Sheffield United Away Match View

FA CUP QUARTER FINAL

SHEFFIELD UNITED 1 ARSENAL 2

A DRAMATIC LAST gasp goal from substitute Dani Ceballos sent Arsenal through to a record 30th FA Cup semi-final with a tense victory at Bramall Lane on Sunday.

Mikel Arteta has now taken the club to Wembley just six months after taking the hot seat and the prospect of winning a trophy in his first season is still very much alive.

After Nicolas Pepe had scored from the spot to give us a fully deserved half time lead, it was substitute Ceballos who popped up to win it in stoppage time just moments after David McGoldrick had brought the Blades level.

After a bright start it was very much a backs-to-wall second half display, similar in many ways to Thursday’s win at Southampton, and Arteta was delighted with the character of his team. He said:

“Yes, I am very pleased with the result. This is a really difficult place to come and win. After conceding so late, that reaction is not easy. We went for it again; we scored the goal and now we’re back at Wembley.

“The attitude and commitment of every single player pleased me. There were really good moments where we played, and we did the things I asked them to do.

“[Sheffield United] are a really good at what they do, the way they commit people forward, the way they play in the second phases. I knew there were some phases that we were going to suffer and how we dealt with that I am really, really pleased.”

With the games coming thick and fast, Arteta made six changes to the side that had won at St Mary’s in midweek and tweaked the formation slightly to nullify Chris Wilder’s 3-5-2 set up.

David Luiz was recalled following suspension and showed the form he had been in before the break, and he was joined by Shkodran Mustafi and Sead Kolasinac in the back three.

Unfortunately David Luiz was not able complete the match after suffering an ankle injury early in the second half and the hope is that it not too serious.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles replaced the struggling Hector Bellerin at right wing-back, while in midfield Joe Willock partnered Granit Xhaka after his goal from the bench in midweek. Meanwhile Alexandre Lacazette was recalled up front in place of the other midweek goal-scorer, Eddie Nketiah.

Sheffield United had not scored a goal since the restart, at least not one that had counted anyway, and playing at home for the first time they did have the ball in the net early on. 

John Lundstram, a player who looks as though he could do a decent job for us, headed home from close range following a corner, but VAR correctly ruled it out for offside. 

In a throwback to the days of visits to Stoke City under Tony Pulis, the Blades, another team in red and white stripes, threw the ball into our box at every opportunity and at times we struggled to cope. 

It was a similar problem at Brighton last weekend and this is an area that we quickly need to improve if we are to really progress.

Playing with the strong wind at our backs in the first half we dominated the play after that and with Pepe linking well with Maitland-Niles, he began to show exactly what he can do.

The Ivorian has received a lot of criticism this season, not least from myself, but there is no doubt he is a talented player, and, on his day, he can be a match winner.

It helped having Maitland-Niles supporting him down the right, giving him the freedom to move inside where he can be more dangerous, and Pepe remained a threat throughout this encounter. It is performances like this that he needs to produce on a more regular basis, however.

The lead we had been threatening finally arrived after 20 minutes, but it was slightly controversial. Chris Basham’s challenge through the back of Lacazette was just inside the area although the ball remained just outside, and referee Paul Tierney pointed to the spot.

VAR took an age to agree, and Pepe coolly slotted the kick into the bottom left-hand corner of Dean Henderson’s net, his eighth goal of the season.

Pepe, now finally looking like a £70 million player, then brought a good save from the Blades goalkeeper after a pull back from Kieran Tierney, who famously brought his kit to the match in a Tesco's carrier bag, as we looked to seal the tie.

But while it remained only 1-0 it was always going to be a tricky second half.

And that was exactly how it proved.

VAR came to our rescue again midway through the half when John Egan headed home from close range after a free kick, but McGoldrick, who’s initial effort had been saved by Emi Martinez, had strayed offside. 

After complaining about VAR all season, we have finally got a few decisions go our way in the last few days.

We had been struggling to get out of own half for much of the last 20 minutes so when the equaliser arrived three minutes from time you could say it had been coming.

Again, it was inevitably a set piece that caused the problems and when Kolasinac’s attempted clearance hit substitute Rob Holding it presented McGoldrick with an easy close-range finish.

Even extra time was now looking a big ask as the Blades looked to win it, and only a fine save from Martinez, excelling since replacing the injured Bernd Leno, kept out Billy Sharp’s low drive.

But in the second minute of stoppage time we nicked it. A quick counterattack saw Bukayo Saka feed Nketiah who put in Pepe down the right. After being tackled by Enda Stevens the ball fell to Ceballos who drifted past the Blades defender before drilling a low shot under Henderson at the near post.

In front of what would have been a packed away end, the goal was greeted with an eerie silence instead of a wild celebration, but it could not take away its significance. Arsenal are back at Wembley.

The draw later in the evening inevitably paired us against Manchester City, less than a month after our 3-0 defeat at the Etihad. 

Despite that result I am convinced it will vastly different this time. We had several issues both going into that match and then early on when Arteta’s game plan was thrown out the window with two early injuries.

If we can build some momentum between now and mid-July I see no reason why we cannot reach a record 21^st FA Cup final, possibly repeating our 2017 success when we beat Pep Guardiola’s City in the semi-final and then Chelsea in the final. 

That proved to be Arsene Wenger swansong so it would be somewhat poetic justice if it also proved to be Arteta’s inaugural success.