Emirates Cup semi-annual report: Sheffield United 1-2 Arsenal

Dani Ceballos’ injury winner resolved a dramatic Emirates FA Cup quarter-final and led Arsenal in the last four games.

Sheffield United seemed to have forced overtime when David McGoldrick equalized three minutes from time after Nicolas Pepe’s first-half penalty had given visitors the lead.

Ceballos’ late goal means that the 13-time winners joined Manchester United – who scored a goal of their own against Norwich City on Saturday – in the semifinals.

Arsenal and Sheffield United had already had a history in the Emirates FA Cup, contending a memorable 2003 semifinal for David Seaman’s incredible parade and a controversial fifth-round tie in 1999 that Arsenal offered to repeat after scored their goal in the opening game while a Blades player was injured.

Home manager Chris Wilder retained six of the players who started the overtime win over Reading in the fifth round 117 days earlier, while only four of Arsenal’s starting XI against Portsmouth kept their place with the likes of Pepe , Alexandre Lacazette and Granit Xhaka arriving in.

Before kick-off, the two sides took part in a minute of applause in homage to the work of the National Health Service during the COVID-19 pandemic before taking the knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

The Blades started the game as the brighter side and had the ball in the net after just eight minutes. However, with the help of the VAR, referee Paul Tierney decreed that John Lundstram was offside when he passed Emiliano Martinez.

After that first fear, Arsenal responded well and soon they were the beneficiaries of another VAR decision when, after Lacazette was killed by Chris Basham, a penalty was awarded in the 25th minute and Pepe duly passed Dean Henderson.

Pepe, an Ivory Coast international, was about to score a second shortly afterwards, but his leadership was largely overturned by Henderson, who also denied Lacazette shortly thereafter.

The last part of the opening period was interrupted by injuries, with Lundstram forced to retire while Oli McBurnie and Joe Willock both requested treatment after a clash of heads.

Shortly before the start of seven minutes of injury in the first half, Pepe approached again when he attacked the cutback of Kieran Tierney only to slide the ball just outside the United goal.

After a subdued start in the second half, the home team almost drew in incredible circumstances when Henderson’s long kick forward catches the wind and bounces off his opposite number, Martinez, before cutting the top of the crossbar.

United put the ball in the net for the second time a few moments later, when John Egan scored a header, but teammate McGoldrick was offside previously.

Then, at the sign of the hour, Jack Robinson’s sumptuous cross from the left hit Basham on the rear pole, but his header somehow widened when the hosts increased the pressure.

A flurry of substitutions from the second half brought the pace out of the game, as well as the second of the two interruptions introduced in the games with the competition that is now played for the first time in the summer.

Feeling that the Gunners would hold out to secure their spot in the past four, Sead Kolasinac’s inability to face a long pitch offered McGoldrick the chance to go home, which he duly took for an 87th draw. minute.

Not happy with the leveling of the scores, the Blades went in search of a winning goal while the substitute Billy Sharp made a nice save from Henderson.

But instead it was the visitors who found the decisive goal, given that a counterattack ended with Ceballos, also a substitute, who slid the ball from a narrow angle in the second half.

Sheffield United: Sheffield United: 1 Dean Henderson, 2 George Baldock, 3 Enda Stevens, 4 John Fleck, 6 Chris Basham, 7 John Lundstram, 9 Oli McBurnie, 12 John Egan, 16 Ollie Norwood (C), 17 David McGoldrick, 19 Jack Robinson

replacements: 32 Sander Berge for Lundstram 35 ‘, 18 Kieron Freeman for Baldock 63’, 10 Billy Sharp for Basham 75 ‘

Unused substitutes: 25 Simon Moore (GK), 8 Luke Freeman, 15 Phil Jagielka, 22 Lys Mousset, 23 Ben Osborn, 30 Richairo Zivkovic

Objective: David McGoldrick 87 ‘

Yellow cards: John Fleck 30 ‘and Jack Robinson 75’

Manager: Chris Wilder

Arsenal: 26 Emiliano Martinez, 3 Kieran Tierney, 9 Alexandre Lacazette (C), 15 Ainsley Maitland-Niles, 19 Nicolas Pepe, 20 Shkodran Mustafi, 23 David Luiz, 28 Joe Willock, 31 Sead Kolasinac, 34 Granite Xhaka, 77 Bukayo Saka

replacements: 16 Rob Holding for Luiz 54 ‘, 8 Dani Ceballos for Willock 67’, 30 Eddie Nketiah for Lacazette 67 ‘, 5 Socrates for Pepe 90 + 3’

Unused substitutes: 33 Matt Macey (GK), 2 Hector Bellerin, 14 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, 24 Reiss Nelson, 57 Matt Smith

targets: Nicolas Pepe (penalty) 25 ‘and Dani Ceballos 90 + 1’

Manager: Mikel Arteta

Referee: Paul Tierney