(London, GBR) - THIS LIVE REPORT IS NOW CLOSING after a fast-paced FA Cup Final which saw Chelsea score two goals either side of half-time before having to brace themselves for a ferocious Liverpool fightback to secure their fourth FA Cup final victory in six seasons.
However the match might well be remembered for a controversial close-range effort by Andy Carroll, which will trigger calls for new technology to help referees
Read on to see how the match unfolded.
WELCOME TO AFP'S LIVE REPORT ON THE FA CUP FINAL between Chelsea and Liverpool at Wembley Stadium. Liverpool will be hoping for a second trophy this season after their League Cup win over Cardiff in February. Yet even victory in the FA Cup might not hide the disappointment many Liverpool fans feel from a league campaign which sees them languishing in eighth spot, 34 points behind leaders Manchester City. Chelsea in contrast are chasing their first piece of silverware under interim manager Roberto Di Matteo while still bidding for a top-four league finish. The Blues season will not however be judged by how they perform at Wembley, but rather how they fare in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich on May 19.
1555 GMT: Here are the teams!
Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole, Lampard, Mikel, Ramires, Mata, Kalou, Drogba.
Liverpool: Reina; Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Jose Enrique; Spearing, Henderson; Downing, Gerrard, Bellamy; Suarez.
1559 GMT: My colleague Rob Woollard is at Wembley and he tells me that Liverpool fans have already made their presence felt in the cavernous stadium! "Liverpool fans winning the early singing honours at Wembley, belting out renditions of 'You'll Never Walk Alone' and 'Fields of Athenry'. Chelsea end, which has been slow to fill up, is relatively muted," he says.
1603 GMT: It shows just how far the pre-match entertainment has moved on from the 1980s when a brisk appearance by the Coldstream Guards band would have pleased the crowd! "Dozens of silver-jumpsuit clad dancers now going through the motions on the Wembley turf to accompanying soundtrack and obligatory bursts of flame..." Rob tells me.
1607 GMT: Both sets of fans gives warm applause to an appearance by Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba, who has made a remarkable recovery after suffering a heart attack against Tottenham in March. More from AFP's Rob Woollard: "Fans from both ends remain unmoved by the traditional singing of 'Abide With Me', preferring instead to chant through it relentlessly.
1611 GMT: Chelsea fans finally make themselves heard as teams prepare to take to the pitch. Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard looking for his second Wembley victory of the season after the League Cup win; John Terry aiming to become the first man to captain one club to the FA Cup four times.
1613 GMT: Both teams are wearing their traditional kits, Chelsea in blue, Liverpool in red.
1616 GMT: KICK-OFF! The referee blows his whistle and Chelsea get the match under way!
1 min: Chelsea storm out of the blocks and Didier Drogba has the first chance of the with a long-range strike from the edge of the area which doesn't trouble Reina. He was obviously trying to break his manager's record for the quickest goal (47 seconds) in an FA Cup final, against Middlesbrough in 1997.
3 mins: Apart from that speculative Drogba effort its been a fairly muted opening with neither side able to craft any dangerous chances.
7 mins: Spearing looks like he is under orders to track Drogba -- who has scored seven goals in eight Wembley appearances for Chelsea.
The Blues striker picks up a loose ball just outside the but and is quickly dispossed by Spearing.
11 mins: GOAL! Chelsea 1 Liverpool 0
Spearing is dispossed on the half-way line and Chelsea launch a rapid counter-attack with Ramirez outpacing Enrique.
The Brazilian shows a quick turn of speed and smashes a ferocious shot past Reina.
13 mins: The goal has really sparked Liverpool into life and they finally fashion their first real chance but Bellamy's goal-bound shot is blocked by Ivanovic.
15 mins: A long spell of possession by Chelsea fizzes out as Kalou ushers the ball out of play
17 mins: Apart from Bellamy's earlier effort, Liverpool are posing no real attacking threat at the moment (Downing, Gerrard are you listening!!) as Suarez is left isolated up front
19 mins: Cech still hasn't been called into action as Chelsea's makeshift rearguard has been marshalled with great aplomb by Terry!
