Didier Drogba, Florent Malouda and Frank Lampard struck in the second half to fire Chelsea past Aston Villa and into the final of the FA Cup.

The Blues smashed seven past Martin O'Neill's side in the Premier League just a couple of weeks ago but it was clear from the early exchanges at Wembley that this would be a much more competitive encounter.

Villa's energy unnerved Chelsea in the first half and Gabriel Agbonlahor thought he should have been awarded a penalty when he went down in the box under pressure from John Obi Mikel, but referee Howard Webb waved away his appeals.

There was little to choose between the teams until John Terry's misdirected shot fell to Drogba, starting in place of Nicolas Anelka, and the Ivory Coast international guided the ball home in the 68th minute.

Villa tried to get back into the game but Malouda provided the finishing touch to a slick move late on to settle Chelsea's nerves.

Lampard then got in on the act deep into stoppage time to wrap up a 3-0 victory and keep Chelsea on track to defend the trophy they won 12 months ago.

Settled

The state of the Wembley pitch was the biggest factor as the semi-final got underway, with players from both sides failing to keep their feet.

Villa, still smarting from that heavy drubbing, settled much quicker than Chelsea.

But Chelsea had their isolated moments. Joe Cole, attempting to persuade watching England boss Fabio Capello that he is worth a place in his squad for the World Cup finals, sent an angled drive just wide from 20 yards in the 11th minute.

But Villa had more intensity about their game and, although the players continued to be hampered by the greasy surface, they possessed more menace.

James Milner almost put them in front in the 14th minute when his 25-yard drive flashed inches wide of Petr Cech's right-hand post.

But the biggest talking point of the opening half, even eclipsing the state of the pitch, was a Villa penalty appeal that was firmly rejected by Webb.

Agbonlahor looked to have pulled the shirt of Mikel before the Villa striker went down under his challenge.

Referee Webb dismissed their appeals, much to the chagrin of O'Neill in the Villa technical area.

Villa's high-tempo game was causing Chelsea all kinds of problems and the league leaders needed a last-gasp header from captain John Terry to prevent John Carew from finishing off a fine cross by Stewart Downing.

Superb

But in the 34th minute, Villa were thankful for a superb block by Stephen Warnock as Malouda's cross provided Drogba with an opening.

Chelsea countered through the lively Cole who forced Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel into a fine save at his near post when Warnock's poor header fell to the Chelsea winger.

Villa striker John Carew, who had been marshalled superbly by Terry for much of the game, was just wide from a corner by Downing in the 46th minute.

But Villa's game fell away, just as it had done in the league game a fortnight ago, and Chelsea, buoyed by a half-time pep-talk from Carlo Ancelotti, set about their opponents for the first time in the game.

Deco sent a half-volley wide of the target in the 50th minute and moments later Cole just failed to get on the end of a Drogba cross at the near post.

Cole made way for Salomon Kalou in the 64th minute and two minutes later the substitute played a part in Chelsea's opener.

Kalou found the rampaging Drogba with a clever through-ball but he was foiled by a challenge from Richard Dunne.

Resistance broken

But Chelsea made Villa pay from Malouda's corner. Dunne could only head the ball straight to Terry and his mis-hit shot fell to the unmarked Drogba, who steered it home from six yards.

It was his fifth goal in competitive matches at Wembley and broke Villa's resistance completely.

O'Neill's side, faced with lifting themselves in the final 20 minutes, huffed and puffed without troubling Cech in the Chelsea goal.

It was Chelsea who finished the stronger and they booked a place in their third FA Cup final in four years through Malouda in the 89th minute.

Lampard fed substitute Michael Ballack on the right wing and the German crossed superbly for Malouda to sweep the ball home at the far post.

Lampard scored a third from close range in added time but by then it was all academic, with Chelsea's double dream still very much alive.

Aston Villa	Team Statistics	Chelsea
0	Goals	3
0	1st Half Goals	0
1	Shots on Target	7
6	Shots off Target	7
3	Blocked Shots	8
6	Corners	7
11	Fouls	20
1	Offsides	2
0	Yellow Cards	3
0	Red Cards	0
75.1	Passing Success	85
20	Tackles	21
70	Tackles Success	76.2
40.6	Possession	59.4
49.3	Territorial Advantage	50.7

Teams

Aston Villa  Friedel, Cuellar, Collins, Dunne, Warnock, Downing, Petrov, Milner, A. Young, Agbonlahor, Carew (Heskey 82)
Subs Not Used Guzan, L. Young, Sidwell, Beye, Delph, Delfouneso
Booked 
Goals 

Chelsea  Cech, Zhirkov, Alex, Terry, Ferreira, Lampard, Deco (Ballack 76), Mikel, J. Cole (Kalou 65), Malouda, Drogba (Anelka 80)
Subs Not Used  Hiario, Ivanovic, Belletti, Sturridge
Booked  Deco, Mikel, Terry
Goals  Drogba 68, Malouda 89, Lampard 90

Attendance 85,472

Referee  H. Webb