Enzo Fernandez headed a first-half winner as Chelsea beat Leeds 1-0 at Wembley to seal their place in the FA Cup final four days after sacking head coach Liam Rosenior.
Chelsea put their poor recent form and off-field turmoil behind them to produce an improved display under interim head coach Calum McFarlane and as Leeds fell short of their recent standards, Fernandez's effort proved decisive.
The Blues will return to Wembley on 16 May to face Manchester City in the final - their first since 2022 when they lost to Liverpool on penalties.
Chelsea had the better of the semi-final but Leeds will be disappointed to have been unable to replicate the kind of display that has seen them effectively secure Premier League survival.
Brenden Aaronson drew a first-class save from Robert Sanchez in the first half before Joao Pedro fired against the inside of the post for Chelsea.
Pascal Struijk was guilty of giving away possession for the goal. Pedro Neto crossed from the right, Ethan Ampadu failed to reach it and Fernandez leapt to head in.
Another wonderful Sanchez save kept out Anton Stach's piledriver at the start of the second half, before Dominic Calvert-Lewin put a free header straight into the goalkeeper's gloves with Leeds' final chance.
Interim head coach Calum McFarlane was full of praise for Fernandez's match-winning display.
"He's done it all year," he said. "It's one of his biggest attributes, when you attack down the right, the timing of his runs, his ability to get good distance and height on his jumps, and his heading technique is really good.
"He's a winner, he's got so much talent, he's got so much fight. He's massive for this group.
"The best thing about Enzo is he can do a bit of everything, but when it gets tough you see the fight in him, you see him driving the group on.
"You see him making tackles, you see him fighting for every ball. He was exceptional today and he deserved his man of the match."
Leeds boss Daniel Farke reflected on a disappointing outcome to his team's first FA Cup semi-final since 1987.
"We come away disappointed," he said. "We gave our fans so much to dream about. Of course, would have loved to let them dream longer.
"In terms of stats, we were the better side, but we were not at our free-flowing best. A few unnecessary losses. You could tell the players were nervous.
"We showed great character. Many positives to take and to learn this game. Hopefully, we don't want 40 years for another chance for a semi-final. Today was not to be."