24 mins: Kalou raises a few heartrates as he charges into the Liverpool area but Agger is alive to the danger and hoofs the ball away.
26 mins: Its all Chelsea at the minute and Liverpool have to soak up another onslaught which only ends when Kalou wallops the ball out of play.
28 mins: Spearing shows why he is a defensive midfielder! He joins a Liverpool attack but doesn't trouble Cech with a tame looping shot.
33 mins: Really scrappy stuff at the moment as no-one is able to keep possession!
Enrique picks up a head of steam and tries to spark the Liverpool revival by surging to the byline but loses control of the ball before he can pass to Suarez in the penalty area.
37 mins: YELLOW CARD!
Gerrard is given a fair old whack by Mikel, just as he about to launch a Liverpool counter-attack . The referee had no choice but to brandish the card.
39 mins: Drogba runs onto a perfectly weighted pass before taking aim with a long-range effort that sails wide of Reina's right-hand upright.
40 mins: Downing jinkes to the byline and crosses to the back post for Suarez but Cole takes no chances and heads behind for a corner.
42 mins: Suarez finally gets a sniff of goal! Henderson spots an opening a lobs the ball towards the Uruguayan who can only flick it out of play.
45 mins: YELLOW CARD!
Agger's name goes into the referee's notepad for felling Mikel with a clumsy challenge. There can be no real complaints from the Danish defender.
45 + 1 mins: The fourth official holds up his board, an extra minute to play.
HALF-TIME! Liverpool shuffle down the tunnel for a much-needed pep-talk from Dalglish. The Reds have been very poor in the first half as their toothless attack hasn't troubled Cech.
1707 GMT: Over in the TV studio, ex-Manchester United stalwart Roy Keane tears into Liverpool and says "they just don't have enough options on the ball and are not dynamic enough to trouble Chelsea."
1711 GMT: Ex-Liverpool striker Stan Collymore takes to Twitter to complain about the lack of quality throughout the first-half.
"Feels like how the league game at Anfield might be on Tuesday,not a cup Final. A dead rubber," he says.
1713 GMT: "Enrique too easily outpaced for me for goal,Gerrard needs Henderson to be sitter,and move further up pitch.Thats where SG is dangerous," adds Collymore.
1717 GMT: Liverpool haven't made any changes, which might come as a surprise to anyone who watched the first-half. How long before Dalglish rolls the dice and sends on Carroll?
1718 GMT: Liverpool get the second-half under way.
48 mins: Liverpool fans appeal for a penalty as Gerrard charges into the area but loses his balance just before he can tee-up a shot.
52 mins: GOAL! Chelsea 2 Liverpool 0
Drogba shows his marker a clean pair of heels to race onto a sweet pass from Lampard to slot the ball past Reina. That is now eight goals in nine Wembley appearances for the Ivorian striker.
55 mins: SUBSTITUTION
Dalglish decides to reshuffle his line-up and the ineffective Spearing trudges off the pitch to be replaced by Andy Carroll.
58 mins: Here comes another Chelsea attack, though this time Kalou's long-range effort sails wide. That was a nervy moment for Liverpool fans as Kalou should really have hit the target with that chance.
62 mins: A lovely dragback from Drogba takes him past two Liverpool defenders before he is felled by Suarez. The referee awards a free-kick...Its 35 yards out, too far for Lampard?
The England midfielder effort was just a whisker wide of Reina's post.
65 mins: GOAL! Chelsea 2 Liverpool 1
Carroll swivels clear of his marker on the edge of the six-yard box and thumps a thunderous shot into the roof of the net! Game On!
67 mins: Carroll has really galvanised the Liverpool attack and his ability to hold up the ball is creating more time for others to join the attack. Are Liverpool able to mount a fightback?
