Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s double sent Arsenal to the FA Cup final after showing the perfect mix of grit and cunning to beat Manchester City 2-0.
Fresh from beating Liverpool in the Premier League, Mikel Arteta’s team had to defend much of this semifinal, but thwarted City and hit twice on the counterattack in Aubameyang.
The Gunners took the lead (19) when the attacker finished an 18-pass move with a wonderfully controlled finish on the rear post before doubling the lead (71) when he broke a lopsided City offside trap and touched Ederson.
The city could not complain about the result as they rarely tested Emiliano Martínez, who was protected by an exceptional defensive performance led by David Luiz and Kieran Tierney.
Arsenal will play the winners of Sunday’s second semifinal between Manchester United and Chelsea in the final, which will be played on Saturday 1 August.
How Arteta passed the Pep …
Arsenal’s last win in this game was the English Cup semi-final in 2017, between seven straight defeats against Pep Guardiola’s side. However, supported by a victory over Wednesday’s champions, confidence was high.
Shkodran Mustafi put his team in trouble when he lost Raheem Sterling in his box but City couldn’t take advantage of it. The possession was dominated by the City, but they did little and the best chance of the early stages fell on Arsenal when Aubameyang was played on the field while collecting the delivery of Luiz but shooting straight at Ederson.
City usually won’t let you miss these opportunities, but Aubameyang made some fines after leading the ball home from a tight corner following a brilliant Nicolas Pepe cross that hit Kyle Walker.
Kevin De Bruyne summed up City’s lack of skill when he played a rare free ball directly to Alexandre Lacazette, but Aubameyang was unable to find a way around Ederson.
Guardiola sent his players early for the second half and they increased the intensity but they couldn’t find the finish line while Sterling squandered a glorious 12-yard chance after a brilliant game by De Bruyne.
Sterling then managed to jump from distance to the blank point when the ball rebounded from England forward after a corner by De Bruyne. The Belgian master was now pulling the ropes and David Silva was the next man to miss a good opportunity, side by side placing another six-meter-wide cross by De Bruyne.
Arsenal resisted, but brought a huge threat on the counterattack and significantly doubled the lead with 20 minutes remaining.
Aubameyang, played by Benjamin Mendy, challenged Tierney’s superb ball to the head and sent Arsenal to its 21st FA Cup final.
Match man: David Luiz
It has taken its fair share of criticism, so it is right to highlight and beat the drum on this immense individual who comes from the Brazilian.
Not only did he win 100% of his aerial duels, he made 11 games while City filled his box but was greeted by a colossal performance.
His influence was contagious with Tierney by his side who stepped forward to match his defensive splendor and even the inconsistent Mustafi grew stronger. If Arsenal can continue to play with this type of cohesion and confusion in the back, the future could be exciting.
“Arsenal was impeccable”
Sky Sports expert Lee Hendrie:
“There is no one who can criticize that part of Arsenal. The pace of work, the clinical refinements that we have seen from Aubameyang, everything. In the face, they put their stall outside and it worked wonderfully.
“I fully deserved it and I’m happy for Mikel Arteta, because he had two games in a week in which they showed they can compete. If they can add to that team and play like I did, I’m talking about Luiz, Tierney Mustafi behind, if they manage to perform on that week-in, week-out, Arsenal has a chance.
“When Manchester City went against the tide, I saw Jamie Vardy in Leicester do it, they really seem to be struggling with the space they leave. They play very fast and smooth football going forward – but we know they can be surprised.
“I had Manchester City on the ground to do the high notes, I had the feeling that they would do. The situation of the league with Liverpool that dominated, I felt that they would, but there is a great reconstruction there for Pep Guardiola.”
What the managers said
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta: “We are really happy with what has happened in the last four or five days. Beating probably the two best teams in Europe is the best thing to do, so give players credit for what they are doing, their performance and level of struggle they are showing.
Manchester City chief Pep Guardiola said: “You can lose the football games, but the way we lost especially in the first half means that we are sad about it. We fought to be there in the game in the first half. That’s why we lost the game. If we played like we did we did in the second half with aggression and the desire to win maybe it would have been different. These players have shown many things but in the first we have not shown, they were not ready. Our performance against Bournemouth was not good and so it is It was this first half. We are struggling to find our normal level. It doesn’t take a genius to understand that we will have to raise our standards against Real Madrid. “
Opt for statistics
- The city was eliminated by a national cup draw (League Cup and FA Cup) for the first time since February 2018 (FA Cup 5th Round v Wigan), with this their 22nd draw since that game.
- City only had one shot on goal in this match, the least in a Champions League game since April 2018 against Liverpool (0).
- Pepe has been involved in 17 goals in all competitions for Arsenal this season (8 goals, 9 assists) – only Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (27) has been involved in more.
What’s next?
Tuesday 21 July at 20:00
It starts at 20:15
Arsenal ended the season in the Premier League with matches against Aston Villa (a) on Wednesday and Watford (h) on Sunday. Meanwhile, Manchester City will face Watford (h) on Tuesday and Norwich (h) on the last day. All four games are active Sky Sports.
