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Manchester United beat Arsenal 2-0 at Old Trafford in the FA Cup sixth round, as the Gunners crashed out of their third cup in 13 days.

Goals in either half from Fabio and Wayne Rooney booked an injury-ravaged United side's place in a Wembley semi-final, while Arsenal's misery was compounded following their Carling Cup final defeat to Birmingham and Champions League exit at the hands of Barcelona.

A personnel crisis forced Alex Ferguson to name seven defenders in his starting XI but, for United, every cloud has a silver lining - or in this case a Silva one.

Brazilian twin full-backs Rafael and Fabio da Silva were pushed into the wide midfield positions. Freed of their defensive shackles, they ran at Arsenal with a pace and directness reminiscent of (though less refined than) Gareth Bale, who also made the transition from full-back to winger.

It represented a pleasant surprise for United fans whose hearts must have sunk on viewing the team sheet. Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher were the latest additions to a lengthy injury list, rated by Ferguson as having "no chance" of playing against Marseille in the Champions League on Tuesday. Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes began on the bench, resting their ageing limbs.

Having spent Tuesday night chasing the shadows of Andres Iniesta and Xavi, the prospect of facing a central midfield comprising Darron Gibson and John O'Shea must have come as a blessed relief to Arsenal.

As for the Gunners, there was no Cesc Fabregas, who struggled through 78 minutes at the Camp Nou despite being clearly unfit. Robin van Persie did start, after the red card for kicking the ball away that so enraged Arsene Wenger and accelerated Arsenal's European exit.

Arsenal made the better start, using the ball more effectively, freed from the suffocating pressure exerted by Barcelona.

Even with Van Persie, captain for the day, chances were few and far between. The Dutchman forced his countryman Edwin van der Sar into a save with a low cross-shot and might have done better with a header from a corner, while Samir Nasri's low shot tested Van der Sar late in the first half.

United's moments of attacking quality were few, but they produced a move of decisive brilliance on 28 minutes.

Rafael found Rooney from the right, whose curled diagonal ball had the perfect weight for Javier Hernandez. The Mexican's powerful header was parried by Almunia and Fabio arrived to tuck the rebound into the roof of the net.

The Da Silva twins were withdrawn as Ferguson sought some more streetwise heads to protect the lead, and it was his oldest player, goalkeeper Van der Sar, who made a clutch of vital interventions.

The 40-year-old has 21 professional seasons under his belt to Giggs's 20, but showed his powers are undimmed.

The Dutchman made a string of top-class saves - the best among them a brilliant reflex stop from Laurent Koscielny, and a diving parry to repel a Marouane Chamakh header.

No wonder United want him to postpone his retirement, scheduled for the end of this season.

Antonio Valencia made a promising cameo having spend six months out with a broken ankle, while Aaron Ramsey made his first Arsenal appearance since suffering a broken leg a year ago.

Paul Scholes, brought on for his experience, should have been sent off in stoppage time when, seconds after being booked, he threw himself into a lunging challenge then pushed Samir Nasri. Chris Foy showed the 36-year-old excessive leniency.

A dreadful fortnight for Arsenal ended with a potentially serious injury to Johan Djourou, who dislocated his shoulder in a collision with a team-mate; play was stopped for five minutes while medics administered treatment. Djourou was stretchered off, and is expected to miss the rest of the season.

Arsenal's four potential trophies are now down to one, and Arsene Wenger faces one of the biggest tests of his career rousing his beleaguered troops ahead of the Premier League run-in.
Alex Chick / Eurosport

MANCHESTER - Manchester United bakal mengharungi perlawanan suku akhir Piala FA menentang Arsenal hari ini tanpa sayapnya, Nani, sekali gus menambah kepincangan pendahulu Liga Perdana England itu yang sudahpun kehilangan beberapa tonggak penting.

