Defender John Terry produced a towering performance to repay the faith shown in him by boss Claudio Ranieri amid a turbulent season of off-pitch controversy to lead Chelsea into the FA Cup final.

The 21-year-old defender, one of the short-listed candidates for PFA young player of the year, ought now to be looking forward to the World Cup, especially with injury worries over Sol Campbell and Rio Ferdinand.

However, charges following an alleged nightclub incident have seen to his international hopes for now and he has instead been left to concentrate on leading Chelsea into Europe.

That much was nevertheless achieved at Villa Park as Terry's deflected 41st-minute strike ensured semi-final victory over West London rivals Fulham.

The repercussions extended as far as Elland Road, as a final between Chelsea and Arsenal has ensured that Leeds, as well as Chelsea, will now also be in at least the UEFA Cup next season.

Through all of Terry's tribulations, however, Ranieri has resolutely stuck by him and this was due reward as the defender's centre-back partnership with Marcel Desailly held the side together throughout.

Ranieri, meanwhile, also provided an instant return on the new five-year contract which he had signed just two days earlier.

Where predecessors Glenn Hoddle, Ruud Gullit and Gianluca Vialli had taken the club before - even if Vialli's success did not save him from the sack - so Ranieri has now followed with their fourth final in eight years.

Fulham, in contrast, were attempting to reach the FA Cup final for only the second time in their history, but still could not fill their 19,000-seat allocation for probably their biggest game in 27 years.

It was still Chelsea who had an immediate problem though as Graeme Le Saux lasted all of three minutes before aggravating a calf injury and had to be replaced by Albert Ferrer.

Fulham were guilty of allowing Jesper Gronkjaer too much space down Chelsea's right flank, although there was little real service for prolific strike duo Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Eidur Gudjohnsen to capitalise on.

Indeed, it was Terry, sporting a headband to protect a wound that required 12 stitches last weekend, who first tested Edwin van der Sar with an acrobatic volley that was tipped over the crossbar.

Fulham were fighting too many fires in midfield to support their own front two and the first time assistance did arrive, it took a fine save by Carlo Cudicini to deny Sylvain Legwinski.

These were isolated incidents, however, and the game was badly crying out for inspiration when Mario Stanic embarked on a sparkling solo run past Andy Melville and John Collins.

The Chelsea midfielder was denied by van der Sar's legs but, from the ensuing corner, his side seized the lead.

Hasselbaink's delivery struck Mario Melchiot and the ball rebounded to Terry, whose shot from a tight angle was unwittingly deflected into his own net by Louis Saha.

Having paid for their own lack of tempo or adventure, Fulham were out early for the second half and clearly under orders to lay siege to the Chelsea goal.

So they did. Saha almost slipped through only for his control to let him down at the crucial moment, John Collins' jinking run ended in Steed Malbranque firing over the crossbar, while Sean Davis and Steve Marlet also threatened.

Chelsea were duly forced to dig deep, with Terry and Desailly both superb at the back while Emmanuel Petit provided an imposing midfield shield, before launching their own counter-attacking riposte at speed.

Petit's drive sped just a foot wide, while Gudjohnsen's curling lob came even closer as he struck the inside of the far post.

Tempers started to spill over as the tension increased, with two inviting chances to finish off the tie being spurned by Gudjohnsen.

First, he blazed the ball wildly over the crossbar and then he miskicked his finish as Gronkjaer's pace caused all manner of problems for Fulham on the counter-attack.

Cudicini made one late block but Jean Tigana's side never really threatened an equaliser as Chelsea's FA Cup final place was assured yet again.

The club's renaissance has been underpinned by this competition over the past eight years and Ranieri is now one game away from achieving a cup treble after similar past success in Spain and Italy.

Above all, he has Terry to thank for that.