LONDON, April 22 - Liverpool reached the FA Cup final and foiled Chelsea's bid for the league-Cup double with a 2-1 victory in their semi-final at Old Trafford in Manchester on Saturday.

Rafael Benitez's side will meet either Middlesbrough or West Ham United, who meet in the other semi-final at Villa Park in Birmingham on Sunday, in the May 13 final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

"To win this game was amazing...I think in the end the players worked so hard, we deserved to win," said Benitez, relieved that his team withstood Chelsea's late onslaught.

Liverpool went ahead midway through the first half when John Arne Riise scored from a free kick, curling a low shot between Paulo Ferreira and Frank Lampard at the near end of the wall and past unsighted keeper Carlo Cudicini.

Chelsea conceded the second goal from a throw-in on the right on 53 minutes when a poor headed clearance fell to Luis Garcia. The Spaniard raced away from three defenders to hit a dipping shot high into the far top corner.

"It was a fantastic goal for Luis and necessary for us," said Benitez.

Didier Drogba put Chelsea back into the game with 20 minutes to go when Liverpool made a hash of clearing the ball and keeper Jose Reina, racing off his line, was caught out of position by the striker's header.

It was Benitez's second win against Jose Mourinho's Chelsea in 10 meetings in all competitions after the Merseysiders put the Londoners out of the Champions League in the semi-finals almost a year ago.

MISSED CHANCES

Drogba had missed two good chances in the first half, the first when he headed wide after Hernan Crespo had flicked on Frank Lampard's corner from the right.

The Ivory Coast striker also finished badly with a shot well wide past the advancing Reina after breaking between the central defenders to chest down a high ball out of defence.

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