London: A brace from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang helped Arsenal beat holders Manchester City 2-0 in the semi-final of the FA Cup at the Wembley Stadium. Arsenal thus reached a record 21st semi-final in the competition, of which they are also the record winners with 13 titles.
Mikel Arteta’s side now face either Manchester United or Chelsea in the final, who play their semi-final Sunday at Wembley.
As expected, City dominated possession throughout the game and did most of the attacking in the opening exchanges. Arsenal were disciplined in defence though and in the 19th minute, Aubameyang ended a free flowing counter attack with a neat finish to put the Gunners ahead.
Arsenal looked far more in control after that for the rest of the first half and while Pep Guardiola’s side exerted pressure in the early exchanges of the second half, Aubameyang put a break on their progress again.
Kieran Tierney put in a long pass from the left that found Aubameyang despite the fact that the Scottish full back had any space to make the pass from. Aubameyang ran through and put the ball cleanly past Ederson to double Arsenal’s lead.
The win ends a seven successive defeats for Arsenal against City, including a 3-0 away defeat at the resumption of the Premier League last month. Centre back David Luiz, who was ridiculed for his performance in that match, was a rock in defence for Arsenal as they soaked everything that City threw at them after Aubamyang’s strike in the second half.
IANS
