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 side’s 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 wasnÂ’t 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 RodgersÂ’ 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 canÂ’t 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)