Nani mengalami kecederaan teruk di tulang kering ekoran terjahan keras pemain pertahanan Liverpool, Jamie Carragher ketika pasukan itu kalah 3-1 di Anfield dalam saingan liga, Ahad lalu.

Kecederaan tersebut bukan saja menyebabkan pemain antarabangsa Portugal itu terlepas aksi menentang Arsenal, malah tidak dapat diturunkan dalam saingan Liga Juara-Juara Eropah menentang Olympique Marseille, Selasa depan.

Nani menambah masalah kecederaan skuad bimbingan Alex Ferguson itu yang sudahpun kehilangan tonggak pertahanan, Rio Ferdinand serta dua pemain tengah, Park Ji-sung dan Antonio Valencia.

Ferguson bagaimanapun enggan melihat ketiadaan Nani sebagai musibah buat pasukannya, sebaliknya menegaskan, apa yang penting United kekal bersatu dan akan berdepan Arsenal sebagai sebuah pasukan yang kuat.

"Kami pernah mengalami pengalaman seperti ini dan mampu bangkit. Ini bukan kali pertama berlaku sudah beberapa kali.

"Anda tidak mungkin melalui satu musim di mana semuanya sentiasa cerah. Apabila anda berdepan detik buruk, maka anda kena berdepan dengannya dan bangkitt,'' tegas Ferguson.

Menurut Ferguson, apa yang melegakan, pemulihan Nani berjalan pantas meskipun dia terpaksa disisihkan daripada dua perlawanan penting.

"Bengkak di kakinya sudah semakin susut, itu berita baik tetapi saya tidak boleh memberitahu tarikh sebenar bila dia boleh kembali beraksi.

"Mujurlah, kami akan berehat dua minggu selepas ini untuk memberi laluan kepada perlawanan antarabangsa bermula Sabtu depan, jadi dia pasti sedia beraksi sebaik liga disambung,'' ujar Ferguson lagi.

Arsenal akan turun ibarat 'singa lapar' hari ini selepas disingkirkan oleh Barcelona dalam saingan Liga Juara-Juara, Rabu lalu, malah masih kecewa dengan kekalahan kepada Birmingham pada final Piala Liga, dua minggu lalu. - Agensi

Premier League - Kuyt hat-trick stuns United

Liverpool threw the Premier League title race wide open once more with a resounding 3-1 win over Manchester United at Anfield.

Dirk Kuyt scored his first hat-trick for Liverpool as the Reds grasped their final chance to help stop bitter rivals United surpassing their joint-record haul of 18 league titles.

The combined distance of all three of Kuyt's strikes from goal may be no more than eight yards, but that will matter little to the Liverpool fans watching who now see their team move back into the top six, or indeed the Arsenal fans whose club are now three points behind leaders United with a game in hand.

Javier Hernandez scored in injury time, but that goal was the scantest of consolations for a United side that has now lost three of their last five league games, something which has not happened since 2004.

The inclusion of club record signing Andy Carroll on the Liverpool bench dominated the pre-match talk, but it was the Reds' other expensive January recruit, Luis Suarez, who starred once the game got going.

The Uruguayan looked as lethal as he did eager right from the opening moments when he picked out Raul Meireles and continued his run forward to guide the low driven return pass on target but without the precision or power required to beat Edwin van der Sar.

The £22.5 million signing from Ajax brought gasps from the Anfield Road end when, in a sustained attack spawned by Michael Carrick's cheap loss of possession, he made a swift 180 degree turn inside the area and jinked his way through three defenders before prodding the ball past Van der Sar from a tight angle. The ball trickled towards the goal line; Kuyt pounced to make sure and claim his first league goal since mid-January.

Five minutes later the Dutchman scored his second - but this time he had Nani to thank. The Portuguese winger was under little pressure as he leapt to head Suarez's cross clear but somehow managed to send the ball back towards goal, and Kuyt stooped to head home from close range.

