THE Cup winners from the last two seasons will meet in this year's Final at Wembley on 15 May after Portsmouth beat Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea eased past Aston Villa.
Relegated Pompey beat Spurs 2-0 in extra time after a titanic struggle despite the London team dominating long periods of the contest.
Frederic Piquionne scored the first goal, nine minutes into extra time, sliding the ball home from six yards after Spurs defender Michael Dawson slipped on the frankly inadequate surface.
Spurs almost responded immediately but luck was definitely not on their side this afternoon and Peter Crouch had a good goal ruled out by referee Alan Wiley.
Wiley blew after substitute Niko Kranjcar collided with Pompey goalkeeper David James off one of Tottenham's 20 corners.
There was little in the incident and James could not hide his relief that his side had retained their slender advantage.
Undeterred, Tottenham continued to press forward as former Pompey forward Crouch hit the post and Vedran Corluka fluffed when well-placed.
But Spurs received a forewarning of what was to come when John Utaka failed to send Piquionne through on goal in the first half of the extra period.
After yet more stout Pompey defending, the sucker punch duly arrived with the match drawing to a close.
A rare Pompey foray into Spurs territory by Aruna Dindane drew a foul from Wilson Palacios.
Wiley pointed to the spot and Kevin-Prince Boateng did the honours with a confident low penalty to Heurelho Gomes' right to double the lead with three minutes left.
Pompey's magnificent fans at last have something to celebrate from this season. Their relegation was confirmed on Saturday after West Ham United beat Sunderland.
But after a wretched start of seven successive losses and then a nine-point deduction in February, demotion had been coming from a long way off.
Meanwhile, Harry Redknapp - facing the team with whom he won the Cup in 2008 - will wonder how exactly this game even went into extra time.
Spurs started brightly, winning a succession of corners, though their best chance came when James' punch hit his own defender Aaron Mokoena, and the ball went narrowly wide.
Pompey defended deep but forwards Piqiuonne and Dindane were enterprising on the break and the former really should have done better than miscue his volley on 28 minutes.
The Frenchman was again at fault 10 minutes later when he shot straight at Gomes despite being in the clear but Spurs finished the half stronger.
Tom Huddlestone's controlled volley was heading for the top corner until James clawed it away then Crouch had a shot blocked.
It was typical of Pompey's brave back line for whom former Spurs centre-back Ricardo Rocha was man of the match.
Rocha made another block early in the second half as Jermain Defoe threatened before Piquionne missed another good chance at the other end, heading straight at Gomes from eight yards out.
The ineffective Defoe was then replaced by Russian Roman Pavlyuchenko who has somewhat resurrected his Tottenham career.
But the chances continued to fall to strike partner Crouch. First, he headed wide from yet another corner after James had missed his punch.
Then, he was denied twice in succession by two more excellent blocks by Mokoena before hitting the post with a header from an acute angle.
And the final chance of the normal 90 minutes again fell to the gangly England forward.
The industrious young Welshman Gareth Bale fired in a cross from the left, Crouch diverted it towards goal only for James to scramble it once again to safety.
There was a sense of disbelief among the Tottenham players and fans as the match went into extra time.
Pompey fans loudly urged their team forward and, though they continued for the most part to defend, the sucker punches were far too much for Spurs to take.
Looking ahead, it is appropriate that Portsmouth will be led out in the Final at Wembley by Avram Grant against double-chasing Chelsea.
Grant was the manager deemed not good enough in 2008, despite having finished runners up in the Premier League and Champions League to Manchester United.
Now he has the perfect chance to prove his talent to the Blues after Chelsea enjoyed an ultimately more straightforward win against Villa.
For Villa, it was a second unhappy appearance at Wembley in two months following their Carling Cup final defeat to Man United.
Then, as Nemanja Vidic escaped red for a last man challenge, Martin O'Neill felt his side was on the wrong end of a crucial refereeing decision.
