Man Utd 4 - 0 Arsenal
(Rooney 16 , Fletcher 20,74, Nani 38)
Manchester United produced a blistering display to send Arsenal out of the FA cup fifth round. Even the absence of Ronaldo, Giggs and Tevez did not stop them from dominating the game. Rooney scored the first goal from a cross on 16th minute and Darren Fletcher scored another headed goal from Nani’s cross four minutes later. Carrick then set up Nani to score the third and Nani again set up Darren Fletcher to score the fourth through the header on 74 minutes.
Both sides decided to rest some key players in view of there crucial champions league matches next week. United were without Ronaldo and Giggs while Tevez and Paul Scholes were on the bench. Arsenal also kept Adebayor and Flamini on the bench. But it was Arsenal who missed there key players the most in the opening half which was dominated by some superb performance from Rooney and Nani. Rooney, who missed the Derby match due to suspension made his return in an amazing fashion. He terrorized the Arsenal defense from the beginning and could have got around 4-5 goals alone. So great was his performance that even England manager Fabio Capello who was in the stands, applauded the striker when he was substituted with 20 minutes left.
Fletcher, who has not been a regular in United side this season proved his worth by providing two headed goals and his midfield display was also impressive. Nani gave a hard time to Justin Hoyte and was the provider of two goals and the scorer of the third. Carrick was also impressive in midfield providing some amazing through balls and even Anderson played well in a crucial match.
The game was well over in the first half as United were already 3 - 0 up by the break. Things didn’t start well for Arsenal in the second half as Eboue was sent of in 48th minute for a dangerous tackle on Evra. Things were unlikely to improve for Arsenal then as Rooney tested Lehmann again and again in just matter of seconds. And they got the fourth goal which they deserved when Nani delivered a perfect far post cross which was turned in by Fletcher. Louis Saha was cam as a substitute with 20 minutes to go and he almost added a fifth but Lehmann saved well.
Before the game, United were in a poor form with 2 games without a win and needed a win to boost there confidence ahead of there match with Lyon next week. The win would definitely be a morale booster for the team and it is this sort of performances that can inspire you to greater things. It will be interesting to see whether Arsenal can bounce back from this defeat against Milan. Now they have been thrashed out of the cup 2 times, one by Spurs in the league cup and now. They will have to do a lot of if they don’t want the thrashing in Champions league.
For United it was a perfect night, they rested there key players and managed to beat Arsenal without them with the substitute players performing well. Bring on the Lyon .
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