70 mins: Carroll is really troubling the Chelsea defence and is winning all the aerial balls.
Downing pings a high-ball to Carroll who nods the ball into the path of Gerrard but the Liverpool midfielder can only shank the ball into the crowd.
75 mins: Carroll is on manic form and scaring the life out of the Chelsea defence and flattens his own teammate Bellamy to try to fathom a chance!
77 mins: SUBSTITUTION! Di Matteo makes his first change and Meireles comes on for Ramires
78 mins: SUBSTITUTION! Liverpool quickly respond to the Chelsea swith and Kuyt replaces Bellamy.
80 mins: Its all Liverpool at the moment, but with 10 minutes to play its Chelsea who still have one hand on the cup!
82 mins: G-G-NO! Was that a goal?
Fantastic save by Cech! The Chelsea rearguard is split apart by a neat interchange between Suarez and Henderson.
The Uruguayan chips the ball into the path of Carroll who thumps a powerful close-range header which Cech palms onto his bar. It looked like the ball crossed the line but the linesman says otherwise!
83 mins: TV replays are inconclusive as to whether or not Carroll's thumping header had crossed the line but do highlight Cech's amazing fingertip save.
87 mins: Liverpool are really laying siege to the Chelsea goal but Cole clears a dangerous looking cross from Downing.
90 mins: Five minutes of stoppage time!
90 +1 mins: SUBSTITUTION! Florence Malouda comes on for Mata
90 + 3 mins: This game ain't over yet! But what a fantastic second-half after a dire opening...
90 + 6 mins: FULL-TIME! Roar of approval from the Chelsea fans as the referee blows his whistle to end match! CHELSEA HAVE WON THE FA CUP!!!
1810 GMT: Roberto Di Matteo races onto the pitch to embrace his players at the final whistle! This is his first piece of silverware as a manager even though he has won two FA Cup titles as a Chelsea player in 1997 and 2000.
1812 GMT: Chelsea fans will think the Carroll chance was payback for the 2005 Champions League semi-final, when Liverpool's Luis Garcia scored what Chelsea claimed was a phantom goal!
Whether or not the ball crossed the line, it will surely reignite the calls for the introduction of goal-line technology.
1816 GMT: Drogba admits Chelsea were on their knees towards the end of the match!.
"This one and the first final against United were the hardest[FA Cup triumphs]" he tells ITV.
1819 GMT: Scenes of sheer ecstasy from Chelsea fans as Terry climbs the stairs to collect the trophy and a rousing rendition of 'Blue is the Colour' is belted out as Terry lifts the trophy!
1821 GMT: Terry has endured a topsy-turvy season -- what with being stripped of the England captaincy and missing the Champions League final for a mindless foul against Barcelona's Alexis Sanchez -- but he was clearly overjoyed with the win.
"At times people have slated us as too old, past it or not together but as a team we come together and unite when our backs are against the wall and we've done that superbly in the last 16 or 17 games," he tells ITV.
"We've still got a massive trophy, the Champions League that's the target for the owner from day dot," he adds.
1826 GMT: Carroll was completely unplayable for the final 30 minutes, and Liverpool fans will wonder why he wasn't in the starting line-up.
"I thought [the header] it was over the line," he tells ITV. "It was unlucky because it would have taken us into extra time.I did the best I could when I came on and we were unlucky"
1827 GMT: Di Matteo is really enhancing his claims to be given the Chelsea reins on a full-time basis.
If Chelsea win the Champions League on May 19, is there any way Roman Abramovich will not give him the job?
"It's been a difficult season but the players have made the club proud. It's been hard work but we came through it," a smiling Di Matteo says.
1830 GMT: A philosophical Dalglish can only shrug when asked why Carroll didn't start the match.
"They were the best team for the first hour they scored a goal and a great block on Craig Bellamy's volley but we finished strongly and maybe if we'd started that way we'd be happier than we are now," he says.
