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FA Cup Semifinal

Arsenal have been drawn against Manchester United in the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

The winner of this April 4 match at Villa Park will face the winner of a battle between Nationwide League sides -- Sunderland vs. Millwall or Tranmere.

The Gunners have reached the last four of the competition for a record 24th time and are one win away from a record fourth successive final.

Arsenal reached the semi-finals with a 5-1 win at Portsmouth on Saturday. United advanced to the last four after a 2-1 victory over Fulham.

Arsenal have faced top-flight opposition in every round of this season's competition after victories over Leeds United, Middlesbrough, Chelsea and Portsmouth.

Personally I like both teams, but if I had to choose who to win, I would have to say Arsenal.

Arsenal will wear their traditional home "red strip" tomorrow at Villa Park in Birmingham, Enlgand.

The shadow of 1999 looms large over tomorrow's FA Cup Semi-Final.

The same combatants, Arsenal and Manchester United, met five years ago at the same round of the same competition at the same venue. After a forgettable first game, the two sides swapped goals in the replay before the drama unfolded. Roy Keane was sent off, Dennis Bergkamp missed a penalty in the last minute of normal time and then a stunning solo goal by Ryan Giggs won the game just before penalties where required.

Double-holders Arsenal were defeated and Manchester United went on to scoop the treble. Ironically, Arsène Wenger’s side have that very achievement in their sights right now and three days after this massive game, there is the little matter of Chelsea at Highbury for a place in the last four of the Champions League.

But, for now, Villa Park is the focus and, mentally at least, 1999 is never far away. That Semi-Final is widely thought to have inspired Manchester United to their great heights that season, the Arsenal manager certainly believes "it had a bearing" on his side losing their grip on the League title.

“It was a defining moment in both Manchester United’s and our season,” he said. “It gave them that boost to go on.

“If we had won that game then maybe we would have been under less pressure and won the Double again.”

As a consequence, there is no possibility of Wenger easing off on Saturday to concentrate on the other tasks ahead. The French believes nothing succeeds like success.

“You never know the psychological consequence of any defeat,” he said. “We are on a roll at the moment where every game is of huge importance. It is important that you win the next one because it has a consequence for the game after.

“You can’t say it is a small game if we have a chance of going to the Final again. It would be an historical achievement for us.”

That said, Wenger has much to consider before tomorrow's bid for a fourth successive Final. His side will play Saturday, Tuesday, Friday, Sunday as they bid for silverware on three fronts.

“We have four games in eight days and we can play extra time twice so I have to find a good balance,” said Wenger keeping it simple. “We just want to win every game. We don’t calculate too much.”

The definite non-starters on Saturday are Ashley Cole (knee), Pascal Cygan (ankle), Gilberto (international commitments), Ray Parlour (knee), Stuart Taylor (shoulder) and Sylvain Wiltord (match fitness).

The definite starters include Patrick Vieira, Robert Pires and, in place of Cole, 18-year-old Gael Clichy. Question marks remain over whether he will use the fully-fit Thierry Henry or Freddie Ljungberg, who has a slight groin problem.

If selected, Bergkamp has the perfect desire for Saturday’s tie. The Dutchman stepped up to take the spot-kick after Parlour was fouled in the 89th minute. His contact was sound but Peter Schmeichel flung himself to his left to tip it aside. A bad memory.

“I am sure he’ll use this opportunity to put that right,” said Wenger when asked about the in-form striker. “I feel Dennis is looking really sharp at the moment.

“He had good preparation this season. Last season he had little niggles that meant you pulled him out of training but that has not happen this year.”

For those Arsenal players who were not around in 1999, they only have to ask Bergkamp for motivation on Saturday.

If scores are level after 90 minutes on Saturday, the teams will play 30 minutes of extra time. If scores remain level, the winners will be decided by a penalty shoot-out.

Match Preview

Arsene Wenger's team sit on the top of the Premiership unbeaten and their League form has carried over into The FA Cup with both Leeds United and Middlesbrough comprehensively beaten 4-1 in previous rounds.

