DI-‘SANTO: 2009 FA CUP FINAL REVIEWED

Franco Di Santo was far from being a regular in the Chelsea team,but that didn't stop him from being a part of the Chelsea squad that won the 2008/09 FA Cup title by winning the 2009 FA Cup final clash with Merseyside giants Everton. Franco Di Santo was named in the 18-man squad for the Everton game by interim Chelsea manager GuusHiddink.

Argentine striker Franco Di Santo was named on the Chelsea substitute bench alongside Portuguese goalkeeper Hilario, Serbian defender BranislavIvanovic, Brazilian defender JulianoBelletti, English utility defender Michael Mancienne, Michael Ballack and Salomon Kalou.

Chelsea were dealt a big blow at the start of the game when Everton scored to set a new record for the fastest FA Cup final goal. It took Frenchman Louis Saha just 25 seconds to break the Chelsea rearguard led by club skipper John Terry to take the lead. Apart from Terry, the Chelsea rearguard also had Alex, Jose Bosingwa and Ashley Cole. On their part, Everton were looking for a first major trophy since winning the FA Cup title in 1995 and they were able to take a big step towards achieving their target with the goal from ex-Fulham, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur star Saha.

Chelsea were able to recover from the shock of conceding an early goal in the FA Cup final to score twice on the way to a 2-1 win. Ivorian football icon Didier Drogba was the man for the big occasion and he scored the equaliser for his team before Frank Lampard found the back of the net with the winning goal.

The goal from Drogba came just before the middle of the first half, while Lampard scored in the 72ndminute to ensure that Chelsea sealed a fifth FA Cup title at the expense of the Toffees.