Manchester City's Joleon Lescott (R) congratulates Yaya Toure after he scored during their English FA Cup semifinal against Manchester United at Wembley Stadium Saturday. (AP) LONDON: Manchester City ended Manchester United's chances of three trophies in the same season when it beat its local rival 1-0 at Wembley to reach its first FA Cup final for 30 years. While Chelsea kept alive its faint hopes of retaining the Premier League title with a 3-1 win at West Bromwich Albion, City midfielder Yaya Toure scored a 52nd-minute winner to leave United with the domestic championship and Champions League to aim for. City, which is fourth in the Premier League and on course to qualify for next year's Champions League, plays either Stoke or Bolton in the May 14 final – when it aims to break a 35-year streak without a trophy. Toure scored after intercepting a poor clearance by United midfielder Michael Carrick and United ended with 10 men after Paul Scholes' 72nd-minute red card for a dangerous lunge on Pablo Zabaleta. City had been overrun for most of the first half and Dimitar Berbatov should have put United ahead, but had one shot blocked by Hart and put another over the bar from close range in front of an unguarded net. Backed by an investment of about $1 billion by owner Sheikh Mansour since 2008, City now has a shot at a first trophy since the 1976 League Cup. It reached the 1981 FA Cup final, but lost a replay to Tottenham. United was without the suspended Wayne Rooney and left Javier Hernandez, who scored in Tuesday's Champions League victory over Chelsea, on the bench. With six games left, United is still seven points clear of Arsenal in the chase for the Premier League title and faces Schalke in a two-leg Champions League semifinal starting later this month. Chelsea recovered from 1-0 down at the Hawthorns, with goals by Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou and Frank Lampard moving the defending champion to within eight points of United. Arsenal hosts Liverpool in Sunday's match. Everton continued its late-season rally with a 2-0 win over Blackburn, while Birmingham eased its relegation worries with a 2-0 win over Sunderland and Aston Villa did likewise with a 2-1 win at West Ham. The Hammers had led through Robbie Keane's second-minute goal but dropped to 19th place as Wigan moved off the bottom of the standings with a 3-1 win at Blackpool that pushed its opponent into the three-team relegation zone. After elimination from the Champions League Tuesday, Chelsea's week got even worse in the 17th minute at West Brom. Peter Odemwingie raced clear and lifted the ball over goalkeeper Petr Cech for his 12th league goal of the season. But Chelsea trailed for only five minutes as the 33-year-old Drogba – selected ahead of the out-of-form Fernando Torres as the focal point of Chelsea's attack – equalized with his 11th Premier League goal of the season. Drogba tapped in after fullback Nicky Shorey cleared a cross straight to the Ivory Coast striker. Chelsea led 2-0 in the 26th after goalkeeper Scott Carson failed to push away Drogba's long-range shot and Kalou scored with an angled shot from the rebound. Chelsea's third goal, in the last minute of the first half, was its best. From a deep position, Drogba released Florent Malouda down the left wing and the France international pulled the ball back to Lampard. The England midfielder, who had already had a 30-meter (shot) tipped over the bar, had time to place his shot past Carson. Cardiff retook second place in the second-tier League Championship with a 3-0 win over Portsmouth, while Reading kept up its unlikely charge for possible automatic promotion with a 3-1 win over playoff hopeful Leicester.
