Arsenal’s first win against Sheffield United in three attempts this season brought them to the FA Cup semifinals in a game that came alive in their closing minutes.
This was United’s first home game since the restart and Chris Wilder said at first that his players could have done it with the support of a partisan cup-tie crowd to improve their performance, the subsequent 90 minutes proved he was right. United managed to scare Arsenal in the end, but it only served to snap the Gunners out of their complacency and force them to show a bit more urgency.
The visitors led most of the game through a penalty from Nicolas Pépé in the first half, a situation that seemed comfortable for Mikel Arteta and his somewhat experimental side until David McGoldrick gave the Blades hope of extra time when the Arsenal’s defense failed to deal with a Jack Robinson long shot.
United could even have won the tie in the final minutes when a good save by Emiliano Martinez was needed to avoid a shot from Billy Sharp, but Arsenal went out of cruise control to find a winner of its own in the extra time. Bukayo Saka and Eddie Nketiah helped carry the ball forward energetically, and although substitute Dani Ceballos was forced to come out on the right, he surprised a defense who was expecting a cross by passing Dean Henderson from the narrowest angle.
“This is a difficult place to get to, so I am happy with the victory and, of course, happy to be back at Wembley,” said Arteta. “You have to take into account that we have played four games away from home. The performance was good and I like what Nicolas Pépé did. He is a player with incredible potential.”
The home team thought they had taken the lead in eight minutes, only to have VAR dismiss John Lundstram’s effort in the short range offside, with the ball in the center ready to restart. Lundstram had crossed the line after Oli McBurnie re-crossed the corner of Ollie Norwood, and Arsenal’s susceptibility to the set pieces was again exposed four minutes later, when McGoldrick was inches from sliding onto the far post after the first of Robinson’s longs. shooting
Arsenal had barely attacked when they took the lead midway through the first half, referee Paul Tierney carefully analyzed Chris Basham’s tackle from behind on Alexandre Lacazette before awarding a penalty. The verdict might have been a bit harsh for the defender, though there was no doubt that Lacazette had been caught. The striker was still off the field undergoing treatment when Pépé stepped forward to calmly pass the shot, passing Henderson, both regular Arsenal players temporarily out of service with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on the bench.
Pépé could have been on the scoreboard again in half an hour when he burst into space and fired early and on target, although this time the goalkeeper quickly came down to make a one-handed save. Visitor confidence grew after taking the lead, with Pépé and Joe Willock appearing well into the future, and Ainsley Maitland-Niles was always a ready outlet for overlaps on the right. Norwood brought a save from Martinez in the halftime shot, although the best chance of another goal before the interval fell at the other end for Pépé, who missed the point of a cut with most of the goal to aim for.
McBurnie opened the second half upon finding a Robinson shot with a header near the post, but Martinez was alert to danger. The Arsenal goalkeeper was a little more nervous when a Henderson punt caught the wind a couple of minutes later and a big rebound cleared his crossbar, but even when David Luiz left the field with an ankle injury, United couldn’t put to the Gunners’ defense under sustained pressure.
Rob Holding, David Luiz’s replacement, seemed a little rusty at first and gave the ball away on occasions, but Arsenal comfortably held on until McGoldrick’s close-range equalizer helped achieve an unexpectedly lively finish.
“The performance was better than our last two,” said a disappointed Wilder. “I thought the momentum might have been with us in the end, but we weren’t quality enough. We allowed them to respond to us, which is one of their strengths. “
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