Arsenal 0 Manchester United 1: Cancel the Cardiff hotel bookings!

Jose fends off Wes Brown

Semi Finals are almost always great occasions; they’ve always been a major day out for the fans but these days no one gives a shit about the fans. Traffic at a standstill on the M6 is never funny at the best of times least of all when you are struggling to make the kick off despite allowing loads of time. So was the match delayed for the paying spectator? Was it ****! Thanks to some power walking we managed to get in just as the game kicked off but there were many that didn’t.

This match report has been written, as it often is, without benefit of TV replays, mainly because I couldn’t bear to watch it again on telly. So it will no doubt contain the usual inaccuracies, but because it was written with the aid of notes it is how I saw the game as it unfolded from the Holte End upper. If you’re looking for an unbiased or even accurate appraisal you’re best advised to go elsewhere.

The Mancs kicked off towards the Holte End on a pitch that had obviously suffered some heavy rain prior to the match and this made for a very slippery surface. Edu chopped Ronaldo on a run before Neville hit a cross that was far too deep. Then we blitzed them in a manner that suggested that Arsenal would take them apart, had we scored at this stage we may well have done, but then again football has always been a game of what-ifs and this one was no exception. Denis had one headed off the line. From the pressure that followed a great chip from Edu beat Carroll and bounced back for Kolo to head goalwards but Carroll saved for another corner. Had I known then what I know now I would have realised that this was not to be our day. Sometimes, no matter what you do you just can’t win.

Scholes was very high on Vieira and we won a free kick, it was one of numerous fouls designed to disrupt our rhythm and prevent our pass and move play that were not greeted with the deserved punishment of a yellow card from Graham Barber. A card generally prevents the assailant from repeating the offence but Keane and Fletcher were positively encouraged to carry on kicking which they did. Clichy, in for the injured Cole, hit a fine ball for Dennis to head on but in the main Clichy was stuck back marking Ronaldo who hugged the right hand touchline for United. When the ball reached him United flooded forward, otherwise the cheating little baby faced assassin was left to wander around on his own high up the pitch.

Aliadiere was our most forward player, and he made numerous runs to draw the Manc defenders out of position but the support he got from Freddie and Rob was pretty well non existent before the break. Inevitably Gooners were baying for his illustrious replacement to appear but this was unfair on a youngster who wasn’t supported as he should have been and who received poor service. The Mancs Christmas tree worked for them, it wasn’t pretty but pretty doesn’t win a semi final, kicking lumps out of the opponent wins semi finals. That and finding the net.

Christine Ronaldo in typical pose

Ronaldo was there main man in the first half; he got in no end of crosses that caused problems. We coped well enough and conceded a lot of corners as a result but he was a pain that needed kicking into touch, unfortunately Gael is not as ruthless as Ashley is. Giggs had a shot after beating Kolo who slipped. Campbell hit a decent ball for Aliadiere and Pat was late on Fletcher because he’d had enough of being kicked. Gael conceded a free kick on Ronaldo in a dangerous position but it came to nothing. Freddie had a run and chip that was too high but United were pressing as Sol headed two crosses out from Ronaldo for corners. We were giving the ball away as often as we were finding our man, or so it seemed. A mock fake messed up free kick by United was jeered but it nearly got a spare man in at the back post.

Aliadiere was taken out but the prat Barber ignored it. Pat stormed forward with a tasty solo and found Dennis who’s cross was teed up for a Pires header. Rob got high but didn’t get over the ball that he should have buried instead of heading over, John Radford eat your heart out! Pat headed clear at the other end and Scholes found Giggs who shot straight at Jens. Neville ran into our half to climb all over Pires back and should have got a card, but Barber booked Rob for trying to swat the ****. Denis won a corner with a solo. Pires took it and found Sol deep before Silvestre with his arms out wide handled the ball. There was a mass appeal by the Arsenal players, always a sure sign of a certain pen, but Barber bottled in front of the Manc fans. It you hold your arms out wide in the box and it hits them it’s a penalty, there was no avoiding measures and we had players in the box waiting.

Keane took Pires out off the ball. We failed to work our way out of our own box a couple of times and lost possession a couple of times. Hoofing clear is not the Arsenal way these days, but you could almost see it coming. Our failure to clear resulted in a Giggs cross that found Scholes making a well timed run and he connected with a low drive that Jens couldn’t have seen much of as it hit the corner of our net. 1-0 United. Dennis got through but was flagged for either offside or a foul, I couldn’t tell. Freddie went down in their box and we got a corner. The corner was deep and headed over by Sol. Great tackle by Edu on Keane won the white shirts a free kick as Barber bemused the Arsenal. Keane fouled Dennis and we won a free kick to derisive cheers aimed at Barber. A Pires ball in was headed out for another corner. And we won another that the keeper held. Another Ronaldo cross, another header out by Sol for a corner. Pires headed this one away.

