Arsenal vs. Manchester United, 3 Apr 2004, Villa Park, FA Cup Semi-final

SAVED OUR SEASON! by Aaron Wong

Manchester United finally gave their suffering fans something to celebrate when they edged bitter rivals Arsenal 1-0 with an opportunistic strike from Paul Scholes. The England midfielder's 32nd minute howitzer means only First Division Millwall stands between United and their first FA Cup victory at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

Sir Alex Ferguson's amazing recod in domestic cup semi-finals continued with his tenth consecutive triumph, as United ground out a narrow win despite the absence of arguably their top two strikers and best defender. If not the best then certainly the most expensive - ₤62.8m of talent was conspicuously absent fromt the United team-sheet.

While United weer without Rio Ferdinand, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Louis Saha because they were suspended, injured and sup-tied respectively, Arsene Wenger's omission of Jose Antonio Reyes and Thierry Henry was borne of impudence, not incapacity.

As it happened, it seemed Wenger's gamble had paid off, as Arsenal exploded off the blocks, and could have gone 3-0 up within the first five minutes. Dennis Bergkamp, Edu and Kolo Toure were the villains, and United goalkeeper Roy Carroll the hero, as three gilt-edged chances were spurned by the usually clinical Gunners. Perhaps the difference was that Premiership top scorer Henry was not on hand to punish United.

As early as the third minute, Arsenal were presented with a chane by United's helter-skelter defensive positioning. Bergkamp was put through on the left, but by the time he had engineered a left foot snapshot, Carroll was already there to save with his feet. Perhaps Henry or Reyes's superior pace might have resulted in a more comfortable finishing position.

As the Dutchman collected the loose ball, Carroll was stranded, and torn between going for Bergkamp or scurrying back to cover the open goal. He did neither, and Bergkamp was able to curl a low shot towards goal on his natural right foot. but in the time that the United custodian had forced Bergkamp to take the extra touch to steady himself, Wes Brown had fallen back to clear with a diving header.

Almost immediately though, Arsenal worked the ball to Edu on the edge of the area. The Brazilian, in the form of his life this season, gracefully lifted the ball with his left foot and snt it arcing over the still shaken Carroll. Die-hard United fans may argue that despite the distinctly uncomfortable nature of the shot, the Northern Irishman had the lob covered. But anyway the shot hit the crossbar and went straight up in the air.

With the United defence still ball watching it seemed inevitable Toure would put the Gunners deservedly ahead, with Carroll still sprawled on the ground from the earlier attempt. The Ivory Coast international placed his header to the keeper's left. Being in the six-yard box with the keeper taken out of the equation, who could blame him? The shout was already in every Gooner's throat, but they dod not take into account Roy Carroll rising from the turf in the manner that he did. Flying through the air and seemingly defying gravity, he clawed the ball away from under the bar.

At that point it was hard to tell who drew the greater confidence from that amazing two-minute sequence, but suffice to say, the Red Devils were awoken from their stupor.

Soon after that, United had a chance of their own as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was released down the left, exploiting lauren's over-exuberant attacking commitment. But the Norwegian failed to stretch Jens Lehmann.

Ferguson's decision to unleash what must be seen as two of the Premiership's most feared wide men in Ryan Giggs and Cristiano Ronaldo stretched the Arsenal defence to breaking point. Teenage left back Gael Clichy in particular was being given a torrid examination by United's Portuguese wunderkind, and was booked for bringing another slalom surge to a clumsy conclusion.

Despite Ronaldo's lack of experience, being only 18 and having arrived only this season from the supposedly weaker Portuguese league (how Porto would scoff at this inference), Ronaldo's impact has been nothing short of spectacular. And on this display, he isn't shy to do it in the big games too.

While United had at least restored parity, Arsenal were still imperious whenever they had the ball, Fredrik Ljungberg should have done better in the 15th minute when he scuffed his shot.

United were hungrier and more desperate to win, the FA Cup being their last realistic hope for silverware this season. It appeared they had had remedial training at Carrington as well, as Giggs and Scholes executed a well-rehearsed free-kick routine. Both ran toward the ball simultaneously, turned away at the last instant in mock embarrassment, before Scholes suddenly turned and delivered a stinging ball in to the box that Arsenal just managed to clear. It was clear United were getting more confident.

In their last meeting, United harried and hassled Arsenal to a 1-1 draw, despite being outplayed for long periods. United stuck to the same game plan, this time with greater effect, as United's physical approach put Arsenal's aristocrats out of their stride.

