Arsenal wins third FA Cup in four seasons with 2-1 victory over Chelsea

Arsene Wenger’s turbulent year ended with a third FA Cup success in four seasons after Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-1 to deny the English Premier League champion a double on Saturday.

Aaron Ramsey was the match-winner, just like in the 2014 final, restoring Arsenal’s lead in the 79th minute shortly after Diego Costa leveled for 10-man Chelsea at Wembley Stadium.

Just as the season reached its climax, Arsenal turned in the type of tenacious display lacking so often, and against a side so commanding in the Premier League in Antonio Conte’s first season in charge.

And it might just be enough to stem the tide of protests against Wenger, as the record 13-time FA Cup winners are yet to announce a new contract for the 67-year-old Frenchman for next season.

“There’s a board meeting on Tuesday,” Wenger said on the pitch before collecting the trophy. “Wednesday or Thursday will be clearer.”

Wenger became the competition’s most successful manager with a seventh title in his 21-year reign, triumphs that have papered over some of the cracks as Arsenal has repeatedly come up short in the Premier League and Champions League.

“I’m happy for the manager,” Ramsey said. “Hopefully he will be here next season.”

For once, this was a day when so much went right for Wenger, even with a patched-up injury-depleted defense featuring captain Per Mertesacker making his first start in more than a year.

“We had outstanding performances,” Wenger said. “We know this team has suffered.”

The Gunners were eliminated from the Champions League for the seventh successive season in the last 16. And they won’t even be back among Europe’s elite in September after finishing fifth in the Premier League; the lowest finish since Wenger took charge in 1996.

But the season has ended with a run of six victories in May after Wenger adopted the three-man defense that has served Conte so well, until now.

“They showed strength and unity,” Wenger said, “and we played spectacular football again.”

In other league Cup finals:

Barcelona 3, Alaves 1: Barcelona won the Copa del Rey in coach Luis Enrique’s final game with the club.

Lionel Messi, Neymar, and Paco Alcacer scored in the first half as Barcelona won its third straight copa and 29th all-time with the victory in Madrid. It allowed Luis Enrique to cap his three-year stint with the Catalan club with one last trophy, his ninth out of 13 possible.

It was the final competitive match at Atletico Madrid’s Vicente Calderon Stadium, which will be demolished to give way to a housing complex. Atletico moves into a new venue next season.

Borussia Dortmund 2, Eintracht Frankfurt 1: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a cheeky penalty for Dortmund to clinch the German Cup final in Berlin during what could have been his last game for the club.

Aubameyang, the Bundesliga top scorer this season with 31, chipped the ball straight down the middle as Frankfurt goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky dived, giving Dortmund the title at the fourth attempt after losing the previous three finals. He has been the subject of transfer speculation linking him with a big-money move away from Dortmund in the summer.

Ousmane Dembele got Dortmund off to a great start in the eighth minute when he eluded Jesus Vallejo on the right and curled the ball inside the far post. Frankfurt gradually worked its way back into the game before Ante Rebic equalized in the 29th.

Paris Saint-Germain 1, Angers 0: PSG ended a mediocre season on a high note by winning the French Cup in Paris in a game it dominated but eventually needed an own goal from Angers right back Issa Cissokho in added time to prevail at the Stade de France in Paris.

PSG claimed its 11th French Cup, its third in a row, to surpass Marseille as the club with the most cups. As the 100th final entered added time, Cissokho looked hampered by Blaise Matuidi’s pressing at the near post and headed the ball into his own net with the back of his head from a corner hit by Angel Di Maria.

Celtic 2, Aberdeen 1: Celtic completed a trophy treble in Scottish soccer and finished the domestic season undefeated with the victory in the Scottish Cup final in Glasgow thanks to an injury-time goal.

Midfielder Tom Rogic scored from an acute angle in the second minute of stoppage time at Hampden Park to ensure Celtic added the cup to the Scottish Premiership and the Scottish League Cup.