Jose is a victim of Scholes thuggery, and Pat ain't amused

Ronaldo tripped Pat and the free kick by Bergkamp was headed clear by O’Shea for another corner. Dennis had a shot blocked before Fletcher was high on Edu and moaned endlessly about the free kick, good to see Fletcher is being bought up in the traditional Manc way. We were in the minute added and I think it was from this ball in that Pat’s headed hit the post with the keeper beaten. Sign enough that it wasn’t to be our day. One other incident I recall was Jens making a hairy flying tackle early in the game, it was the sort or ‘oh dear tackle’ that wanted to make you shut your eyes, he was probably lucky it came off and not him.

We stormed the start of the second half, just as we had in the first half, but without reward. We pressed through Dennis and then Lauren and then a spell of flowing football that deserved more. Ronaldo crossed, from the left this time, and Fletcher had a shot blocked. Dennis went down in the box but it didn’t convince me, never mind Barber. Edu cut out a great ball forward. Some nonsense from Ronaldo wound up our German enough to shove him over, for which Jens escaped with a yellow card. A spell followed where I was convinced that Barber was playing for United, it was helter-skelter almost boiling over stuff with every free kick going their way. Freddie went on a chase before Henry and Reyes replaced Aliadiere and Pires.

Handball by Scholes, clear as a bell but not given. Pat was fouled wide right but Dennis hit the free kick too deep, both sides did this a lot on the day. Freddie was clipped on halfway when we were off and running but did Barber play advantage, did he ****! Pat went tumbling down and Barber continued to wind up the Gooners by ignoring it. Silvestre hacked away at Reyes for a certain card but none was given, not so much as a word. A series of one-twos was followed by a shot from Henry that was blocked. Silvestre then fouled Henry but Barber was on another planet at the time. Pat was hacked down by Keane for his third bookable offence, none of which were carded. Reyes had a fine solo and almost sneaked through. Ronaldo was caught offside in a rare United counter, it was all Arsenal at this point.

A great flick by Jose to Edu who took it on the run but couldn’t control his shot. Time wasting was rife. Keane fouled Reyes as play was waved on till Henry shot. Henry broke again and Reyes shot this time. Then we pressed via Freddie. Henry called offside from a Bergkamp ball, very close. Scholes took out Reyes with an x-certificate tackle that was worthy of a twenty-man brawl and a red card. The ginger **** was let off with a yellow as Reyes required extensive treatment that has now put him out of the picture for a while. Solskjaer came off to be replaced by the really ugly Neville. Handball by Silvestre yet again after a neat Henry back heel. Kanu on for Edu as Wenger threw in the kitchen sink. Kolo picked up a yellow card for what looked like a well-timed tackle, he certainly thought so. Ronaldo had a shot deflected but Jens caught it.

Wenger - Not a happy man

More time wasting before Lauren axed Giggs for a yellow, a worthy yellow and just as bad as all the other worthy yellows not given by Barber. Reyes meanwhile had limped back into the fray and was battling on and chasing everything. Freddie’s shot won a corner from Kanu’s cross. Fine stuff from Gael set us off again. Ronaldo replaced by Bellion. Kanu was hacked in the box for a corner, which was cleared once Henry fired it in. Jens disputed a corner as United continued to waste time. The board went up for paltry three minutes added time, which was about how long it had taken Ronaldo to crawl off the pitch. We still might have saved the day when Freddie found Reyes with a cross that he could only hit into the ground without too much power. Reyes also chested one down for Henry to hoof over. Even a flash of keeper’s orange appearing in their box couldn’t grant us an equaliser. Freddie had been off the field for what we assumed was a patch up job for a dislocated finger, turns out the poor bugger was bravely playing on with a broken hand but I didn’t see how it happened.

At the end of the day crap refereeing only winds the fans up, it doesn’t win matches. United probably wanted to win it more than us as is evidenced by the teams that were put out and the substitutions made. We didn’t play as well as we can and United’s tactics worked because Barber let them get away with murder. Then again I knew what Barber was like before kick off and expected nothing else, we should have known it wasn’t to be our day after the first five minutes.