Tackles were flying in from all over the place, and ironically it was Ronaldo who was on the receiving end of a bad tackle. He had to limp off to receive treatment, to the trepidation of the United bench. Though he was back on in minutes, he seemed to be gingerly trynig his leg out, and the worry was that the Red Devils' most potent weapon would have to be taken off.

That proved to be the least of United's worries, as what should have been a straightforward clearance by Mickael Silvestre went horribly wrong as the ball accidentally brushed his hand. 'Handball!' screamed the Arsenal fans, players and infamously myopic manager in unison, but the referee waved play on. Another fortunate incident, and perhaps it could turn out to be United's day, even more so as Pires ballooned a free header in the six-yard box.

And so it proved in the 32nd minute, as the ball was worked to a roving Ryan Giggs, this time on the right wing. Having got in behind the United rearguard, the opportunity was there for Giggs to shoot on his favourite left foot, but instead he looked for the opening.

Playing the ball a stride behind the desperately retreating Arsenal defence, the Welshman picked out Scholes, who made no mistake from 15 yards. With no player closing Scholes down, Lehmann was left stranded as the ball exploded off Scholes's right foot and billowed the German's net.

Having done so well initially, this sucker punch was a low blow to Arsenal, and they trooped dejectedly upfield as their opponents congregated in delirium. Eventually someone reminded them they still had 58 minutes to go, and now they faced ARsenal with renewed confidence.

it is said a team is most vulnerable immediately after they've scored, and it almost proved the case again. The largely anonymous Jeremie Aliadiere played a first-time ball into Ljungberg's path barely two minutes later, and if not for Silvestre's timely intervention, the Swede would have been through.

Arsenal were finishing the half strongly, but their weakness in the air was exposed as no one converted a flurry of corners and crosses. So on United's throw of the dice, Darren Fletcher took charge.

It seems every young British Manchester United midfielder with a right foot is being compared to a young David Beckham, but you can't go too wrong with young Scottish tyke Fletcher. Certianly on the lightweight side, and heavily dependent on his right foot as the England captain was, Fletcher's passing range belies one so young.

With five minutes to go to a well-earned half-time break, the United youth academy graduate lofted an exquisite through ball to release Ronaldo behind Clichy again. Although Ronaldo's low cross was cleared, Arsenal could scarcely allow United such expediency on the ball.

United survived a last-minute scare, just to jog their manager's pacemaker, as Roy Keane, under pressure from fellow skipper Patrick Vieira, headed against the foot of the post with Carroll stranded. United were riding their luck, but at least they had ridden it to the halfway mark.

United stuck with the system that served them well in the second half, with Solskjaer as the lone striker, but his rustiness showed as his first touch failed him on several occasions.

Five minutes into the half, and the match had its forst real moment of controversy. As Bergkamp burst into the box, he went down under presure with red shirts all around him, and he appealed for a penalty. John O'Shea berated Bergkamp for diving, and rightly so, as the replays proved.

Somwhow Wenger must have caught on that the Bergkamp-Aliadiere partnership wasn not working, and so on 58 minutes, he threw on his not-so-secret weapons, Henry and Reyes.

Other teams may have capitulated at the sight of those two coming fresh off the bench, but then United are hardly just another team. United stuck to their guns and continued to apply stifling presure on the outnumbered Arsenal midfield at every opportunity.

It seemed to work as Arsnal became increasingly desperate, the likes of Edu and Henry resorting to pot shots from 30 yards out. Perhaps henry's superlative strike the last time these two met was still fresh in his mind? This time though, Carroll remained untroubled.

The match threatened to boil over as goalscorer Scholes was about two weeks late with a knee-high studs-first challenge on Reyes. Arsenal soon forgot about that though, as two minutes later, Silvestre continued his passable impression of Liverpool defender Stephane Henchoz as the ball struck his hand in full view of the referee, but again the man in black shook his head.

United's resolute defending continued to frustrate the rudderless Gunners, and Lauren got himself into the referee's book with 10 minutes to go. Ronaldo concluded a good day at the office, coming off for David Bellions to give United a more balanced 4-4-2 formation.

Though it was slightly nervy at the end, the disconsolate Gunners lacked the ammunition, even with four strikers with Nwankwo Kanu's introduction.

A hearty handshake between both managers, not dissimilar to their animated gesticulations at flash points of the match, seemed a fitting way to end an engaging battle between England's finest.

It also ended Arsenal's dream of emulating United's 1999 Treble, but there was no denying the hungrier side had won. manchester United will be going to Cardiff, favourites to lift the FA Cup. Their season is saved.