What made Liverpool's control in the first half all the more impressive was the loss of Fabio Aurelio midway through it with a hamstring injury, necessitating the introduction of Sotirios Kyrgiakos and a defensive reshuffle by manager Kenny Dalglish.

United did fashion a small clutch of chances - with the recalled Dimitar Berbatov hitting the outside of the post with a well-struck effort and Wes Brown, in for the suspended Nemanja Vidic, seeing his header from a corner hacked clear by Meireles on the line - but overall Liverpool were in charge, looking a completely different side from that which was outplayed at Upton Park the previous weekend.

The first half ended in controversy after Jamie Carragher's lunge on Nani resulted in the defender being shown a yellow card and the winger leaving on a stretcher; Rafael's clumsy high challenge on Lucas then sparked a melee which referee Phil Dowd calmly allowed to dissipate before booking the Brazilian, as well Martin Skrtel for his chief role in the fracas.

Hernandez replaced the injured Nani just before the break, and United emerged with renewed fervour, if not a greater cutting edge, after the restart.

Ryan Giggs, making his club-record 607th league appearance, flashed a first-time shot over the bar after the largely peripheral Wayne Rooney played the ball to him across the edge of the box.

The England striker then had another cross headed back across goal and Berbatov saw his point-blank header blocked on the line by Meireles as the hour mark approached.

Soon afterwards, United were dead and buried when Suarez's free-kick went through the United wall and Van der Sar could only parry the ball into the path of Kuyt, who was by far the quickest to react - and he finished to claim the first hat-trick by a Liverpool player against United since Peter Beardsley's treble in September 1990, Dalglish's previous Liverpool v United clash as boss.

All that was left to make it a perfect afternoon for the home fans was to see Carroll stroll on, and they duly got their wish when the £35m man replaced Meireles with 15 minutes remaining.

The former Newcastle striker looked reasonably sharp following his lengthy lay-off with a thigh injury, and one of his trademark headers set Kuyt up with a chance for a fourth that was volleyed over the bar.

Suarez produced another mesmerising run past Patrice Evra and Brown that ended in him firing wide before he was substituted to a standing ovation, and Liverpool joy could not even be dampened two minutes into stoppage time when Hernandez glanced Giggs's cross past Reina.

Having lost to Chelsea and Liverpool on the bounce, the upcoming FA Cup fixture with Arsenal and the following Champions League clash with French champions Marseille will suddenly look far less appealing for United, while Liverpool could be forgiven for looking up the table and dreaming of a late run for an unlikely European place.

Tony Mabert / Eurosport

SINGAPURA – Manchester United bakal berhadapan tempoh yang sukar apabila pengurus, Alex Ferguson bersara kelak, kata pemain lagenda, Eric Cantona, semalam.

“Selepas dia, sudah tentu ia amat sukar sekali. Manchester United merupakan salah sebuah kelab terbesar di dunia, tetapi apabila dia bersara kelak, untuk tempoh beberapa tahun, ia pasti sukar,” kata Cantona.

Cantona berada di Singapura bersama Pele bagi mempromosi penubuhan semula kelab dari Amerika Syarikat, New York Cosmos.

Ferguson, 69, yang mula mengurus United sejak 1986, berkata, dia tidak mempunyai perancangan untuk bersara lagi.

“Alex Ferguson merupakan pengurus terbaik di dunia. Dia berjaya menyesuaikan diri dengan semua generasi. Dia mengenali kelab dengan baik sekali,” ujarnya.

Cantona turut memuji pemain tengah United, Ryan Giggs yang yakin dapat memecah rekod pasukan yang pernah dilakar Bobby Charlton apabila tampil sebanyak 606 kali dalam perlawanan liga ketika menentang Liverpool, esok.

“Dia merupakan pemain dan lelaki yang hebat. Saya kagum pemain yang mampu kekal bersama kelab yang sama dalam jangka masa panjang,” kata Cantona, 44, yang berasal dari Perancis.

