Manchester United got their spluttering season back on track with a 2-0 win against Arsenal in the FA Cup quarter-finals at Old Trafford yesterday.
Alex Ferguson’s side had lost three of their last five Premier League matches, but goals from Fabio da Silva and Wayne Rooney restored the feel-good factor and booked a place in the Wembley semi-finals.
While United’s morale will have been lifted by victory against a major rival, Arsenal’s campaign is in danger of imploding.
The Gunners now have only the Premier League title to aim for after a miserable two weeks which has seen them lose the League Cup final to Birmingham and crash out of the Champions League and FA Cup.
Ferguson sent out a slightly weakened team which included seven defenders as he rested players ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League second leg against Marseille, while Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger played his strongest available eleven. It was Ferguson’s selection gamble that paid off.
Fabio opened the scoring with a close-range finish in the 28th minute after Manuel Almunia could only push Javier Hernandez’s header from a Rooney cross into the Brazilian’s path.
Arsenal’s Robin van Persie, controversially sent off for kicking the ball away against Barcelona in midweek, almost equalised before the break but the Dutch forward saw his low shot turned away by Edwin van der Sar.
Laurent Koscielny was denied by Van der Sar soon after half-time and United, who last won the Cup in 2004, took advantage of that escape to put the tie beyond Arsenal’s reach in the 49th minute.
Rafael da Silva’s surging run and cross forced Johan Djourou into a block that looped the ball towards Rooney and the England striker headed past Almunia from a tight angle.
There was more bad news for injury-hit Arsenal, already without Cesc Fabregas, Alex Song and Wojciech Szczesny, when centre-back Djourou was stretchered off with a shoulder injury in the closing stages.
In the day’s other quarter-final, Lee Chung-Yong fired Bolton into the FA Cup last four as the South Korean’s late goal clinched a 3-2 win over Birmingham at St Andrew’s.
Owen Coyle’s side looked to have been denied a place in the last four when Kevin Phillips hit a late equaliser for Birmingham, but Bolton midfielder Lee headed the winner in the 90th minute to send the visitors to the Wembley semis.
Bolton had taken the lead through Johan Elmander’s cool finish in the 21st minute before Cameron Jerome lashed in Birmingham’s first equaliser in the 38th minute.
Kevin Davies converted a 66th-minute penalty, awarded after Curtis Davies fouled the Bolton striker, only for Phillips to scoop in a superb equaliser with 10 minutes to play.
But Birmingham’s dreams of adding the FA Cup to the League Cup they won against Arsenal last month came to an end when substitute Lee ran onto Davies’s header and nodded past Ben Foster.
Coyle saluted Lee’s influential display but admitted he will continue to rotate the winger in and out of the side to keep him fresh.
“I think Lee is capable of playing for any team. But he hasn’t had a break for two years and we have to be careful with him,” Coyle said.
Bolton have not won the FA Cup since the legendary Nat Lofthouse, who died earlier this year, inspired them to victory over Manchester United in the 1958 final.
Asked if his team wanted to win the trophy to honour Lofthouse’s memory, Coyle added: “It would be lovely to go and do that. There are a few obstacles in our way but we will do everything in our power to win this competition.”
Results and standings
FA Cup - Quarter-finals
Birmingham 2
Jerome 38; Phillips 80;
Bolton 3
Elmander 21; Davies 66 pen; Lee 90;
HT: 1-1. Att: 23,699.
Man. United 2
Da Silva 28; Rooney 49;
Arsenal 0
HT: 1-0. Att: 74,693.
Today’s quarter-finals
Stoke-West Ham - 15:00
Man. City-Reading - 17:45
Next fixtures
Saturday: Premier League 13.45 Tottenham vs West Ham. 16.00 Aston Villa vs Wolves; Blackburn vs Blackpool; Man. United vs Bolton; Stoke vs Newcastle; West Brom vs Arsenal; Wigan vs Birmingham. 18.30 Everton vs Fulham.
Sunday: Premier League 14.30 Sunderland vs Liverpool. 17.00 Chelsea vs Manchester City.
The Championship
Burnley 0 - Millwall 3
Coventry 0 - Hull 1
Derby 2 - Swansea 1
Leeds 0 - Ipswich 0
Nottm Forest 0 - Doncaster 0
Portsmouth 0 - Middlesbrough 0
QPR 2 - Crystal Palace 1
Scunthorpe 0 - Leicester 3
Watford 3 - Sheff. Utd 0
Playing today
Cardiff-Barnsley - 16:00
Tomorrow
Norwich-Bristol City - 20:45
Standings: QPR 73; Swansea, Norwich 63; Cardiff, Leeds 61; N. Forest 60; Burnley 56; Hull, Leicester 55; Reading 54; Watford, Millwall 53; Portsmouth 51; Bristol City 47; Ipswich, Barnsley 46; Doncaster 44; Derby 43; Coventry, M’boro 41; C. Palace 38; Scunthorpe 34; Sheff. Utd 32; Preston 25.
League One
Bournemouth 1 - Southampton 3
Brighton 2 - Tranmere 0
Bristol Rovers 0 - Huddersfield 1
Charlton 0 - Brentford1
Colchester 1 - MK Dons 3
Hartlepool 2 - Plymouth 0
Leyton Orient 1 - Oldham 0
Peterborough 6 - Carlisle 0
Rochdale 0 - Exeter 1
Sheff. Wed. 0 - Notts County 1
Swindon 1 - Dagenham 1
Yeovil 1 - Walsall 1
Standings: Brighton 71; Huddersfield 63; Peterboro 62; Southampton, Bour-nemouth, MK Dons 61; L. Orient 53; Hartlepool 50; Exeter 49; Carlisle, Charl-ton, Colchester 48; Oldham, Brentford 46; Rochdale 45; Sheffield Wed. 43; N. County 42; Tranmere 39; Yeovil 38; Dagenham, Walsall 36; Swindon, Bristol Rovers 33; Plymouth 32.
League Two
Cheltenham 1 - Aldershot 2
Crewe 2 - Chesterfield 0
Gillingham 3 - Acc. Stanley 1
Hereford 1 - Barnet 2
Lincoln City 2 - Southend 1
Morecambe 0 - Bradford 1
Northampton 0 - Macclesfield 1
Port Vale 1 - Oxford Utd 2
Rotherham 0 - Bury 0
Stockport 0 - Burton Albion 0
Torquay 5 - Shrewsbury 0
Wycombe 0 - Stevenage 1
Standings: Chesterfield 71; Bury 61; Wycombe 60; Rotherham, Shrewsbury, Gillingham 56; Port Vale 55; Torquay 51; Oxford 50; Crewe, Stevenage, Southend 48; Accrington 46; Aldershot, Lincoln 45; Cheltenham 44; Bradford 43; Mac-clesfield 41; Northampton, Here-ford, Morecambe 40; Burton 36; Barnet 34; Stockport 32.