Manchester United 4 (4) v (3) 2 Arsenal
The FA Youth Cup Sponsored by E.ON
Semi-Final second leg
7pm, Monday 2 April 2007
Old Trafford
Paul McGuiness hailed his
Manchester United sides fighting spirit after they performed one
of the great comebacks to beat Arsenal 4-2 in extra time and set
up a mouth watering FA Youth Cup final
against holders Liverpool.
"It was a fantastic result," McGuinness beamed. "We showed
determination and a never-say-die spirit that all United teams
have.
"A lot of the play wasnt great, but we kept going and ground them
down. We put them under a lot of pressure at the end.
"That game will give them a great belief that whatever the
situation we can win."
The visitors were into their stride the quickest and dominated the
first half. It was no surprise when they took the lead through
Kieran Gibbs minutes after half time. The striker added to his
strike in the first leg with a simple tap in following a great pull
back across the face of the goal from Nacer Barazite .
Arsenal were made to pay for string of missed chances including
Danny Drinkwater hacking Paul Rodgers back post header off the
line as United fought back and took the game into extra time with
goals Chris Fagan midway through the second half and a 93 minute
strike from second half substitute Antonio Bryan.
Rhys Murphy thought he had put Arsenal into the final in the first
half of extra time when latched onto a stunning 40 yard pass from
Abumere Agogo before superbly chipping substitute keeper Ron-Robert
Zieler .
But United refused to be beaten and goals from Fabian Brandy and
Danny Welbeck in the second period of extra saw them safely through
to face their fierce rivals and leaving Arsenal boss Steve Bould to
rue missed chances.
"I am gutted for the kids," he said. "We could have gone in at half
time 3-0 up without any complaints.
"I cant fault their efforts. They need to learn to win and
hindsight this might prove to be a good lesson from them."
Manchester United: Amos (Zeiler 10mins); Evans (Bryan 69mins),
Chester, Cathcart, Eckersley; Welbeck, Drinkwater, Galbraith;
Hewson, Brandy, Fagan.
Subs not used: Derbyshire, Strickland, Moffat.
Arsenal: Butcher; Ogogo, Hoyte, Rodgers, Steer; Dunne (Lansbury 75
mins), Merida Perez (Fonte 93 mins), Randall, Gibbs; Simpson;
Barazite (Murphy 80mins)
