by Tahsin Noor, Webmaster

MANCHESTER UTD                 0-2             ARSENAL
                                                                       Edu
                                                                       Wiltord

ARSENAL splashed through the bad blood which simmers between the Premiership's big two to seal a deserved FA Cup quarter-final berth at Old Trafford with a 2-0 win over Manchester United.

Francis Jeffers and Ashley Cole mob Wiltord after the killer second (NealSimpson/Empics)

Edu's deflected free-kick and Sylvain Wiltord's early second half strike were enough to maintain the Gunners' treble chance, while at the same time ending Manchester United's hopes of a trophy four-timer.


Apart from a glaring miss by Ryan Giggs shortly before the visitors' opener, the match will mostly be remembered for the bitter and spiteful manner in which it was conducted.

Ruud van Nistelrooy in particular was fortunate to stay on the field for a series of manic incidents, mostly involving Martin Keown, with whom their is no love lost.

Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger are hardly bed-fellows either but both were united in their distaste of referee Jeff Winter.

However, rather than pointing the finger at an official who found himself in the middle of what appeared at times to be a war zone, the illustrious duo might do better to admonish the approach of their own teams, particularly van Nistelrooy and Robert Pires, who went to ground at every opportunity, fanning the flames even further.

For United, there was even more to worry about than an FA Cup exit. With Juventus arriving for a key Champions League encounter on Wednesday, Ferguson would have been alarmed to see David Beckham limp off in the final stages after failing to recover from a heavy Ashley Cole tackle.

What had been billed as a potential classic quickly erupted into an ugly, spiteful contest where skill and precision took a back seat to aggression and force.

Inside five minutes, there had been two face-to-face confrontations involving a dozen players, sparked by a strong Sol Campbell challenge on Giggs and Paul Scholes' dangerous lunge on Patrick Vieira which sent the Arsenal skipper sprawling.

Watching from the safety of the television studio, former United keeper Peter Schmeichel hinted there might have been a few scores to settle and certainly it looked like it when van Nistelrooy caught Keown in the stomach with a dangerously high boot.

It warranted one of four first half yellow cards, which would have turned into at least one red had referee Winter seen a second van Nistelrooy judo kick which left Lauren in agony.

Instead, the Teesside official waved play on, leaving Wenger furious on the sidelines.

Winter was berated by Wenger and rival Ferguson almost constantly as the game threatened to get out of hand.

From his seat in the dug-out, Thierry Henry must have been quite relieved not to be involved. The Frenchman had been omitted along with Dennis Bergkamp, who was absent completely, Wenger presumably having an idea of how fiery the contest would become.

Giggs had not been expected to play either and must have wished he was not just past the half hour when he blew his golden chance to put the home side in front.

Beckham's long pass cut out Keown completely and left David Seaman in no-man's land on the edge of his own area.

The Welshman rounded him with no bother and then slipped past Campbell but somehow, despite looking up to see the whole goal gaping, lifted his shot over the bar to gasps of astonishment from the home support.

Arsenal have not achieved their present lofty status by looking that sort of gift horse in the mouth and promptly went in front, benefiting from the kind of good fortune which should be enough for their cup-winning ribbons to be sent if for ironing immediately.

The visitors were fortunate to gain their free-kick in the first place after Wes Brown had tugged back the impressive Vieira.

Fabien Barthez appeared to have Edu's shot covered until it flicked off Beckham's shoulder, into Rio Ferdinand's face and then into the goal with the French keeper completely stranded.

Any hope United may have had of recovering from such a stunning double setback was quickly extinguished by the shattering blow Wiltord inflicted upon them seven minutes after the interval when he took Edu's pass, cut across the area and left Barthez on his backside with a clinical finish.

From there on, home frustrations continued to grow, with Gary Neville threatening to blow a fuse at the perceived injustice of it all.

Giggs' afternoon was not showing any significant sign of improvement and he belted a far post Beckham cross back where it had come from and out for a throw-in.

The Welshman was eventually put out of his misery when Diego Forlan was thrown on, a move which immediately saw Henry given a belated appearance for Francis Jeffers, who had toiled hard but lacked the finesse of his French team-mates.

With the game petering out, it was the next substitution which caused most concern to United as Beckham limped off after failing to recover from a heavy Cole tackle that caught him on the ankle.

If Beckham is not fit to face Juventus on Wednesday, the day will have been more disastrous than Ferguson could ever have imagined.