Betting tips / Mike Norman / 06 May 2012 / Leave a comment Bet Now View Market

With their loss in the FA Cup, Arsenal have thrown away a golden opportunity that would have guaranteed them a place in Champions League football next season.

Chelsea are this season's FA Cup winners after Roberto di Matteo's men beat Liverpool 2-1 at Wembley this evening.

It's the fourth time in six years that Chelsea have lifted the famous trophy but it was far from straightforward despite Ramires putting the Blues ahead on 11 minutes; the Brazilian firing home at the near post past Pepa Reina who might be thinking he should have done better.

The Brazilian was matched at 24.0 in the First Goalscorer market, and the 1-0 Half Time score was backed at a high of 6.0 In-Play.

Chelsea started the better in the second half and were rewarded on 52 minutes when Didier Drogba - who else? - fired into the far corner. Incredibly it was the fourth different time that Drogba has scored in an FA Cup Final and a bit of history is his.

From that moment on however, the game was all Liverpool's with substitute Andy Carroll having a huge impact on the game. The £35m striker brought his side back into it on 64 minutes when he fired home from close range and he thought he had levelled with just under 10 minutes to go, but his powerful header was superbly saved by Petr Cech.

For a moment it looked liked we had another call for video evidence amidst some huge controversy, but replays showed Carroll's headed did not fully go over the line.

That was the last major scare for Chelsea and they saw the game out to win yet another FA Cup, but the big prize for the Blues remains the Champions League in two weeks time.

Chelsea were backed at a high of 3.0 to win the final, and the 2-1 Correct Score was matched at 13.0 In-Play.

Earlier in the day Arsenal missed a glorious chance to put some distance between themselves and the chasers in the race for third as they were held 3-3 by Norwich at the Emirates Stadium.

Yossi Benayoun put the Gunners ahead inside 65 seconds but they couldn't hold on and trailed 1-2 at the interval. Norwich were matched at 160.0 In-Play in the Half Time market.

Arsenal got themselves back into the lead with 10 minutes to go, but again they failed to hold on with Steve Morrison firing a low drive into the far corner with just five minutes remaining. The 3-3 Correct Score was also matched at 160.0 and it means the Gunners can now be backed at 1.23 for a Top Four Finish with Tottenham at 1.17 and Newcastle at 3.25.