After four minutes of stoppage time, the whistle was blown and Arsenal won the FA Cup final 2–1, to secure a record 13th title, while Arsène Wenger became the most successful manager in the tournament's history with seven wins.

As a Premier League team, Arsenal started their campaign in the third round and were drawn away at EFL Championship club Preston North End.

[2][3] At Deepdale, Callum Robinson put Preston ahead from close range in the seventh minute to give the home side a 1–0 lead at half-time.

A minute after the interval, Aaron Ramsey equalised with a powerful shot from the edge of the Preston penalty area before Olivier Giroud's deflected strike gave Arsenal a 2–1 victory.

[7] In the semi-final which took place at Wembley Stadium as a neutral venue, they played against fellow Premier League team Manchester City.

After a goalless first half, Sergio Agüero put Manchester City ahead on the hour mark before Nacho Monreal scored the equaliser with a volley from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's cross.

[8] Chelsea also started their FA Cup campaign in the third round where they were drawn at home at Stamford Bridge against League One side Peterborough United.

After a goalless first half, Pedro gave Chelsea the lead with a header midway through the second before Diego Costa secured a 2–0 win with a low strike in the 89th minute.

[11] In the quarter-final, Chelsea were drawn at home against fellow Premier League side and FA Cup holders Manchester United.

Son Heung-min was adjudged to have fouled on Victor Moses on 43 minutes and Willian converted the subsequent penalty to give Chelsea a 2–1 half-time lead.

Dele Alli equalised from a Christian Eriksen pass early in the second half but strikes from Eden Hazard and Nemanja Matić secured a 4–2 win for Chelsea and qualification for the final.

[17] The most recent meeting between the two teams was a league encounter in February 2017, Chelsea winning by three goals to one, a result which moved them 12 points clear in first position.

[18] The victory was significant given that Chelsea had lost the reverse fixture 3–0 in September 2016, in what BBC journalist Phil McNulty described as a "watershed moment" in their season.

[19] While Arsenal struggled to build momentum throughout autumn and winter, Chelsea manager Antonio Conte's tactical switch from 4–3–3 to 3–4–3 thereafter resulted in a 13-match winning run.

[26] Arsenal went on to win eight of their last nine fixtures, but Wenger suggested his team were not favourites: "it's quite even or maybe Chelsea are ahead, so it's a bit similar to what happened in the semi-final against Manchester City.

[36] The remaining 14,000 tickets were distributed to what the FA described as the "football family which includes volunteers representing counties, leagues, local clubs and charities".

[37] Security at Wembley Stadium was tightened in the wake of the Manchester Arena bombing and Arsenal cancelled a screening of the game at their ground.

[43] As they departed, the traditional Cup Final hymn, "Abide with Me" was sung by representatives of eight clubs, including Lincoln City, Guernsey, Millwall and Sutton United.

[43][44] Prince William, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, and FA chairman Greg Clarke laid wreaths on the pitch in tribute.

[16] Arsenal dominated the early stages of the match and opened the scoring with a goal from Sánchez in the fourth minute, shooting past the advancing goalkeeper from 6 yards (5.5 m) out with his right foot.

On 29 minutes, a quick break from Arsenal ended with Welbeck opting to shoot from a narrow angle and Cahill making another goal-line clearance.

Three minutes later, Sánchez's floated free kick fell to Granit Xhaka whose strike from distance was saved by Thibaut Courtois, the Chelsea goalkeeper.

In the 54th minute, Rob Holding was booked for bringing Costa down on the edge of the Arsenal penalty area: Pedro's subsequent free kick was headed clear by Mertesacker.

On 68 minutes, Moses fell in the Arsenal area while close to Monreal and appealed for a penalty but instead was shown his second yellow card by the referee for diving and was sent off.

[51] Man of the Match: Alexis Sánchez (Arsenal) Assistant referees:[52] Gary Beswick (Durham) Marc Perry (West Midlands) Fourth official:[52] Bobby Madley (West Yorkshire) Fifth official:[52] Adam Nunn (Wiltshire) Match rules[2] Winning the game secured a record 13th title for Arsenal, while Wenger became the most successful manager in the tournament's history with seven wins.

They surprised us a bit but I repeat our first 25 minutes weren't good ... Our season was incredible to win the league in this way, it was great but now its important to look forward and to restart.