And O'Neill can feel aggrieved again after Gabriel Agbonlahor was denied a clear penalty having fallen under Jon Obi Mikel's tackle while the match was 0-0.
Indeed, Villa put their recent 7-1 league defeat against the Blues behind them to shade a poor spectacle in the first half.
Players on both teams were not helped by a woeful Wembley pitch which cut up making it difficult to play passing football.
But James Milner dealt with the surface better than most and his low shot on 15 minutes was the first threatening effort of the game.
Shortly afterwards, the Villains should have been given that penalty but, rather than being downhearted, they continued to press as John Terry denied John Carew with a last-ditch header.
But, as the half drew to a close, Chelsea enjoyed their first concerted spell. First, Didier Drogba was denied by an excellent block from Stephen Warnock after Florent Malouda's through-ball.
Then Drogba turned provider and almost played Frank Lampard clean through.
Joe Cole had the final chance of the 45 minutes but his instinctive shot hardly troubled Brad Friedel.
The momentum was with Chelsea going into the break and so it continued into the second period with only one early Carew effort in response from Villa.
Cole was again at the heart of the Blues' best efforts, just failing to connect with Drogba's cross before attempting a mazy run against the Villa defence.
Eventually the pressure told on the backline though only after Richard Dunne had brilliantly blocked a Drogba shot.
From the resultant corner, Dunne this time failed to cover himself in glory, heading the ball straight to the feet of Terry on 18 yards.
His first-time shot was then redirected into the net from six yards by the predatory Drogba.
Chelsea were content with their lead and Villa struggled to impose themselves back on the game.
But they can feel once again embittered with England's World Cup referee Howard Webb after Terry escaped with just a booking for a crude challenge on Milner.
Nevertheless, Villa's final charge did not amount to much, though Ashley Young should have done better with a header from Stewart Downing's cross.
Martin O'Neill's men simply ran out of steam - not helped by him only using one substitute - and the latter part of this match was thoroughly controlled by Chelsea.
Carlo Ancelotti's men finally got their just desserts on 89 minutes when Malouda volley home an inch-perfect cross from substitute Michael Ballack.
And then the score received a somewhat harsher reflection in stoppage time as Lampard finished neatly in the bottom corner after Villa had been caught up field.
Chelsea will barely believe how well this weekend has gone for them. Their own cup success was comfortable while Portsmouth's win gives them a final tie against the top flight's bottom team.
Meanwhile, Manchester United dropped points in a 0-0 draw at Blackburn Rovers in the Premier League.
That means the Blues can go four points clear with four games left with a home win against Bolton Wanderers.
Taking all this into account, it is no surprise to see Chelsea are now odds-on for a first ever League and Cup double.
FA CUP SEMI FINAL RESULTS/SCORERS
Aston Villa (0) 0
Chelsea (0) 3 Drogba 68, Malouda 89, Lampard 90+5
Aston Villa: Friedel, Cuellar, Dunne, Collins, Warnock, Ashley Young, Milner, Petrov, Downing, Agbonlahor, Carew (Heskey 82).
Chelsea: Cech, Paulo Ferreira, Terry, Alex, Zhirkov, Deco (Ballack 76), Mikel, Lampard, Joe Cole (Kalou 65), Drogba (Anelka 80), Malouda.
Referee: Howard Webb (S Yorkshire)
Tottenham Hotspur (0) 0
Portsmouth (0) 2 Piquionne 99, Boateng (pen) 117
After extra time
Tottenham: Gomes, Corluka, Dawson, Bassong, Bale, Bentley (Kranjcar 79), Huddlestone (Gudjohnsen 102), Palacios, Modric, Crouch, Defoe (Pavlyuchenko 59).
Portsmouth: James, Finnan, Rocha, Mokoena, Mullins (Hughes 119), Brown, Wilson, Yebda (Utaka 87), Dindane, Piquionne (Diop 112), Boateng.
Referee: Alan Wiley (Staffordshire)
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