In the Fifth Round Arsenal took on Chelsea in The Cup for the fourth consecutive season and while they fell behind to Adrian Mutu's goal, a second half double from Jose Antonio Reyes saw the Gunners win 2-1 and go safely through to the Sixth Round where they faced Portsmouth.

Arsenal's forward play at Fratton Park was outstanding as they scored five wondeful goals - Thierry Henry and Freddie Ljungberg both registering braces.

United beat Northampton Town 3-0 at the Sixfields Stadium in the Fourth Round, following a strong performance away to Aston Villa in the Third Round, where Paul Scholes scored twice.

In the Fifth Round United accounted for City in an entertaining match which finished 4-2. Ruud van Nistelrooy scored twice to add to further goals from Scholes and Ronaldo to dump Kevin Keegan's side out of the competition.

Another home draw in the Sixth Round saw a Ruud van Nistelrooy double enable United come from behind against bogey-team Fulham.

Sir Alex Ferguson's side are looking for a first FA Cup win since their record-breaking tenth win in 1999, the year they claimed their historic Treble.

Team News

Ashley Cole will be absent due to a knee injury whilst Gilberto Silva will also miss the big match as Arsenal face four crucial matches in nine days.

Ruud van Nistelrooy is also doubtful after he also picked up a knee problem. If the Dutchman is out then Diego Forlan, who scored against Northamption Town in The Cup, should play.

Louis Saha is cup-tied having played for Fulham in the Third Round this season while Nicky Butt and Phil Neville may also miss the match.

Magic Moments

Arsenal's two 4-1 victories saw some fabulous goals go in but none could compare with Jose Antonio Reyes' magnificent strike that saw the Gunners draw level in their Fifth Round match against London rivals Chelsea at Highbury.

Beating Manchester City at home pleased the Old Trafford crowd as did the manner of the win. In a wonderfully free-flowing game, United raced into a 4-1 lead but were pegged back to 4-2 before being put under real pressure at the end.

Cup Run 2003/04

3rd Round
Leeds Utd 1-4 Arsenal
Aston Villa 1-2 Man Utd

4th Round
Arsenal 4-1 Middlesbrough
Northampton 0-3 Man Utd

5th Round
Arsenal 2-1
Chelsea Man Utd 4-2 Man City

6th Round
Portsmouth 1-5 Arsenal
Man Utd 2-1 Fulham

FA Cup Pedigree

Arsenal have enjoyed a golden few years of FA Cup success, winning the competition three times in the last six years. In all, the Gunners have won the Cup nine times.

The Gunners reached three consecutive Finals between 1978 and 1980 but only won once - Alan Sunderland's late goal edging Manchester United 3-2 in the classic 1979 Final.

Should Arsenal make it through to another Final this year, they would become the first club to feature in four successive Finals and were they to win they would emulate a Cup hat-trick last achieved by Blackburn Rovers in the 1880s.

Manchester United are the most successful team in the history of The FA Cup, having registered ten wins from their fifteen Final appearances.

But in the past three seasons United have failed to progress beyond the Fifth Round, losing to West Ham, Middlesbrough and Arsenal.

Arsenal v Manchester Utd -- Past FA Cup Meetings

Year, Round, Result
1906, Fourth Round, Manchester Utd 2-3 Arsenal
1937, Fourth Round, Arsenal 5-0 Manchester Utd
1951, Fifth Round, Manchester Utd 1-0 Arsenal
1962, Fourth Round, Manchester Utd 1-0 Arsenal
1979, Final, Arsenal 3-2 Manchester Utd
1983, Semi-Final, Arsenal 1-2 Manchester Utd
1988, Fifth Round, Arsenal 2-1 Manchester Utd
1999, Semi-Final, Manchester Utd 0-0 aet Arsenal
1999, Semi-Final Replay, Manchester Utd 2-1 OT Arsenal
2003, Fifth Round, Manchester Utd 0-2 Arsenal

Halftime @ Villa Park -- Manchester United 1-0 Arsenal.

