What was that John Terry said about Aston Villa falling away late on in games. Despite a spirited display from Martin O'Neill's side, holders Chelsea are through to the FA Cup final after Didier Drogba, Florent Malouda and Frank Lampard's second-half goals.

Villa were incensed to have claims for a first-half penalty turned down after a challenge by John Obi Mikel on Gabriel Agbonlahor in a match played on yet another poor Wembley surface.

Drogba broke the deadlock midway through the second half with his 32nd goal of the campaign before Malouda and Lampard struck in the closing minutes to give a flattering look to the scoreline.

Chelsea, fresh from a 7-1 triumph over Villa at Stamford Bridge a fortnight ago, knocked the ball around in confident fashion in the early stages. Players from both sides appeared to have difficulty keeping their footing on the surface which had come in for criticism after the Carling Cup final and Villa midfielder James Milner was quick to change his boots.

Petr Cech was relieved to see a low skidding drive from Milner flash a foot wide. Villa then appealed in vain for a penalty after Agbonlahor tried to turn past John Obi Mikel but Howard Webb waved aside their protests. O'Neill was incensed by the decision and Agbonlahor was left beating the turf in frustration.

Villa were growing in confidence and enjoying a fair share of possession in the Chelsea half. Drogba saw little of the ball in the opening half-hour, although Milner did well to cut out one dangerous cross from the Ivory Coast international.

Players continued to fall over at regular intervals as they struggled to come to terms with the surface.

Chelsea started to come more into the game towards the interval. But Brad Friedel had few problems in holding onto a shot on the turn from a narrow angle by Joe Cole after he had seized onto a misdirected header from Warnock.

O'Neill would have taken satisfaction from Villa's first half performance and his side began the second half on the offensive. Carew sent a glancing header just wide of the far post from an inswinging Downing corner.

Then, despite Villa's spirit and momentum, after 67 minutes Drogba broke the deadlock with his 32nd goal of the season.

Malouda's corner was headed out by Dunne but fell to Terry who returned the ball into the danger area - and Drogba applied the finishing touch from close range.

By then, Villa looked sapped. Terry should have been sent off for a horrible tackle on Milner before Malouda wrapped up the game with a well-taken finish on 89 minutes and Frank Lampard put on an undeserved gloss in stoppage time.

For the second time in a fortnight, Chelsea defeated Aston Villa by a margin that hardly reflected the pattern of play. Two weeks ago it was a flurry of late goals that brought about Villa's biggest ever Premier League defeat by 7-1. This time there were two goals in the last few minutes, by Florent Malouda and Frank Lampard, to distort the scoreline after Didier Drogba's 32nd goal of the season had put the holders in front with three-quarters of the game over.

Villa showed no sign of inferiority or psychological damage before that and were the better side early on when denied a penalty. Overall, however, they did not create enough chances and were unable to gainsay John Terry's suggestion they tended to fade late on. Martin O'Neill must attempt to ensure now the same does not once again apply to their season as a whole, while Chelsea, through to their third final in four years, retain hopes of a first double.

Only a few minutes had been played before Stewart Downing and Ashley Young switched wings, enabling each to come inside on their favoured foot, and while their team-mates fed them plenty of ball, Villa flourished. They were convinced with some justification that Howard Webb should have awarded a penalty 15 minutes in when Gabriel Agbonlahor, trying to turn past John Obi Mikel, went down. There was contact between them and Agbonlahor beat the turf in frustration, O'Neill performing a furious dance in the technical area.

Their team had been closest to a goal up to that point as well, James Milner taking a square pass from his central midfield partner Stiliyan Petrov and driving it wide of Petr Cech's post.

Semi-final nerves or not, it had been poor fare, not helped by the quality of the pitch. The surface appeared to be cutting up even during the warm-up and, after the players had returned to the dressing-room, it was watered again which must have contributed to all the slipping and sliding.

The game grew livelier right from the start of the second half. In the first minute Villa won a corner that John Carew directed just past the far post.

Twenty minutes later, Richard Dunne superbly blocked Drogba only to immediately turn to villian, sending a weak header from the flag-kick straight to Terry, whose miscued left-footed shot was turned into the net by Drogba.

From there, Villa faded. Lampard began the move that brought the decisive second goal, spreading the play to Ballack down the right for a fine cross met by a confident player in Malouda.

There was still time for him to help set up Lampard for another deserved victory by a flattering margin.