United smash Arsenal to book quarter-final ticket
WEM-BER-LEY?
By Chris
February 17 2008
Manchester United cruised into the last eight of the F.A Cup following a 4-0 demolition of injury-ravaged Arsenal at Old Trafford. The Red Devils put the misery of the Manchester derby firmly behind them with a crushing victory of the Premier League leaders. Wayne Rooney opened the scoring, Nani netted a fine strike and Darren Fletcher netted a surprise brace for Sir Alex's rampant side.
Team selection appeared to be dictated by forthcoming Champions League fixtures. United left Cristinao Ronaldo, supposedly suffering from sickness, and Ryan Giggs out of the match-day sixteen; whilst Arsenal left Emmanuel Adebayor and Mathieu Flamini on the substitute’s bench. The hosts, however, showed no signs of missing their absentees as they raced into an early lead. Arsenal failed to clear a Nani corner and Rooney was on hand to drill passed Jens Lehman after Anderson headed the ball into the six-yard box. The Gooners looked deflated and it was no surprise to see United double their lead four minutes later. Nani, dangerous throughout, sent a superb cross into the Scotsman who nodded home at the near post. The quarter-finals were firmly in grasp and United never looked back with a thoroughly dominant display. The result was put beyond reasonable doubt on 38 minutes as Nani turned home an excellent through ball from Michael Carrick. In stark contrast to the jeers of last Sunday, United’s players headed down the tunnel to rapturous applause from all four corners of a packed ground.
Arsenal, frustrated by United's dominance, went down to 10-men on 48 minutes as Emmanuel Eboue was dismissed for a disgusting high challenge on Patrice Evra. The defender then showed a pathetic display of petulance as he refused to leave the field of play before being bundled off by the Gooners’ embarrassed backroom staff. The half was dominated by the Reds once again. Rooney terrorised Arsene Wenger's men but couldn't add to his tally. Fletcher, however, raised a few eyebrows by nodding home his second with 16 minutes to go. Nani lofted an inch-perfect cross to the Scot who lost his market before sending his effort home. United drove forward looking for a fifth and William Gallas was lucky to escape a late red card with an awful kick-out at Nani. Substitute Louis Saha almost netted a late strike but there was to be no further punishment for the Londoners who had taken a total confidence bashing at the hands of the Champions. Full Time – Manchester United 4-0 Arsenal
Attendance – 75,550
Proves that your back up/reserve players are better equipped than theirs much to the annoyance of the media I imagine.
Still, remains to be seen if their full strength team crack in this high-pressure section of the season.
(By the way - Not sure about so much red in this new look forum tbh!)
.
"It is born out of hypocrisy and fundamental insecurity. There have been two kids on the block for the past 12 years. Suddenly, there is a third and that one is threatening to be more successful than the others and they don’t like it." P Kenyon.