Arsenal make FA Cup final Gunners scrape past gutsy Wigan

London, April 13: Lukasz Fabianski saved two penalties as Arsenal beat holders Wigan Athletic 4-2 in a shootout at Wembley on Saturday to reach their first FA Cup final for nine years.

Having stunned Manchester City in last season’s final, before being relegated from the Premier League, Wigan looked set for another famous Wembley day when Jordi Gomez put them ahead with a 63rdminute penalty.

But Per Mertesacker made amends for conceding the penalty by heading in an 82nd-minute equaliser and with the score still 1-1 at the end of extra time, Fabianski took centre stage in the shootout.

The Pole, usually a deputy to compatriot Wojciech Szczesny, saved Wigan’s first two attempts, from Gary Caldwell and Jack Collison, before Santi Cazorla dispatched the decisive spot-kick to send Arsenal through.

“I’m relieved, because we were under big pressure, but I expected a difficult game and I was not disappointed,” said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. “We needed to show some character, and some resilience, and as well some nerves, and we did it in a very united and resilient way.”

Victory took Wenger’s team into their first FA Cup final since 2005, when they last won a trophy, and helped ease the pain of being knocked out of the EPL’s top four by Everton earlier in the day.

They will play the winners of Sunday’s second semifinal between Hull City and third-tier Sheffield United. — AFP