Manchester United Through To Wembley As Patchwork Team Eliminates Arsenal, 2-0

Arsenal will have been knocked out of three competitions in two weeks as well as losing goalkeeper Wojiech Szczesny to a dislocated finger and now Djourou to what looks like a dislocated shoulder. Talk about a rough fortnight for them.

Arsenal dominated possession, and by the end of the half they looked the more dangerous side, but that was only after Manchester United had taken a lead, with their indistinguishable Brazilian twins seeing a half of endless work pay-off in the 28th minute, Fabio da Silva giving Manchester United a 1-0 lead. Arsenal now has 45 minutes to find a goal against a defender-laden United set-up else face elimination from a third competition in two weeks.

In the 16th minute Manchester United produced the match’s first real chance, with Fabio da Silva crossing from the left flank for his brother. Lazy defending by Arsenal allowed Rafael to get ball side on his man (Kieran Gibbs) while the left center half (Laurent Koscielny) stood idle. Finding himself in an uncustomary position, Rafael applied no technique to the header, putting his shot over the bar.

Arsenal FC have had the much better of the possession in the first half of their FA Cup tie against Manchester United, but it always seemed like the two teams were about equally likely to score. Fabio da Silva’s goal in the 28th minute exemplified that, as it came at the end of a great counter-attacking move. The 1-0 scoreline, along with the way United are playing at the moment, is probably going to force both teams into some changes in the second half if the score stays the way it is at the moment.

Tomas Rosicky was somewhat of a surprise exclusion, and he will probably make an appearance at some point. Denilson hasn’t been terribly effective in the midfield for Arsenal, and he will probably be the man removed. If things get really desperate, Wenger could also opt to remove either Denilson or Abou Diaby for Marouane Chamakh.