We are now set for an all London F.A. Cup Final after Arsenal booked their place yesterday with a win over Manchester City
Pep Guardiola now has to face with his first ever trophyless season in charge after Semi Final disappointment yesterday
He and everyone else connected with City will no doubt feel aggrieved by the incorrect decision to rule out a perfectly good goal just before the end of the first half
Once again an Assistant Referee has made a big mistake in a major Wembley showpiece
These big games should not be decided by errors of this nature
A harsh decision that went again City as the ball was wrongly ajduged to have gone out of play
Admittedly it was a tight call but at the end of the day if you cannot be one hundred percent sure then you should not be giving the decisions
In regards to the football though, City will also be frustrated at the fact that they should have had a first half penalty after Alex Oxlade Chamberlain’s clumsy tackle on Sergio Aguero
The England international who was once again deployed as a wing back will have to consider himself lucky that a penalty was not awarded in the first half
He was deployed in the same role yesterday as that of last Monday as Arsene Wenger once again opted for the back three in defence
And you have to say it worked, Arsenal perhaps rode their luck at times not just due to refereeing decisions but City also hitting woodwork
But you have to give credit to Arsenal that the longer the game went on the more they grew into the game
It was first blood to City though after a goalless first half
Arsenal were hit on the counter and it was a one on one race between Aguero and Arsenal’s Nacho Monreal
It looked as if at one point Monreal would avert the danger but the diminutive Argentine international Aguero found the extra gears to dink the ball over an oncoming Petr Cech
How would Arsenal react?
The answer was positively as City were pegged back within nine Second half minutes
Arsenal’s two wing backs combined as Oxlade-Chamberlain’s cross was volleyed home by Monreal who ghosted in at the back post
Parity had been restored and extra time loomed closer
Not before Yaya Toure saw a volley tipped onto the post and Fernandinho saw a header cannon onto the bar
At this point you got the feeling that it might not have been City’s day
Danny Welbeck nearly rendered extra time needless as his jinking run presented the opportunity to score
He curled the ball just high of the crossbar when perhaps it would have been wiser to lay the ball of to Alexis Sanchez
But it would be Sanchez who would put Arsenal ahead in extra time
City failed to clear a free kick and Sanchez eventually dug the ball out of his feet to fire pass compatriot Claudio Bravo
Arsenal ahead and they had just 20 or so minutes to see out
And they would do so with City running out of attacking options what with Aguero already having been substituted
City looked devoid of ideas as they started to wilt in the late April sun
Arsenal were resolute enough to hold out and they look forward to a rubber match with Chelsea after a league win apiece this season
It was certainly a game of attrition and City will now have injury concerns going into the all important Manchester Derby on Thursday with both Sergio Aguero and David Silva doubtful
Does that win boost Arsene Wenger’s chances of staying on
He was being coy in the press conference afterwards saying that he knows the day he will leave but is not telling anyone the date
Will an F.A. Cup Final be the last we see of Wenger and if so will his time at the Arsenal helm end up having a happy ending.
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