Cantona bersara pada 1997 selepas memenangi empat gelaran Liga Perdana England dan dua Piala FA setelah bersama United selama lima musim. – Agensi

Pemain berusia 29 tahun itu bekerja keras pada musim ini untuk membantu United memperoleh kedudukan terbaik walaupun tewas 1-2 kepada Chelsea pada Selasa lepas.

''Saya sangat gembira bersama kelab ini dan ini adalah kelab terbaik yang pernah saya sertai.

''Semangat yang ada dalam pasukan ini membuatkan saya kagum selain yakin mampu membina masa depan yang baik bersama kelab ini,'' kata Carrick.

Carrick mula menyertai United pada tahun 2006 setelah berpindah daripada kelab Tottenham dan telah bersama United memperoleh tiga gelaran dalam Liga Perdana serta trofi Liga Juara-Juara.

Sungguhpun tewas kepada Chelsea, namun Carrick tetap percaya United mampu memperoleh keputusan lebih baik selepas ini.

''Kami berada di posisi yang terbaik ketika ini malah saya yakin pasukan ini berupaya mencapai kecemerlangan pada masa akan datang,'' kata Carrick.

''Saya sangat gembira selepas Michael menandatangani kontrak baru bersama United.

''Dia adalah pemain yang amat baik sejak menyertai United pada tahun 2006. Dia juga mempunyai masa depan yang cerah bersama kelab ini,'' kata Ferguson. - AFP

Premier League - Was Fergie's fury justified?

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson launched a furious rant at the match officials after Chelsea beat his side 2-1 at Stamford Bridge.

Did the referee get it wrong? Watch the video and judge for yourself - autoplay in UK only

United had centre back Nemanja Vidic sent off in stoppage time for a second booking but Ferguson was incensed that David Luiz had not suffered the same fate earlier and was also unhappy with the penalty given after Chris Smalling tripped Yuri Zhirkov.

"The penalty kick was so soft but we played very well. It was a great performance by us. We didn't deserve that," said Ferguson.

"That's three years in a row referees' decisions have changed the game (here)."

Luiz was booked by referee Martin Atkinson for a foul after 61 minutes then appeared fortunate to escape a second yellow card after flattening Rooney.

"It was incredible. Even before that he'd done Chicharito (Javier Hernandez) off the ball. He'd done him late. Nothing done, the referee's in front of it," added Ferguson.

"He (Luiz) does Rooney clear as day, he's six yards from it, he doesn't do anything. These are decisions that change the game and he's going to be refereeing every week."

Ferguson, who said before the game that Rooney was lucky not to have been banned after a clash with Wigan Athletic's James McCarthy at the weekend, added: "I'm proud of the players. They've endured a lot of decisions against them but they've come through it, they've done their best and created good chances."

Chelsea's win took them within 12 points of leaders United and, asked if they were back in the title race, Ferguson said: "If they get decisions like tonight then it can change everything. They got a lot of decisions that surprised me."

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti did not want to discuss the officials but said Luiz might have been lucky.

"There was a lot of intensity and it was not easy for the referee to decide every time," he said. "There was a lot going on on the pitch so the referee decided he didn't see this."

The Italian preferred to concentrate on the spirit shown by his side after they had been outplayed in the first half.

"We kept going with strength, intensity and power in our performance against a fantastic United team," he said.

"We actually started well but at halftime I told them that we had to do it for 45 minutes, not just 15.

"It was not easy to come back but we had a good balance in the second half."

The win took Chelsea back into the top four but Ancelotti said the champions had no realistic hope of catching United, who are four points ahead of Arsenal having played a game more.

"It's too far, we can't think we can get to the top," he said. "But the victory was important for us and our confidence."

Midfielder Lampard added: "We're still a lot of points behind but all we could do was win the game.

"United are deservedly top but we've still got some fight in us and we showed that tonight."
Reuters