le Saux blasted over in a good position, but the feeling was gathering that Chelsea would pay for not making their dominance count.

Parlour made sure they did, but after last year's horror show, Arsenal needed another goal to settle the nerves.

The incomparable Freddie Ljungberg provided it just nine minutes later. The Swede broke powerfully from halfway, held off the challenge of John Terry and curled a delightful shot beyond Cudicini. Parlour's strike was superb, but this was genius.

Ljungberg became the first man for 40 years to score in successive FA Cup finals, but he admitted afterwards that he had never felt safe until the final whistle.

Despite a fierce low shot from Gudjohnsen that brought a decent save from Seaman, he needn't have worried. Chelsea appeared shell-shocked after such a dramatic reversal of fortunes and played out the last 10 minutes like shadows.