Arsenal defied the doubts of many at Wembley Stadium, as a second-half header from Aaron Ramsey saw them defeat Premier League champions Chelsea 2-1 to claim their record 13th FA Cup trophy.

It was controversial beginnings as Alexis Sánchez opening the scoring despite Ramsey been in an offside position, excellent chances for Mesut Özil, Danny Welbeck, Ramsey, Diego Costa and Welbeck rounding what was an entertaining 45 minutes at the national stadium.

Both sides continued strong at the beginning of the second period with chances from Victor Moses and Héctor Bellerín, before Moses' dismissal reduced the Blues to ten men. His dismissal didn't seem to matter as Costa grabbed an equaliser, but a quick-fire reply from Ramsey secured some silverware for what has been a troubling season to be a Gooner.

Starting in very controversial circumstances

These sides have had quite the opposite seasons with Antonio Conte leading Chelsea back to glory, but Arsène Wenger's men had once again had a miserable campaign made worse by missing out on top four. The fans were still calling for Wenger's head going into this clash, with the cup final been their last chance of redemption and couldn't have asked for a better start.

David Luiz's attempted clearance of Sánchez's chipped ball fell back to the Chilean, he knocked it past N'Golo Kanté into the path of Ramsey who was clearly in an offside position. Sánchez took advantage of Ramsey avoiding to touch the ball and the Blues complaining as he run in to stick it beyond Thibaut Courtois, the flag was initially raised for offside but after some deliberation Anthony Taylor granted the Gunners the lead much to Chelsea's fury.

Opportunity after opportunity

It was miraculous how the Gunners didn't find themselves ahead in the 16th minute, as Sánchez turned provider by playing it through to Özil as the German skipped away on the right-hand side of the box. The German had a horrible touch which saw him scuff his effort, it did however beat Courtois but Gary Cahill did brilliantly to backheel the ball off the line before Welbeck could tap home.

They were handed another excellent opportunity minutes later, as Özil's corner was met by Welbeck which had Courtois beaten but clattered back off the post. The deflection fell perfectly for Rasmey a yard out, but it deflects off the Welshman and back onto the post.

​Chelsea managed to get away their first real opportunity of the first-half just before the half hour mark, Costa did well race past Rob Holding and get his shot away but
David Ospina managed to block off his face as he raced off his goal line.

Cahill was called upon once again to save his side, as Bellerín did well to give it to Welbeck who did well to get his shot away on the tight angle. It still managed to beat Courtois, but Cahill was there for the second time to clear off the line.

Putting your team at a disadvantage

Both sides came back out for the second half just as they left the first, with good chances for both Moses and Bellerín but Conte's men were given a mountain to climb as they were reduced to ten men in ridiculous circumstances.

Moses burst into the area and looked to go down under the challenge of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, but Taylor wasn't buying his appeals as he gave him his marching orders and secondary viewing showed that he was right to do so.

Anything you can do, we can do better

Many would have expected the Blues to crumble after the dismissal of Moses, but proved to be quite the opposite as they managed to equalise in the 76th minute. Willian played the ball into Costa who took it on his chest, the Spaniard's effort was deflected off Holding and a flapping effort from Ospina helped it into the bottom corner.

​Chelsea were back in the game for little under three minutes as Ramsey rose to the occasion once again to hand his side the trophy. It was slick move as the ball was played into substitute Olivier Giroud, he had an instant impact as his ball in finds the run of Ramsey to nod home.

Costa looked to make a difference once again as the clock began to tick down, the Spaniard's touch on the chest took him beyond the returning Per Mertesacker but his effort was into the chest of Ospina.

​Arsenal should have rounded it up seconds later as they broke through Ramsey, he played it into Özil who got past César Azpilicueta and gave Courtois the eyes but it clattered the post.

VAVEL Logo
About the author
Danial  Kennedy
Award-winning sports journalism graduate. Currently studying a PR Masters at the University of Sunderland. Writing for VAVEL since August 2014. Twitter - @ddkjournalism.