Paul Scholes scored in the 32' on an assist from Ryan Giggs, while the Gunners' best opportunity came at the end of the half when Patrick Vieira headed a cross from Robert Pires off the far post on a free kick.

Starting lineups: Arsenal -- Lehmann, Lauren, Toure, Campbell, Clichy, Ljungberg, Vieira, Edu, Pires, Bergkamp, Aliadiere; Manchester United -- Carooll, G. Neville, Brown, Silvestre, O'Shea, Fletcher, Keane, Ronaldo, Giggs, Scholes, Sokskjaer.

58' -- first subs: Henry for Aliadiere and Reyes for Pires.

74' -- Manchester United subs P. Neville for Solskjaer. Just before, Scholes made a terrible foul on Reyes and received a yellow card. Lehmann earlier was carded for pushing a player (I think Ronaldo).

76' -- Kanu comes on for Edu.

FINAL: Manchester United 1-0 Arsenal

Man United will face either Sunderland or Millwall from the Nationwide League on May 22 in the FA Cup Final in Cardiff, Wales.

Arsenal has reached the semifinals of this competition five consecutive years and won the title in 2002 and 2003, while finishing as Runners-Up in 2001 to Liverpool.

Next up for the Gunners is a Champions League clash on Tuesday at Highbury vs. London-rivals Chelsea.

Kyle, I like the way you stopped posting updates when you realised Arsenal were about to go out!!! No mention of the numerous yellow cards recieved by Arsenal either!!! Also exempt are several glorious opportunities squandered by Henry, Reyes and Kanu!! Not to mention the first half chip by Edu, the follow up header by Campbell or the 1 v 1 Bergkamp & Carrol!!

That was the 11th straight domestic semi-final victory for Sir. Ferigie (who has never lost one). Arsenal kiss goodbye their hopes of a record 4th straight FA Cup Final.

To heap further misery on Kyle, I would like to point out that United started with NO first choice striker (Saha - cup tied, van Nistlerooy - inflammed knee), NO Tim Howard (who has been rested for the last 3 games due to his coming straight from MLS season in the summer) and NO Rio Ferdinand (banned). Arsenal cheekily rested Henry, and then introduced him too late for him to have an effect. Did you see in the first half they would take the ball to the middle third, and literally look for Henry - only to see Aliadiere or Bergy!!

Hope Sunderland win tomorrow to see Keane and McCarthy face off one last time!!


Arsenal 0 - 1 Chelsea on tuesday - thats my prediction.

PS - Forlan did not feature as he only arrived back in the UK last night (Friday) from international duty with Uruguay.

Af

Foley, congrats to the Mancs ... I've got big shoulders, so I can take the edgy defeat today ... Of the three competitions that Arsenal was vying for hardware, believe me when I tell you that the FA Cup was "worry #3" for myself -- heck, two in a row was a great feat ... I didn't get to see the match on TV, but listened on the internet via Arsenal.com, so the updates were just what I could gather from the Live Text feature and by listening ... The match I want to win is Tuesday at Highbury and I think most Gunners feel the same way -- let's get to the Semifinals of the UEFA Champions League and win the EPL -- suits me fine!

Kyle,

I hope that you're not thinking back to this stage last year?!

Remember the joke from last season...

Whats the difference between an arsonist and Arsenal FC??
An arsonist wouldn't throw his last 6 matches away!!!

That defeat today could (hopefully) start making Monsieur Henry and his mates thinking twice before scoring anymore goals that defy many different laws of physics!! Purely to make the run-in a little more entertaining!!

To lump further misery on Kyle and his beloved gunners it has emerged that wantaway star Freddie Ljunberg suffered a broken hand and Jose Antonio Reyes damaged his ankle ligaments in the defeat today - rendering both unavailible for at least three weeks!! Boo hoo!!!

Af

There's only one UNITED!!!

In this season of misery and disappointment, at least we have the FA Cup to fall back on. Now we have to go and win it!!!