Arsenal are in the FA cup final to face Chelsea after winning a very tight and topsy turvy semi-final against Manchester City, with Monreal cancelling out Aguero’s opener in normal time and Alexis Sanchez grabbing the winner in extra time.
This was a match between Arsenal and Man City at Wembley for a place in the FA cup final that was full of incident and plenty of controversy, especially in a frantic first half, which I have to admit that Arsenal were second best in.
Having said that you could arhgue that we could have had a penalty for a foul on Sanchez by Navas before the break, just as Man City fans thought Aguero should have had one earlier. We also both had the ball in the net but no goal after offside decisions.
After the restart it was much more promising as the Gunners pushed forward more and took some control back. But as we pressed City back it was a counter attack with Aguero that opened the scoring with just over an hour gone. You could point to Ramsey’s loss of the ball or Cech’s work but the City striker took it well.
Fortunately the lead did not last long as Monreal raced into the box to smash home a greast cross from the Ox less than 10 minutes later. It was pretty even after that with Arsenal probably the better side and creating chances but with the best two going to City and being denied by Cech and the woodwork.
That was true until our sub Welbeck raced into the box and had Ramsey or Alexis to find but he went for the corner and missed by inches, with his teammates fuming at the decision. As it was the game went into extra time that was a fair enough.
Six minutes into the first 15 Arsenal were so close to taking the lead with Ozil’s corner finding Holding but his free header went agonisingly just over the bar. Fatigue was kicking in and City lost Aguero for Delph. Welbeck and the Ox looked strong for Arsenal and Xhaka seemed to have the edge on Toure, but it was a nervous period for both sides.
Then BOOM The Gunners took th3e lead and fittingly enough the finish came from Alexis Sanchez who pounced after Welbeck missed. 20 minutes from the final. Two minutes before the break we had Gabriel to thank for a great block at the near post. Wenger made his second change to bring Belletrin on for the Ox and we had 15 minutes to go and it should have been clear daylight when Ozil found Welbeck at the far post but he put his header wide.
In the second 15 there were good chances for both and great tension as well as a few penalty calls but Arsenal held on. Ozil was out on his feet and replaced by Coquelin with just over a minute to go. JUst one additional minute from the ref had the Arsenal fans bouncing and that was that.
Arsenal in the FA cup final. COYG.