Arsenal 3 Ipwich Town 0: Bendtner's brilliance paves way for Arsenal

The Championship club were protecting a slender 1-0 lead from a fortnight ago in Suffolk, and defended resolutely to frustrate the Gunners for more than an hour.

However, Nicklas Bendtner finally ended their resistance with a fine individual goal before Laurent Koscielny headed in a second and captain Cesc Fabregas kept Arsene Wenger's men on course for a first trophy since 2005 with a third to crush Ipswich's dream.

Nine thousand Ipswich fans had made the journey from Suffolk, perhaps more in hope than genuine expectation of a cup shock, but saw their side defend magnificently.

A strong Arsenal side had plenty of possession and the breakthrough finally came after 61 minutes thanks to a moment of real quality from the much-criticised Bendtner.

A quick ball from Jack Wilshere out to the left was brought down superbly by the Dane, who then cut inside with a deft backheel before curling a low shot into the bottom right corner.

Before Ipswich could recover, it was 2-0.

Goalkeeper Marton Fulop came to punch a left-wing corner from Andrey Arshavin, but got nowhere near the ball as Koscielny headed in from six yards.

Chants of 'Wembley' started to ring out around the stadium as the Gunners fans began to dream of an end to their six-season trophy drought.

There was a warning, though, when substitute Jason Scotland broke into the left of the penalty area and his angled shot was saved at the near post.

Fabregas, however, ended any hopes of a comeback after 77 minutes when he slotted home after being played in by Arshavin following a surging 40-yard run.