This will be the third time Arsenal and Manchester City have duked it out in the FA Cup semi-finals. City, pretty much the finished article, are strong favourites to beat the Gunners, who are not, not yet. But history – plus Arsenal’s staunch display against the new champions Liverpool the other night – suggest all is not lost.
City were favourites three years ago, too, and on that April 2017 day at Wembley, set about showing why. They had a goal incorrectly disallowed. They were controversially denied a strong penalty appeal. They hit the woodwork twice. Sergio Aguero made the breakthrough, but Arsenal stayed in touch, Nacho Monreal forced an equaliser, and Alexis Sanchez prodded a winner in extra-time. Pep Guardiola ended the season trophy-less for the first time in his career. What a fraud! He’ll never win anything at City, on a wet night in etc., and so forth, and so on.
Then back in 1932 at Villa Park … well, let’s hand you over to the man from the Manchester Guardian, whose report was headlined FULL-BACK’S BLUNDER GIVES ARSENAL UNDESERVED SUCCESS, and who may or may not have had some skin in the game. “Rochdale could not have been more completely overplayed … in 88 minutes the Manchester goal was only once in danger, in that period their goalkeeper did not catch, kick or turn aside a single shot … at half-time an elderly Birmingham gentleman told me he had never before seen so one-sided a semi-final, and he had seen one nearly every year since Villa won the cup in 1895 … ‘Manchester City ought to be four goals ahead at least,’ he said. I asked if he were counting potential penalty goals. ‘No, that might have made the score six or seven.’”
City launched yet another attack on 88 minutes, only for Arsenal to intercept and counter. “Joe Hulme kicked the ball forward speculatively, and it promised to pass out of play midway between the goalpost and the right corner flag. Jack Lambert pursued it, and Billy Felton, the City right full-back, confident that it would go dead, contented himself with trying to impede Lambert’s pursuit. So they reached the line when, by a freak of fortune, the ball struck Lambert’s heel and it remained in play. Felton’s impetus took him over the line. Lambert was the first to turn round, kicked the ball over to the left – and there was young Cliff Bastin, three yards from the goal and not another opponent within speaking range. Bastin shot, Len Langford fisted at the ball, it went straight up in the air, hit the crossbar, dropped back on the line, bounced against the post, and even the spin was in Arsenal’s favour, for it broke into instead of away from the net. What a tragedy. Lambert and Bastin hugged each other like a family reunion … Jimmy McMullan stood dumbfounded like some great engineer whose life’s masterpiece had been demolished by a paroxysm of nature.”
So there you have it. City are the form horse … and they’ve won the last seven meetings between the two teams by an aggregate score of 20-2 … but Arsenal have history on their side. Just about a perfect set-up for a classic FA Cup tie, then. It’s on!
Kick off: 7.45pm BST.